How Much Can The 'Avengers' Assemble?

Marvels Avengers is hitting theaters in North America and 42 other markets in 6 days, and it has already been released in various countries in the eastern hemisphere, and those openings have been massive. Avengers is smashing records in Australia, where it opened 214% higher than Iron Man 2 and in Australia, Phillipines, and Argentina it has bungeed to second biggest all time opening. The UK is where it scored the third highest opening day ever. In New Zealand and Taiwan, it managed the biggest opening day ever. All together it has so far earned $36 million overseas. The Avengers features Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury; the latter three do not have their own movies, though Black Widow was a big part of Iron Man 2. Anticipation and buzz has been escalating tremendously lately, mainly thanks in part to Disney's marketing campaign. I have seen and heard ads for Avengers on candy wrappers, the radio, TV commercials, cardboard cutouts, the internet, soda bottles, I mean everywhere. Another good thing for Avengers is that it is also gaining a lot of female interest. Females make up 51% of America, so its pretty important to get them in the theater, and eventhough Avengers is an explosion filled, violence present, anti romantic spectacle, I have conversed with many girls that cant wait till May 4, and whats even better is the that the ones I have talked to want to go because its The Avengers, not because they think Chris Hemsworth is "hot." Also families will play a big role; Disney is making its name present, the characters are colorful and known with kids, and the violence and tone wont be too graphic or dark for younger kids. The movie is also sitting at 97% and 8.1/10 on RT, and critics are saying this one of the top of the line superhero flicks theyve seen, ever. With only 55 reviews in so far, those numbers may go up, go down, or stall come opening day; either way, practically everyone whos viewed it so far has been beyond pleased. The opening record is currently held by the last Harry Potter, at $169.1 million, can Avengers top that? A plus for Avengers is 3D and IMAX, which will boost prices, and tracking is through the roof thanks to the internet and community hype, many analysts believe the record will be broken or come close. Also in ticket presales, The Avengers has sold more than Thor, Cap Am, and Iron Man 1 and 2- combined. Like whoa. I personally believe Avengers will break the record; my predicted opening is $173 million. Even if Avengers falls short of HP's record, Avengers will most certainly make a lot, lot more domestically. There are so many factors that suggest that the record will go down and this summer doesnt feature another superhero spectacle until July. Around 20 milion people could be watching Avengers in North America this weekend, and many millions more will be watching across the globe; this seems to be one of the must see movies of the summer and the year, so check it out! Avengers is PG13 and is 2hr 22 minutes. If you're a cinephile, as a bonus, new trailers for The Dark Knight Rises and Amazing Spider Man will be attached! Dont miss the previews!

'Think Like a Man' and 'Lucky One' Surprise

     Last weekend was an unexpected one at the box office as Think Like a Man, Lucky One, and Chimpanzee all opened higher than expected.  

     Think Like a Man, the new comedy starring Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Taraji Henson, and others opened to $33.6 million, higher than the big budget, $350 million John Carter; Think Man a Man only cost $12 million to produce. That's just awful for John Carter, beyond embarrassing, but marvelous for Think Like a Man. That opening is even higher than all of Tyler Perry's 50,000 movies, except for Madea Goes to Jail, and Think Like a Man will make in around 5 days what Jumping the Broom made it its 56 days of release, among comparable movies. Think Like a Man's per-theater average was also the third best for the year so far as it was only released in 2,015 theaters, which is on the low end for a wide release. Audience reviews have been positive, with great tweets and an "A" cinemascore, so this movie should have a nice life in the theater, and what was the majorities favorite part of the movie? Kevin Hart of course.

     The Lucky One also attracted females into theaters with $22.5 million, which is the second highest for a Nicholas Sparks movie and #5 for romantic dramas when unadjusted. Zac Efron doesn't have the draw power that Channing Tatum has now- yes ladies he has a stripper movie coming out, but The Lucky One's opening was still very good for a romance themed movie and for April.

     Chimpanzee also opened strongly with $10.6 million and The Hunger Games held well with only a 30.5% drop with $14.6 million. Hunger Games is now ranked #19 all time and it should finish between #12-#15 all time, which is amazing these days for a non-sequel.

     The top 12 this weekend made $126.1 million, which is a slight increase over last year, but 2012 is ahead of 2011 by $509 million and 69.3 million tickets. 2012 is even ahead of 2008 and 2009, and would be ahead of 2010 if it wasnt for that little movie, Avatar.

     Next weekend is romantic comedy The Five Year Engagement, The Raven, Safe, and The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and two weeks later, Marvel's The Avengers! Yes, yes I am excited.

'Thinking' Like a 'Lucky One'

     This weekend features two releases that include emerging stars; Kevin Hart in Think Like A Man and Zac Efron in The Lucky One. Both have been gaining in popularity everyday; can they attract audiences this weekend?  Kevin Hart is becoming a world famous comedian, he is one of my favorites; Kevin's voice alone makes many things he says funny, even if he's not trying to be. By what I've seen, a vast majority of people of who want to see Think Like A Man want to see it because of Kevin Hart. There's no doubt he will be the show stopper and scene stealer in this movie, and Screen Gems is noticing; all of the television spots and most of the trailer is mostly lines from Hart, theres even a whole television spot just about him. Think Like A Man will mostly cater and is aimed at African-American's, but Kevin Hart is known and fanned by multiple races, so will he help lure an even broader audience to the theater? 

     Zac Efron is adored by most females; ever since the High School Musical days, Zac Efron has been emerging in Hollywood. Now that his Disney days are over, hes been capturing broader projects. Hairspray, Charlie St. Cloud, New Years Eve, 17 Again, and even this year's Lorax. Hairspray had an ensamble cast, so 17 Again is really the only movie that you can say was a nice success because he was the lead. Will The Lucky One, also starring Taylor Schilling be the exception? Channing Tatum has proved to be a draw with the wild, unexpected success of The Vow, now its Efron's turn. The Lucky One is obviously geared toward females and many girls seem to be excited for this even though the hype isnt as high for this one as it was for The Vow. What if an unknown male was the lead in this instead of Efron, would that affect girls wanting to go see it? I say yes. 

     I feel both movies can do over $20 million for the weekend; I feel Hart and Efron will be influences. How well both movies do in the long run will depend on how well audiences like them, but for the weekend, both stars should be driving forces to get people into theater seats. Also, if you're a monkey lover, Chimpanzee is being released by Disney this weekend, I hope that made your day, chimp fan.

Is America Re-Released Out?

     Titanic, Jurassic Park, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Monsters Inc, Star Wars: Episode 1, Toy Story; what do all of these movies have in common? They all have been or will be re-released in 3D.
     When Avatar was released ages ago in 2009-its already been 2 1/2 years!? It revolutionized the movie industry. Avatar made around an extra $200 million dollars off of just higher ticket prices and charging people for 3D glasses! Soon basically every "major" movie of 2010, and "every other movie" of 2011 was filmed or post-converted into 3D. The 3D frenzy is still in high gear in Hollywood, but the popularity of it overall has dropped. Are re-releases having any effect?
     The 3D re-release of Toy Story did a middling $30 million, but it was a limited engagement. Though on the other hand, The Lion King, which was supposed to a limited release, soon got a full run after its successful opening, and went on to make $94 million, which was enough to push it back to #9 all time. Soon a wave of new re-releases were announced, most from Disney. 3D is doing just fine overseas, but does America really care? Beauty and the Beast and Episode 1 did somewhat "disappointing" numbers, and Titanic was re-released last weekend and finished #3; its 5-day opening total was a somber $25 million.
     Titanic's problem was that it is still aired regularly on television, I watched it in February on cable, and plus the facts that it is over 3 hours long and many theaters not offering 2D showings probably turned people away. Is this a sign that 3D re-releases are failing? In my opinion, not necessarily; I do believe 3D is fading fast and most people, especially families, are resorting back to the typical 2D format, and I feel moviegoers are wanting more original ideas like Safe House, Chronicle, and The Vow, but I think the fails of Titanic and Star Wars were mostly that they're just too long and too expensive to view again when they are still widely available.
     3D is becoming a thing of the past, again, but re-releases for now should be fine. My advice to Hollywood, add 2D options! Shoot even 4D, just don't make 3D the only choice for the movie goer, or they will wait.

Mega March Millions

     March is the best thing to happen to 2012 so far. March 2012 was the highest grossing and second highest most attended March ever; ever. Now a days, monthly records can easily be attained because of ticket price inflation, but attendance has still been decreasing. July 2011 is the highest grossing month of all time, but ranks #9 in attendance. 2011 also had the highest grossing May and September, but May ranks #7 in attendance, and September doesnt even rank in the top 10. 2012 is helping beat that trend. 

     February's attendance was ranked #4 and March is #2. March only needed 12 million more tickets to claim #1. Thanks John Carter and A Thousand Words. If 2012 continues on this blazing trend, itll be one of the most attended years since 2004. Thanks to the over-performances of The Hunger Games, The Lorax, Project X, 21 Jump Street, and decent performance of John Carter, and the late entry of Wrath of the Titans, March claimed the record. With Hunger Games still going strong, Wrath of the Titans, Titanic 3D and American Reunion opening this week, the April record has a possibility of being nabbed, but most April movies will have to exceed expectations. 2012 box office keeps on steam rolling, with the first quarter ranking fifth best ever; lets see if this year can keep it up!

The End Really Is Near- JERSEY SHORE Movie In The Works

     We're doomed. Yeah we're doomed; it was announced yesterday by Paramount and MTV that instead of doing a season 6 of Jersey Shore, there will be a Jersey Shore movie coming late 2013!

     Jersey Shore is the highest rated MTV show since Jackass, and it is becoming a franchise. Pauly D has a spin off show, Snooki and JWoww are getting one, I assume the rest of the cast will as well, they'll have cameos in The Three Stooges released in a few weeks, they have apparel, bronzer, DVD's, public appearances; lets face it, they're getting MTV and themselves rich for doing nothing, but fist pumping and Jersey Turn-piking.

     MTV feels that they can get even richer, so they are going to release Jersey Shore: The Movie; and no it wont be in 3D unfortunately.

     The plot of the movie is extremely similar to 2009's The Hangover. (hangovers; ironic); the plot is "The Jersey Shore cast gets invited to make a highly publicized appearance at MTV Spring Break in Cancun; they get there, but after a wild, forgettable, irresponsible night, they wake up with Snooki and Deena (team meatball) missing. Now Jenni, Mike, Vinny, Pauly, Sam, and Ron have to overcome the plethora of spring break madness and find Team Meatball before their gig begins, and their plane ride departs, but there are many twists such as being in Mexico, the party atmosphere, and a few other things, that will complicate this."

     The movie is scheduled to film in Cancun, Seaside Heights, and Miami during the time season 6 is supposed to film, and will be released Fall 2013. Partying, fist pumping, turn-piking, meat-balling, smushing, drinking, swearing, and high octane pervasive overzealous unisex grinding should be present for everyones enjoyment. I'm not sure if even Jersey Shore fans want this, but with a low budget, and over 6 million fan base, someone will be there opening day with $10. The movie should also be rated R as censors will not be present. Also important news by Paramount-------> April Fools! Sorry.