Summer's Too Hot

     2013 was a dull, dull, dull...dull, dull, dull...dull, wait for it...dull year at the beginning. Attendance was down, records weren't being broken, everything was rated R, true panic mode. Fast forward to July 14 and the year has transformed from dull to "ouch I burnt my hand!". May and June both set gross records, by wide margins, and July should be decent.

     June was hot. Out of the oven hot. Out of the volcano hot. Out of the Sun hot. The previous June record was set June 2009 (Hangover, Transformers 2, Proposal) with $1.08 billion. This June? $1.24 billion! That's third in attendance, after 2002 and 2004. June also ranks as the 5th biggest month of all time! We knew June would be big, but not this big, as practically every movie broke out. Strong holdovers from May also offered their services. 2013 is now less than 1% behind 2012.

     Man of Steel led the fray with $248 million in June and $281 million so far. Man of Steel's opening was ranging from $80 million to insane. Ultimately it landed at $116 million (minus Wally World) which is excellent. That was enough for a total over $300 million, but Supes faced tough competition and may fall justttt short. Still, a sequel is guaranteed and the DCU has been born, and with over $600 million and counting worldwide, it's a success. The Purge was also a big surprise. Predicted to open in the teens, but thanks to strong social media buzz, it landed at $34 million. I predicted $33 million. As expected, The Purge's strong run in theaters lasted as long as the real purge - it dropped off the Earth and now rests at $63 million. Still, the movie only cost $3 million, so it was already profitable from day 1.

     Monsters University opened to a surprising $82 million, after predicted to land in the high 60's to mid 70's. The Pixar smash earned $170 million in June and $237 million so far and will land in Pixar's top 5. Female-driven The Heat opened to a strong $39 million and will end up being the highest grossing comedy of the summer with $112 million in the bank so far with bullets still left in the AK.

     The biggest surprise of June and arguably the summer is World War Z. Most had WWZ opening no more than $45 million...and then it goes and does $66 million, even with MU and MOS as competition. There are plenty of reasons why people online were writing off WWZ, but in the end, the zombies, Brad Pitt, Paramount, and the letter "Z" proved everyone, including me, wrong. WWZ made $123 million in its 2 weeks in June and $177 million so far, and can end up over or very close to $200 million when the zombies all die out in the theater.

     This is the End and Now You See Me, two smaller, lower budget hits, still knocked it out the park. Now You See Me currently sits at $113 million, which is where very, very few predicted it would end up. TITE also sits at $91 million. $100 million may be out of reach, but its still a huge success nonetheless, especially with the competition it faced.

     May holdovers Fast 6, Star Trek, Hangover 3, and Iron Man 3 did their parts. Technically NYSM and After Earff...okay After Earth came out May 31st, but since that's only one day of business, I considered it June. Shout out to Iron Man 3 for also becoming the 17th movie to pass $400 million. At this point, it looks like Tony Stark will stay lounging at #1 for the year, but like Kevin Garnett says, "anything is possibleeee". Speaking of After Earff (that's what I call it), the grassy green field of June of course had its share of turds.

     AE was supposed to be Shamayamama's return to prominence, but once that 11% RT score came in...anyway, the movie tanked with only $59 million in receipts, even with star Will Smith. The Internship lost its job with only $43 million, which is degrading for a comedy with this star power. White House Down, though many have seemed to enjoy it, still couldn't bring in the masses or the liberals, jk. Debuting at #4, it has amassed $62 million and won't beat Olympus Has Fallen, which was made for $70 million less.

     June was great. I loved it. I want an encore. The first two weeks of July has also been scorching hot, but things may soon cool off. I'll dive into that pool when we get there, but for now I'm fine swimming in this.

How Bee-Do Bee-Do Big Can 'Despicable Me' Be?

    

     Bee-do, bee-do, bee-do, attention all, its about that time! Despicable Me 2, the new animated sequel from Universal and Illumination, is just days from release. If you haven't seen Despicable Me, you live under a rock - unless you're Patrick Star. He's seen it. If you haven't heard of the Minions, you don't live on Earth. The Minions could be called the "new Spongebob". They're yellow, they have big eyes, they're popular and they're on half of the products in Walmart. So is Despicable Me 2 the second coming of animated movies?

     Despicable Me was the sleeper hit of 2010; the Minions, Gru, and Agnes soon became worldwide phenomenons. Universal realizes the appeal and potential of the Minions so they've set a 2014 release date for their spin-off movie, and they've marketed the heck out of Despicable Me 2. It has scored over $254 million in marketing tie-ins, one of the biggest of all time. So is the awareness there? Oh yes. The thing about the Minions is they're so easy. They're simple happy go lucky "beans" with big eyes which makes them easy to slap on bags, boxes, and containers. There's even a "Despica-blimp" flying around America - the first time a studio has used an airship to advertise.

       Animated movies are tricky. They're stereotyped as "only for kids", just like cartoons. Animated movies usually do big at the BO, but when you think about it, half of its money is coming from parents who had to bring their kids, which gives animated movies a leg up over say PG-13, since most teenagers are too hip to be seen at the cineplex with mom and dad. Possibly the biggest advantage DM2 has is its adult appeal. Not just kids, but teens and adults also love the Minions (I know 40 year olds excited for this, yall). Go ahead and call them annoying, you're a minority. Like I said, "new Spongebob". People call Mr. Squarepants annoying, but does that stop him from being the #1 cartoon character of the 21st century? Nope. And can he be #1 if he's only adored by kids? Not even. The Minions have had commercials during high-rated sports programs, they have a Progressive commercial, which for those of you that don't know, Progressive is car insurance, and considering kids can't drive, it's meant to appeal to adults, and they already have their own ride at Universal Studios Orlando. What great and smart product placement.

     Why was Shrek 2 the biggest animated movie of all time? And still is. After 9 years. And why was Shrek big enough to start it all? A big reason is likely that CG animation was still in its infancy and not saturated back in '01 and '04, but another big player was the adult appeal. Shrek and Shrek 2 had many jokes for kids, like fart jokes, but also many jokes for adults that flew right over kids' heads, like celebrity references. Shrek's heavy reliance on pop culture and adult humor brought adults in in droves and Despicable Me utilized the same style, hence a reason why many people are calling it the the next Shrek.

     I believe that Despicable Me 2 will be the biggest animated movie between Toy Story 3 and Finding Dory (I think FD will be the movie to dethrone Shrek 2). Universal's A+ marketing, the universal appeal of the Minions and Gru (see what I did there?), adult appeal, perfect release date, 3D, and a lackluster looking July could drive Despicable Me 2 to at least $350 million and huge numbers overseas. But can it hit $400 million? It's hard to call, and pretty tough, but again considering that all ages admitted are excited for this and and the positive responses for Despicable Me, even on home video, it could. I'm going to stick with $350 million to play it safe, but if the Minions cruise past that, its gravy to me. The movie is already trampling records in the UK and other countries and if they are any indication, Despicable Me 2 is in for a wild lofty run. And I leave you with this.

How High Will Superman Soar?

   2006. 2006 was the last time Superman has appeared on the silver screen. 2006 is also possibly the last time you fell asleep during a superhero movie. Okay, maybe Iron Man 2. You're living under two rocks if you don't already know, but a new Superman movie is coming out - next week, and it looks gorgeous, and most importantly, not boring.

     Superman Returns grossed $200M in the US and $391M worldwide. Now, that's pretty bad, but in 2006 it was exceptional, but still a disappointment.Warner yet again had to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to do it right. After the colorful failure of Green Lantern (see what I did?), the soon ending of Nolan's Batman, and the success of Marvel, Warner was in desperate need to get a DC hero back in the cineplex. Superman was the easiest bet and Christopher Nolan, David Goyer, and Zack Snyder were eventually landed as producer, writer, and director respectively. British actor Henry Cavill landed the part of Clark Kent/Supes and filming began in 2011. Though everyone on the internet basically wants to have Nolan's babies, Zack Snyder doesn't have the best track record among the web crowd, so initial reactions weren't all that stellar and most had Man of Steel barely making above Superman Snores -- I meant Returns. Now, this movie has pulled a 216. Yep, 180 just isn't enough.

     Man of Steel looks beautiful. Snyder's movies may not have the best stories, but the visuals always make your eyes want to give you a hug. Now predictions for MoS are even as high as $400M, double what some were predicting just 2 years ago. Though predictions in the $300 mills is more realistic, it's still stellar and breaks the laws of reboots. The "S" doesn't stand for Superman (yeah, I couldn't believe it either when I learned it...a few months ago), it stands for "hope". Responsibility, hope, power, fitting in, self discovery, acceptance, limits, and family are all themes of the movie and should win over critics and parents with rebellious middle schoolers. The bar for action has been raised and Snyder's impressive style and fast approach is sure to wow audiences. I mean wowwww.

     Early reactions for MoS so far has been mostly stellar and early buzz is through the roof, with MoS already selling tickets like Bojangles biscuits at 8 am. Thought to be impossible a few months ago, MoS has a legit shot at a $100M opening, and the June weekend record. I have MoS at a $111M opening and $310-$340M finish, though it's not impossible for this to go higher. Superman has never looked better on the screen, and he finally knows how to wear underwear properly. The Superman "S" is the 2nd most recognized symbol in the world after the cross and he is still arguably the most known superhero. That doesn't mean people are just going to show up, the movie still has to appeal, and so far it seems to be going beyond that. Marketing has also gone the whole 10 yards and MoS has racked up $160M in promotional tie-ins. If you go to Walmart, you won't leave without seeing at least 40 items with MoS on it. Speaking of Walmart, they're even selling advanced tickets, the first time a major retailer has done this.

     Everyone. That's who this movie appeals to. You don't have to follow Superman to understand this movie. I do all my learning through Wikipedia. By early reactions and trailers, it seems Man of Steel won't disappoint. Though it won't reach Iron Man 3 and Dark Knight Rises opening levels, it's still poised to pull in a big league opening next week.

     Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Lawrence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Christopher Meloni (the SVU theme just played in your head, didn't it?), Antje Traue, Michael Keaton, and Russell Crowe (no, he doesn't sing). Directed by Zack Snyder, catch Man of Steel June 14 and worldwide starting June 13.

     Watch the mouth watering MoS Nokia trailer, trailer 4, and trailer 3 here.

Memorial Madness

    Memorial weekend is always lucrative at the box office, but this weekend, May 24-27, brought in the money and people in droves. This weekend is the highest grossing and most attended Memorial weekend of all time with $310 million in business. Though only the 6th highest grossing 3-day weekend ever, its the most attended and highest grossing 4-day. Another amazing feat is that Furious 6, the #1 movie, only accounted for 39% of the total. In most weekends this big, the #1 usually takes in 60-80% of the business.

     Furious 6 came in at #1 with $120m, Hangover 3 at #2 with $51.2m, Star Trek at #3 with $47m, Epic at #4 with 42.6m, Iron Man 3 at #5 with $24.3m, and Gatsby at #6 with $17m. The next closest movie was Mud with

only $2.4m. These numbers all look good together, but there were some successes, along with some stinkers. And I mean clogged port-a-potty type of stinker.

     Furious 6 defied expectations and gravity. Its 3-day opening increased over Fast 5 and it is also Universal's highest opening ever. 3 of the top 4 Universal openings are from the Fast and Furious series. It is by far their biggest franchise. Universal has been trying to expand F&F's audience, and they succeeded, bringing in 46% females and 43% under the age of 25. Another interesting fact is the opening was 32% Hispanic. Furious 6 will now coast past Fast 5's total with ease.

     Hangover 3's weekend may look big, but "fail" is the only word to describe it. Hangover 3's five day total is $63m, but Hangover 2 opened to $135m on the same weekend two years ago. Given that movies drop big the next weekend and Hangover 3's total is so far off from 2, Hangover 3 will certainly finish below Furious 6's 4-day total. That's one Hangover that WB might not want to wake up from. The movie has also been ravaged by critics, 21% and 4/10 on RT, mocked by audiences, and likely will be neglected in the coming weeks - at least until it hits Redbox. Many factors could contribute to Hangover 3's collapse - more of the same, lukewarm reception of Part 2, the change on emphasis from comedy to action, poor reviews, competition (doesn't help that F6 got 72% on RT and an A from audiences), fatigue, and the blatant killing of animals. PETA will be on WB's ass soon enough.

     Epic, being the first kids movie since March, scored well and should play well with families with no major competition for 4 weeks when Monsters University opens and with kids now getting out of school.

     After a "disappointing" opening last week, Star Trek Into Darkness rebounded this weekend, even with the stiff competition. Darkness is now back on track for an over $200m finish and Paramount's losses should be softened. Though, they'll still have losses.

     Iron Man 3 is still going strong after 4 weeks and its total now stands at $372m. IM3 will soon finish over $400m and it could be the only 2013 film to do so, though Catching Fire still has a shot, but regardless, Iron Man 3 will likely stay the highest grossing movie of the year and the highest grossing movie until Avengers 2 in 2015, but with box office, anything can happen. Gatsby sits at $117m and its run is still doing better than what most expected.

     May 2013 has already set a record for highest grossing May of all time and the rest of the summer looks huge as a whole. Man of Steel, Despicable Me 2, Monsters U, World War Z, White House Down, Elysium, Pacific Rim, Lone Ranger, The Purge, The Heat, Grown Ups 2, 2 Guns, Smurfs 2, After Earth, This Is The End, Wolverine, yeah the list just keeps going. 2013 is closing the gap with 2012 and this Summer likely will land as the top grossing and one of the most attended of all time. No need to do drugs because these movies will provide one of the best highs you'll experience. Get to your theater and prepare to melt in your seat!

'Furious 6' Shifts Into High Gear

     Warning. Fast and Furious 6 is so mind-blowing, you need 8 brains to process it. You won't be able to concentrate after and you'll try to comprehend what you just saw, but your mind will be so scrambled, that will be impossible for a few hours. Fast and Furious 6, or Furious 6 as it is in the movie, defies logic, defies gravity, defies all scientific and road laws, but who cares? Its Fast and Furious, and that's what they do best, and they sure did it well. From the first scene, Furious 6 kicks it into high gear, and they don't let up.

     Furious 6 follows the gang as they're living their laid back lives across the world. Hobbs aka "Samoan Thor"(Dwayne Johnson) is chasing a racing crew lead by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) through Europe who hijacks military equipment to build a tech bomb to sell to billionaires. Once Hobbs finds out the second-in-command is Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), who is Dom Torretto's (Vin Diesel) supposedly dead girlfriend, he goes looking for Dom. Hobbs finds Dom and tells him that he needs Dom and his team to help him and the DSS find the crew and bring them down, before they cause global disaster. In return, they will get closer to Letty, and receive pardons, though they practically care more about the former.

     The rest of the movie is Dom's team, including Brian (Paul Walker), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Giselle (Gal Gadot), and Han (Sung Kang) chasing Shaw's team through Europe before they take off with a computer chip to complete their bomb to sell. Mia (Jordana Brewster) is still in the mix, but she plays a different role since her and Brian now have a kid.

     What are sequels supposed to do? Bring something new, but keep familiar with the old, without bringing more of the same. Furious 6 achieves that. After Fast Five, it was wondered how Furious 6 could ever top it. Now, after seeing Furious 6, I have no idea how Fast 7 will top that. No idea. Furious 6 felt like an obvious sequel to Fast Five, but with stakes, action, urgency, and relationships all raised. A good thing about Furious 6 is even if you haven't seen Fast 1-5, you don't have a tough time understanding the characters, though watching at least Fast Five is good idea.

     When it comes to action movies, I like crystal clear action, no shaky cam, and great pacing. Justin Lin, the director, did an excellent job setting up the action scenes and switching between characters. With so many characters, its easy to get lost and easily forget what they're all supposed to be doing, but with the smooth transitions and clear path, Furious 6 succeeds. The biggest theme in Furious 6 is "family". Dom's team is one big extended family and you see that. The chemistry between the characters was just as good as Avengers from last year. Dom and Brian, Roman and Tej, Roman and everyone, Dom and Shaw, Letty and Riley (Gina Carano), Letty and Dom, Owen and Letty, Dom and Hobbs, the chemistry is amazing. Having a movie with a million characters can easily bring it down, but Furious 6 did a great job at keeping it integral.

     Like every movie, they are a couple problems. The biggest one is that Letty's plot is very predictable. Shaw's team was also underdeveloped and not given much freedom to do things outside of Shaw's orders of drive and shoot. There was little improvising between them, unlike Dom's team. The plot in whole wasn't predictable, but individual scenes were. Hobbs also delivered some cheesy lines that were more miss than hit. Shaw, though he was a villain, felt just like another player on his team. Other than him being the leader, there wasn't much separating him from his teammates and he lacked menace and instead does most of his dirty work through a cell phone. Though to be fair, that is a big problem with most villains outside of superhero movies, and even they have issues.

     My theater went wild during Furious 6 and it was a great experience. This is a movie you just have to see with a huge crowd to get full benefit. Believe it or not, at my showing their was 4 year olds in front of me, 7 year olds behind, all major races (no pun intended), teenagers, senior citizens - my theater room was one big multi-cultural melting pot. I extremely recommend Furious 6. It is a movie where you have to suspend belief, but hey you had to do that with Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and Skyfall too. Solid A and automatically one of my favorites ever, and my favorite in the Fast series. I knew I would enjoy Furious 6, but I wasn't expecting as much intense action, witty banter, and strong central characters as their was. Catch Furious 6 in theaters NOW or miss out!

    

'Iron Man 3' Lifts To The 2nd Biggest Opening Ever

     Iron Man 3, starring Robert Downey Jr, flew into North American theaters last weekend, ranking #2 all time, behind another Iron Man vehicle - Avengers. It is a given now that Iron Man 3 will pass $1 billion dollars worldwide given its $680 million total in one week. IM3 is also set for over $400M domestic and as I predict a decrease for the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, Iron Man 3 is set for #1 of 2013, the fourth #1 for a Marvel character in 11 years.

     $174.1 million. That's a lot of millions, right? Right, and that's how many millions Iron Man 3 pulled in last weekend. Thanks to RDJ, the Disney/Marvel production and marketing machine, and well received previous installments, Iron Man is a certified A-list hero, arguably the #2 most popular around the world right now after Batman.

     Iron Man 3 was a massive upgrade from the lazy Iron Man 2 that featured less action that a shopping trip to Marshall's. Shane Black, a known action director, helmed Iron Man 3 and he surely left his mark. Iron Man 3 had its tense and dark moments, but at times it borderlines as a comedy. Robert Downey Jr's quick whit rubbed off on everyone around him. Maya who the scientist in the opening scene, Happy Hogan who Tony's bodyguard, Harley who is a kid from Tennessee, and even the henchmen. When the action is not happening in act two, it's basically a boxing match between Tony and Harley on who has the best witty banter. A key thing about Iron Man 3 is all the characters play significant roles. Many blockbusters fail at utilizing all the characters given, but every character is integral to Tony's story and journey and the chemistry is clear. Tony and Pepper are more emotionally connected than ever and they share one of the strongest relationships on screen in a while.

     There wasn't much I found necessarily wrong with Iron Man 3, but I wasn't blown away. There were some plot elements in the movie that were left unexplained, but they're not big enough where they take away from the movie. I'm not a whiner about plot holes anyway. The climax, though it was huge, also had a few small issues. The major twist didn't bother me since I don't read comics, but I can completely understand why die hard fanboys would be upset. They were so upset that "Iron Man 3 sucks" was trending on Twitter by Friday morning, but that all changed once Friday night came around and "awesome" was most popular adjective used to describe the movie.

     My favorite thing about Iron Man 3 was the Mark 42 armor. That armor provided great quick action and even comedy. From the underwater scene to the Air Force One rescue (which in my opinion is the best action sequence in the movie) to the "journey across America", the armor was like none we've seen in the previous Iron Man movies. Kudos for the originality on that. Most of the action sequences were also clean and swift. I'm not a fan of shaky cam, quick ADHD cuts, and overzealous in and out zooms. Having Tony out of the suit and showing his strengths and weaknesses without it was also a plus. When you go to a superhero movie, you want to see the hero with his cape for as much of the movie as possible, but Tony out of it lead for great development. Dark Knight Rises and Spider Man 2 did the same to progress their characters.

     Overall I give Iron Man 3 a 4 out 5. You may have seen the story before, but it provides the type of summer movie fun that you crave, while still keeping strong characters, great acting, and clear action. Setting records in most of the countries it was released in, Iron Man 3 is a true worldwide phenomenon. RDJ's Marvel contract has expired, but its strongly expected that he'll return for Avengers 2 as Iron Man is Marvel's mascot and one of the main reason for the success of Avengers. Iron Man 3 doesn't rise to the bar that was set by its first movie in 2008, and its a little clunky and questioned at times, but still well directed, acted, and dialogue written, Iron Man 3 proves you can have a "Hulk Smash" at the BO, without the Hulk.

How Much Money Can 'Iron Man' Lift?

     Iron Man 3, the new movie from...does this really need an introduction? Okay, I'll give it one. Starring the Robert Downey Jr, Gweneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pierce, Rebecca Hall, and John Favreau, it is the latest installment in the Iron Man franchise, this time directed by action director Shane Black, produced by Marvel, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Iron Man 3 takes places after The Avengers and it's the first film in Marvel's 'Phase 2'.

     America will finally get the film in 7 days, May 3rd, but most other countries already have their hands - or eyes - on it. Iron Man 3 opened April 24, 25, and today the 26th in most countries, including big boy territories - the UK, Australia, France, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines. China, Hollywood's new favorite vacation spot, gets the movie May 3rd. It's hard to believe, but America gets the movie 2nd to last - May 3rd. China's ahead in time zones, they beat us.

     So whats the big deal? "Yay, Iron Man is out in places I'll never go. Why are you telling me?" I'm telling you because Iron Man 3 is doing something big and somewhat unexpected. Iron Man 3 in many countries has opened bigger than the big Avengers in its first few days. Do you remember how massive Avengers was? So massive, it would put a dent in Mount Everest if you sat Avengers on top of it. So massive, NASA gives it a planetary certification. It was that massive - the biggest movie since '09. Yeah, only three years, but that was the biggest movie since '97, so its a big deal. Wow, I've said "big" a lot.

     Does this mean Iron Man 3 will outgross Avengers' $1.5 billion worldwide? #3 all time? Likely not, but it does mean Iron Man is about to light up the box office. Front yard Christmas lights style.

     In the Philippines and Taiwan, Iron Man 3 scored the biggest opening day of all time - picture that in a Kayne West VMA voice - "okay other blockbusters, I'ma let y'all finish, but Iron Man 3 had the biggest opening of all time...all time" *drops mic and walks away*. It's total already stands at $36.5 million - in 2 days. In the UK, it opened behind Avengers, but ahead in Hong Kong and Indonesia. It opened 3rd all time in South Korea and 2nd all time in Argentina.

     Iron Man 3's impressive WW debut bodes well for America. IM3 has little chance of outdoing Avengers record $207M, but a debut between $150-$180M looks in store, which could place it even 2nd all time if it makes over $169.2M. The marketing for IM3 has been stellar and RDJ made a world tour, promoting the movie around the world. There was worry that now that Iron Man is flying solo (pun not intended), that some people would lose interest (spoiler alert - no Hulk smash in Iron Man 3). There was also worry that the lazy movie that talked us to death, aka Iron Man 2, would impact this one, as not-as-well received sequels tend to do to their threequels, but it looks like Iron Man 3 is having no problem.

     Thanks the the marketing, stellar reviews -  92% on RT as of this post, the "Avengers effect", the star power of RDJ, heavy action, great performances (Ben Kinglesy Oscar 2014? Hmm...), and Iron Man being catapulted to at least the worlds 2nd favorite hero (behind Batman), if not the first, Iron Man 3 is poised to smash the BO. Hulk smash. Minus the Hulk. In America, Catching Fire will give it a run for its money, but IM3 is still my favorite to win the year. Come back next week when I reveal just how big IM3 did do and give a spoiler free review. Catch Iron Man and his 30-something suits now or next week, depending on your locale!

Chugging Along, Fast As We Can

2013 got off to a slow start. January was a dud, February was horrendous, but March picked up slack, but it wasn't good enough. March was the 3rd highest grossing and 8-10th highest attended March ever; so somewhat a plus. February doesn't crack the top 10 adjusted though. Things do look promising in the coming months.

     So "why" you ask? Why the slow start? 2012, especially the first three months, set the BO on fire and 2012 broke oh so many records; so why does replacing the "2" with a "3" drag everything back down? Well there were a couple factors. Lack of family affair, violence, and poor reviews.

     Violence. Violence, violence, violence. There was so much violence. After the extremely tragic events at Newtown in December, America was tired of seeing it; I know I was. 10 movies were released wide in January and of those 10, 9, yes 9 were rated R. Then there was a PG-13 horror tossed in there (which was the highest grossing of the month by far). Of those 8 R rated movies, 5 would qualify for "shoot-em-up, blow-em-up, chop-em-up" style. TV is also rattled with violence now and Americans were likely asking themselves "why go pay $10 at the theater to watch more violence?" It wasn't only the violence though; only 2 movies (one technically coming out in 2012) were given "fresh" reviews; Mama and Zero Dark Thirty.

     February was even worse. Way worse. 11 movies (5 rated R, 0 G) were released wide in February and the biggest by far and currently #2 for the year was Identity Theft. Starring the red hot comics Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, IT was the first true comedy of the year, and the R rating didn't stop it. In wake of all the violence, all we needed was a little comedy. Though IT received poor reviews, audiences didn't care. The simple premise and comedic draws were enough to drive the crowds. Nick Sparks' PG-13 Safe Haven was second with $70M. Even though Die Hard 5 was #3 for February, it shouldn't have been. Die Hard 5 was the frontrunner to win the month and it crashed and burned (like many things in the movie). Negative reviews were probably the biggest killer for this as it opened somewhat solid over Valentines Weekend. Warm Bodies was the biggest surprise of the month, ranking #3 for zombie movies. Bullet to the Head (yes, that's the title), was the latest of R-rated shoot-em-up fare to fall victim to 2013 audiences not having it and it became a bomb for WB. Funny thing is they took out "killer" in the bomb Jack the Giant Slayer to make it more friendly. Maybe "Blow to the Head" or "Kiss to the Cheek" would have been better? Beautiful Creatures also had an ugly gross.

     March was the best of the bunch, but it wasn't "march madness" from last year. Jack the Giant Slayer bombed hard and will lose WB over $150M. The college crowd wasn't ready to be 21 and Over as that made half of Project X's gross. There was Last Exorcism 2 that got zero demons out of anybody. Phantom bombed. Dead Man Down (another violent R) was DOA. Spring Breakers was solid and made back its budget, but the party was short. Burt Wonderstone was the latest tragedy for WB and is one of Carrel's and Carey's lowest grossers ever. And I hope no one was a host for the party for The Host, because no one came. WAIT! March did have a bright side. Olympus Has Fallen broke the streak of violent R failing and earned over $30M on OW. It is poised to finish between $80-$100M and is Film District's biggest hit yet. The Croods luckily was no Guardians. Croods, the first big animated family movie of the year, has been doing very well and should finish between $170M-$200M. Speaking of $200M, Oz was the biggest movie of the month and year so far, grossing $212M and $454M worldwide. That's a hefty number, but Oz likely won't break the black in theaters due to the insane budget and marketing costs. Good thing the 99 cent "Oz Temple Run" is lighting up the App Store. GI Joe 2 is also a solid hit and gave March a boost and Temptation and The Call had a strong openings. 15 movies went wide in March.

     April doesn't look electrifying (does it ever?), but it won't be another "February". Summer 2013 though, looks gigantic and looks to be one of the biggest summer's ever. 2013 with the slow start could still pick up slack and get back on 2012 levels, but Summer will need to be a beast and the Holidays will need to live up to the hype. April could also provide some help to, which it's doing this weekend, with Evil Dead at #1, was bigger than the same weekend last year. There you go! We're getting somewhere.

Back 2 Work - 'Despicable Me 2'

     After three years of anticipation, the minions are finally back as the new trailer for Despicable Me 2 is now out. The new trailer has been released today and should play in front of The Croods on Friday. All of your favorites from Despicable Me are back; Gru, the MINIONS, Agnes, Edith, Margo, and Dr. Nefario (though he's not seen in the the trailer).

     The trailer starts with Gru giving the girls a kiss goodnight and a funny rant from the cute Agnes. Gru then runs into Agent Lucy Wild of the "Anti Villain League"; she abducts Gru and two minions, comically, and takes them to an underground CIA/MI6'esque facility where Silas Ramsbottom (who will be the butt of jokes by them minions, and pun intended) tells him a new villainous threat has surfaced and since he "knows how a villain thinks", that is why they brought him to the facility. The trailer ends with the Gru showcasing how he's going to save the world again and more minion mischief. The new trailer is on here on Youtube.

     Despicable Me was a surprise hit in 2010, blowing away predications and expectations of everyone, including Universal and Illumination. Despicable Me finished #7 for the year and #2 for animation after Toy Story 3. Despicable Me's $251 domestic gross was still huge for computer animation today and it ranks #9 all time in CG animation and #1 for a CG movie not made by Pixar or DreamWorks.

     Despicable Me 2 will battle with Monsters University for #1 animation of the year, though I'm in favor of Despicable Me 2. The minions were and still are hilarious and they are the perfect marketing tool, positive reception from the first movie, a new storyline, 3D, sequel status, and great marketing should position this as one of the top for the year, and some are considering this a dark horse to win the year over Iron Man 3 and Catching Fire. Can it pull a Shrek 2 or will it pull a Kung Fu Panda 2 or somewhere in-between? We'll know come this time next year. Despicable Me 2 opens July 3, 2013 in America and June through October worldwide.

Jack The Giant Failure

     Odds are you haven't seen Jack The Giant Slayer. Odds are you won't anytime soon. Only around 5 million people domestically have since its opening on March 1st. Oz captured at least 8 million people in its first 5 days alone. Jack is not what Warner Bros wanted or needed it to be. After the failures of Gangster Squad, Beautiful Creatures, Burt Wonderstone, Cloud Atlas, and Bullet to the Head, and the Justice League turmoil, Jack has just added to the dry spell in Warner checkbooks. On a plus side, WB had a very solid 2012 (minus Atlas) and Hobbit became the latest movie to cross $1 billion worldwide.

     Jack the Giant Slayer, directed by Bryan Singer and starring Nicholas Hoult, is no doubt this years John Carter. John Carter is even tracking ahead of Jack. So far, Jack has grossed $45.8 million domestic and $68.1 million worldwide and with a 68.3% drop in it's second weekend, Jack won't be at the box office party for long; his curfew is kicking in. John Carter has made $10 million more through the same point.

     Jack is obviously going to be a massive loss for Warner Bros, but Jack has been doomed for a long time. Originally set to come out in June 2012, Warner pushed Jack back to March 2013 for various reasons, one to make the movie "more kid-friendly". March has become a lucrative months for studios and is arguably the most sought after month outside of the summer and holiday months. The overall goal of the movie just never fell in play.

     Jack's delays have raised the budget, but there's really no reason for it to cost as much as it did. The same can be said for Oz, Battleship, really anything with a budget over $200 million. Oz debuted to $79.1 million last weekend and should be a decent hit for Disney, but "decent" is not what they wanted; but you have to ask yourself, did they really need to give Oz a $200 million budget and $100 million in marketing? Did Oz need the dazzling effects, A-list stars, flying baboons, and all the advertising? Would an $80 million Oz have done or been just as good? Those are very opinionated questions; many people still go to movies for stories over effects, which is a complaint from many critics about Oz, but in the end, the studio makes the call; its there money.

     Jack will be a shot in the feet (not foot) for WB, but their summer schedule shows promise. 2013 has been lethargic as a whole (see my earlier post) for various reasons, but it probably won't be completely understood why Jack failed. Jack may end with no more than $60 million domestic and worldwide isn't promising, but at least that's one more unneeded sequel that won't be released in 2014-2015.

Heavy Metal; 'Iron Man 3' Trailer Released

     The new trailer for Iron Man 3 has hit the web today and it's two and half minutes of Marvel goodness. Iron Man 3, this time directed by Shane Black, tells the tale of Tony Stark aka Iron Man who is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after the events of The Avengers. Ever since, all he spends his time doing is building new armors. When the Mandarin, the villainous leader of the terrorist group "the Ten Rings" surfaces and strips Tony of everything he knows and loves (his Malibu mansion gets blown into the ocean), Tony must now use his scraps to rebuild his life and find this terrorist, who uses actual ten rings for mythical and physical power, and take him down.

     Also thrown in, a "virus" called Extremis, which can turn an ordinary pizza guy, into a superhuman soldier. Note, no pizza guys actually make an appearance, that I'm aware of, just an example. Aldrich Killian, a scientist who develops Extremis turns rogue, partnering with Mandarin and takes the virus himself.

     Tony's beautiful house is in the bottom of the sea, Pepper's been kidnapped, Tony's armor's have been blown to scrap, and he can't contact his Avengers pals; he's alone. After taking a brisk walk through the snow, thinking about life, Tony realizes he has to use his most powerful weapon, his brain, to save the world and the lives of the people he loves.

     The trailer is beautiful. Tony Stark is known for his wit, sarcasm, and nonchalant lifestyle, but this trailer is a great display of the character's emotional depth, as wit and sarcasm alone won't save him. War Machine is also seen with a redesigned Iron Patriot look and more time is spent with this trailer showcasing the Mandarin and Killian. This trailer is easily one of Marvel's most serious, but don't worry, Iron Man 3 reportedly still features some comedy. RDJ is starring in this, there has to be comedy. The last Iron Man 3 trailer has already amassed 50 million views on YouTube, one of the best ever for a movie trailer. This one, one of the most top notch trailers I've seen in a while, should come close. I still have Iron Man 3 pegged as the #1 movie of the year. It'll be in competition with Catching Fire, but I don't think Katniss' bows can match Stark's arsenal.

     Watch the new action packed Iron Man 3 trailer here. Also catch the older, but still awesome Iron Man 3 trailer here.

     Iron Man 3 stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Guy Pierce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall,  and Jon Favreau. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, though Paramount's logo will show because of a deal between Disney/Paramount, Iron Man 3 flies into theaters April international and May 3rd worldwide.

     You're up, Man of Steel and Amazing Spider Man 2.

2013 To The Emergency Room

     One word to describe the 2013 box office so far - anemic. 2013 is off to a terrible start and things aren't looking too much better before the summer. So far, 2013 has brought in $1.473 billion domestically. A billion dollars is a lot of dollars, but when it comes to the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry, this is chump change. January was poor and February was the lowest grossing since 2002; 11 years ago. The low gross also means that January and February were even lower in attendance. Frost is forming on theater seats.

     Only 1 movie from January and February, Identity Theft, has and will cross $100 million. Last year we had 3. Silver Linings Playbook, Django, Les Miz, and Life of Pi have crossed $100 million this year, but they are 2012 movies, so they don't count.

     2012 started off on a shockingly great pace. February and March set gross records and if it wasn't for 2009's Avatar, 2010's January record could have been broken too. February 2012 ranked 4th in all time attendance and March ranked 2nd. The "people don't go to the movies anymore" argument still isn't valid, at least it wasn't last year. So why? Why in just one year has the market shifted back to the doldrums? Not only did 2012 start on a strong note, but it ended on one as 2012 set a new November record.

     To start, Hollywood has been churning out crappy movies. And crappy is saying it lightly; I can't say the real definition here. (children readers). This isn't my opinion; this is fact. Of 24 wide releases so far, 21 have been rated rotten and only THREE movies have been rated fresh. In order for a movie to be rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, 60% or more of the critics that reviewed the movie have to give it a positive review. Ticket prices are ever increasing and people are more cautious of what movies they spend money on. Some horrible movies do succeed, but if its horrible movie after horrible movie every weekend, it gets tired. Critic reviews are opinionated and not everyone thinks the movies are bad; Identity Theft only has 24% on RT, but its 2013's highest grosser by far, but in general, the movies are dissatisfying. A Good Day to Die Hard is a big example.

     Movies are a family affair. The studios aren't getting the hint. There has only been one nationwide family release this year; Escape to Planet Earth. Disney's Oz: The Great and Powerful is being released next week and should tap into the family market, but it is still not enough. There have been zero G rated movies and one PG rated movie so far this year. There has been at least one R rated release every week this year, and some weekends this year all releases were rated R. Hollywood needs to change this fast. Many Americans don't want to keep seeing so much violence, especially after all the real life violence that has been going on lately. TV is also violent so why go to theater to watch more violence? Basically, stop with a shoot-em-up, blow-em-up, chop-em-up movie every Friday; mix the market up to appeal to everyone.

     The economy, winter weather, higher prices, low quality movies, too many R rated movies, not enough family movies, piracy, Redbox and Netflix are all contributing to the lower grosses in some way. Some people are now opting to wait 5 months on a movie so they can pay $1 to rent or watch it streaming at home. Who's paying $10 for Broken City when reviews say its just like every other movie of its genre? Is Bullet to the Head really an appropriate and appealing title? This is the from the same studio that took "killer" out of Jack the Giant Killer and replaced it with "slayer." Do people want to see Texas Chainsaw 14 that's no different from Texas Chainsaw 1-13? The answer right now is a majority "no." Just look at the grosses. Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Statham, Hollywood's "action captain's", fell flat.

     2012 was the same way with an R rated movie coming out every weekend, but the market was more diverse; especially the February 10th weekend. March will be the on the stronger side, but it's not too promising. Oz has an epic scope, but that doesn't guarantee epic grosses. GI Joe: Retaliation looks leagues above Rise of Cobra, but if it does break out, it will help April more than March. The Host could be the new Twilight, but it could also be Beautiful Creatures. After the disappointing run of Rise of the Guardians, The Croods is under pressure. Every other March release looks average and the March 1st-3rd weekend will be a disappointment based on Friday estimates.

     2013 is not doomed. 2012 started off elite, but then went back to decade low weekends, then rebounded in November. 2013's summer looks stronger than 2012's, but if March and April don't shape up, 2013 won't come close to a record. Take a look at the 2013 summer schedule; it will be extremely interesting.

     It's still early and 2013 has a long way to go, so we'll see what happens. I did an article in August 2012 when that year was going on it's landslide, so hopefully 2013 will strive for an uphill climb. Hollywood has the power, they have to make it happen. 2013, I believe in you.