WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Futuristic Commentary 'Elysium' Leads Overcrowded Weekend, Falls Short of 'District 9' Debut

Four new releases debuted in a heavily crowded frame this past weekend, but it was Neill Blomkamp's futuristic social commentary Elysium that emerged victorious with its $30 million opening. 

Elysium stars Matt Damon as a dying factory worker in the year 2154, who's only chance of survival is to find a way aboard a luxurious space colony where the wealthy are provided with the finest health care of the future. Elysium is supplied with a more prominent cast and larger budget than Blomkamp's 2009 directorial debut, District 9, but while Elysium secured the top spot at the box office this past weekend, it failed to match the director's previous opening.

The other three new releases, We're the Millers, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and Planes fought over the remaining spots in the Top 5, leaving last week's #1, 2 Guns barely hanging on to the final spot at the box office.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Washington, Wahlberg Action Flick Outguns 'Smurfs' Sequel in Weekend Frame

Normally it's the evil wizard Gargamel's job to cause despair for the Smurfs, but not this weekend as Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg's bested the little blue people from the top spot with their latest action flick, 2 Guns. 

In 2 Guns, Washington and Wahlberg get caught up in robbing millions of dollars from a Mexican drug cartel, but while the formulaic action plot catapulted the film to the top spot of this weekend's box office, its $27 million opening is also the lowest #1 of the summer. 

Family film, The Smurfs 2 fell short of not only the top spot, but also the #2 spot even finding itself behind last week's superhero champion, The Wolverine. Opening this past Wednesday, the Smurfs sequel burned nearly $10 million of its gross before the weekend started, leaving its 3-day total about half of the first film's $35 million opening weekend. 

'Smurfs' Sequel Slightly Improves Over Previous Hybrid Adventure

Smurfette (Katy Perry) warms up to her evil captors Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (J.B. Smoove).

Brace yourself for the return of even more blue beings back on the big screen for a sequel that manages to outperform its predecessor. But don't get too excited if you were expecting the sequel to James Cameron's Avatar. It's not, just another round of Smurf adventures in The Smurfs 2.

Two years have passed since the Smurfs last thwarted their arch-nemesis Gargamel (Hank Azaria) in the heart of Times Square, but that brief setback hasn't stopped the bumbling villain from concocting yet another dim-witted plot to take over the world. This time around, his Naughties, evil gray Smurfs, kidnap his reformed creation Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry) from Smurf Village, forcing her to reveal the ingredients of a powerful Smurf formula.

'Wolverine' Sequel Claws Its Way to Middle of X-Men Pack

Adamantium-clawed Logan (Hugh Jackman) confronts his own mortality in Japan in The Wolverine.

The quality of the X-Men movies hasn't been the most consistent over the franchise's decade-plus run. When the series belts out rock solid installments such as X2 and X-Men: First Class, they're not just superior superhero films, but rank amongst the best of the their respective years. But then again, the franchise also includes X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Feel free to erase those two from canon.

Much like 2009's X-Men Origins, The Wolverine is a standalone feature that focuses solely on Hugh Jackman's adamantium-clawed loner, Wolverine. Set one year after The Last Stand, Wolverine is summoned to Japan to fulfill the dying wishes of Yashida, an industrial tycoon whose life he saved during the Nagasaki attacks. Yashida offers Wolverine an opportunity to strip away his immortality and put an end to eternal suffering.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'The Wolverine' Attacks Top Spot Despite Weaker X-Men Franchise Opening

There was no surprise that The Wolverine would claw its way to the top spot at the box office this weekend, however the standalone mutant film starring Hugh Jackman debuted weaker than every other X-Men film in the franchise with the exception of the first film from 2000.

The Wolverine transports adamantium-clawed superhero halfway around the globe to Japan to reunite with an industrial tycoon whose life he saved during World War II. Despite being based on a popular 80's X-Men arc, a $55 million opening for The Wolverine is startling for a franchise that has boasted higher numbers in the past.   

Last week's top film, The Conjuring and previous two-week champion Despicable Me 2 continued to hold strong in the face of competition. The James Wan scare fest closes in on a successful $100 million run, while Illumination Entertainment's animated spy flick became to second film of 2013 to cross $300 million domestically.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Conjuring' Frightens the Masses During Overcrowded Weekend Frame

With four new releases launching onto the big screen this weekend, Despicable Me 2's impressive back-to-back run as the top film at the box office was set to end.

The Conjuring starring Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) scared up a first place finish with an estimated $42 million, setting a horror record for  non-sequels, prequels or reboots. The Conjuring also is a career high for director James Wan (Saw, Insidious).

Dropping to the second place, Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2 continued to fend off the other three new releases, Turbo, RED 2 and R.I.P.D. with another $25 million added to its $276 million 3-week run. Despicable Me 2 is now the highest grossing animated film from the past three years.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Raunchy 'Grown Ups' Sequel Edges Out 'Pacific Rim; 'Despicable Me 2' Repeats

The Minions from Despicable Me 2 may have conquered the box office for a second week in a row, but the most asked question coming out of the weekend was how Adam Sandler's toilet humor antics attracted a slightly larger audience than giant robots clanking metal with Godzilla.

Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim clashed head-to-head for the #2 and #3 spots over the weekend, however Adam Sandler's comedy emerged victorious with $42.5 million to Pacific Rim's $38 million. Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim appeal to two completely polarizing demographics, but both films still fell short of Despicable Me 2's second weekend haul, opening close to $45 million.

Despicable Me 2 continues its assault on the summer box office, breaking the $200 million milestone in 12 days of release. Only Toy Story 3 and Shrek 2 reached $200 million a few days faster with both finishing above $400 million at the box office. 
   

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Despicable Me 2' Conquers Fourth of July Box Office, Depp's 'Lone Ranger' Left for Dead

The lovable minions from the highly anticipated sequel, Despicable Me 2 lit up the Fourth of July holiday frame earning the top spot this weekend as well as becoming the most successful animated film for the first 5-days of its run.  Despicable Me 2 looks to join animated juggernauts such as Shrek 2, The Lion King and Finding Nemo by summer's end.

However, Johnny Depp's costly iteration of The Lone Ranger couldn't hold a candle to the success of Despicable Me 2, opening much lower than anticipated by many box-office analysts. With a weak $29 million 3-day opening, The Lone Ranger is pegged to be one of 2013's greatest financial failures.

The Heat, Monsters University and World War Z round out the weekend's Top 5 with all three films continuing their ascent towards their next milestones.

More Minions and More Mayhem Keep Laughs Loud in 'Despicable Me 2'

The minions are back for even more slapstick humor and mayhem in Despicable Me 2. 

What's wrong with being the bad guy fueled by sinister plots of global domination? After all, the perks that go along with being a stereotypical baddie are plenty of worthwhile incentives. Who wouldn't want top-notch gadgets, a decked out secret lair and most importantly an army of minions?

However since Illumination Entertainment's 2010 breakout animated film, Despicable Me, ex-supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) has reformed into a family man, raising three girls (Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher) until Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), a high-strung spy abducts him on behalf of the Anti-Villain League to track down El Macho, a villainous face of the past thought to be long gone.

Sixth 'Fast & Furious' Installment Adds High-Octane Fuel to Summer Movie Season

Fast rides and battle tanks duke it out on a European highway in Fast & Furious 6.

Change can do wonders. For a brief time, "The Fast and the Furious" franchise was in complete disarray courtesy of its third installment, Tokyo Drift, a film that stayed true to the high-octane racing niche, but failed to maintain the integrity of the initial 2001 Vin Diesel and Paul Walker action vehicle.

Much like the previous two installments, Fast and Furious and Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6 breathes new life into a once-dying franchise, concentrating on unrealistic complex heists plus international vehicular warfare now added to the equation. Fast & Furious 6 picks up where the 2011 film left off. Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) are living large overseas, putting a life of crime in the rear-view mirror.

'Into Darkness' Blasts Rebooted Trek Franchise Beyond Greatness.

Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) interrogate their mysterious prisoner (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Remember when it wasn't the in-thing to be a Star Trek fan, proudly clad in a Starfleet uniform, pointed Vulcan ears and comprehensive understanding of Klingon. Well, with the 2009 Star Trek reboot, JJ Abrams did the unthinkable transforming the franchise's 40+ year-old reputation of being an exclusive club of diehard sci-fi fans to reaching a much broader audience, now more appreciative to go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek Into Darkness continues where the 2009 blockbuster left off with James Kirk (Chris Pine), the hot-headed captain of the Enterprise with more experience under his belt, but still under the pretense that he's above the rules. After recklessly risking the safety of his crew on a primitive planet, Kirk is temporarily stripped of his captaincy until he's personally assigned to hunt down a terrorist (BBC Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch) with deep ties to Starfleet out to the far reaches of the galaxy.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Star Trek' Warps to #1, Misses $100 Million 4-Day Target

The burning question coming out of this past weekend was what just happened to Star Trek Into Darkness? Banking on the success of the 2009 blockbuster and the new found coolness to be a Trekkie, Into Darkness had its sights a reasonable $100 million over its first four days in release.

Not only did Star Trek fail to meet that milestone, but the sequel opened a notch lower than the previous film with an extra day and IMAX sneak peek. Granted, the switch from releasing Star Trek Into Darkness from May 17th to May 16th may have confused some moviegoers, but this less-than-stellar start will require substantial word-of-mouth to strike lightning twice.

Whether or not, Star Trek Into Darkness manages to cross $250 million or even $200 million remains to be seen, but the summer competition continues to stay fierce.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Gatsby' Parties Large at #2, Comes Up Short Against 'Iron Man' Repeat

It wasn't no surprise that superhero juggernaut Iron Man 3 and Baz Luhrmann's stylistic retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's American classic would pack a 1-2 punch during this weekend's Mother's Day frame.

But was anyone expecting Luhrman's The Great Gatsby to benefit from being pushed back from a Oscar-bait holiday release to being sandwiched between two of summer's most anticipated releases, a spot dreaded by many jockeying for heated positions? $51 million says differently.

Now two weeks deep into an already lucrative summer movie season, the studio tentpoles on deck in the coming weeks have their work cut out for them. And will any be able to catch up to Iron Man 3's overperforming haul?
     

Top 5 Movies of All-Time That Defied the Threequel Curse

Call it a curse, perhaps even laziness on the part of Hollywood creatives, but second sequels have an unfortunate tendency to disappoint. With Iron Man 3 finally in the books, audience opinions remain divided ranging anywhere from the best film of the trilogy to an atrocious bait-and-switch. 

For the fanboys out there treating Iron Man 3 like it's one of the worst botches ever, it's nowhere among the worst. In fact, Iron Man 3 ranks on the better side of impressive third chapters in a series.

While Iron Man 3 comes up short in making this list, there are still sequels out there with enough fuel in the tank to keep the cinematic momentum going. There are only a handful that can boast this claim and even fewer that can be called the crowning achievement in a series. 

The five films below certainly stand out from the countless missed opportunities found in second sequels. 

'Iron Man 3' Kicks Off Summer Complete with Energy and Laughs

Iron Man returns with more suits of armor than ever before, including Mark XLII.

Last year this time, Marvel embarked on its most ambitious outing ever with The Avengers. For the legions of rabid Marvel fanboys out there, witnessing its larger-than-life superhero dream team (Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America) joining forces for the very first time onscreen sparked a higher demand for more superior superhero flicks. That's all fine, except there's even greater pressure on Iron Man 3 to deliver the goods, more so than any previous installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since the life-altering events of The Avengers, billionaire genius Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has found himself suffering from PTSD, unable to sleep and consumed in the bowels of his Malibu home lab with constructing newer variations of Iron Man armor. But those are just the start of his problems when Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin begins to terrorize the American people and its government. After an attack on his long-time friend Happy, Tony's war with the Mandarian gets real personal.

Top 10: Most Anticipated Movies of 2013

Hollywood has its work cut out in 2013. 2012. For starters, where do superhero movies go from here after competitors Marvel and DC exponentially raised the genre's bar with The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises? How about smaller films? Lincoln, Argo and Silver Linings Playbook all transformed into critical darlings overnight and that magic is only duplicated for the rare few.

Even with audience expectations set at a higher level than before, there are still ten movies that must be experienced in theaters as early as possible. Below are my choices for my most anticipated movies released in 2013.
   

Nolan's "Batman" Finale Rises Among Superhero Supremacy

The fate of Gotham hangs in the balance as Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy) collide.

It’s impractical to even bother trying to compare “The Dark Knight Rises” to its predecessors, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight.” The three installments making up Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking superhero trilogy are so remotely different from one another that the Caped Crusader himself remains the only constant amidst the coming and going struggles against psychological, moral and physical villainy. Set eight years after the previous film, Batman continues his self-imposed exile from vigilantism after taking the fall for Harvey Dent’s crimes. That is, however, until Gotham City is threatened to its core by the masked terrorist, Bane (Tom Hardy) and his cataclysmic agenda. Bane is a juggernaut that shouldn’t be feared just on bulk size alone, but when combined with his calculating genius mind, the end for Gotham has finally arrived. CONTINUE READING

'Madagascar' Transforms European Escapade into Delightful Finale

Still trying to find a way home, Alex (Ben Stiller) and company join a travel circus in style.

Everything leading up to this latest installment in the Madagascar franchise has been centered around Marty the Zebra’s “Afro Circus,” a catchy circus song that stands in for the series’ theme “I Like to Move It, Move It.” But is the Madagascar series once again relying too much on a gimmicky song at the expense of delivering energetic storytelling? 

Fortunately, that’s not the case. This time around in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Alex (Ben Stiller), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), Marty (Chris Rock) and Melman (David Schwimmer) are still stranded in Africa with little chance of returning home to New York until they embark on a journey to Monte Carlo to find the fan-favorite Penguins who can fly them home. A few detours later and Monaco Animal Control on their tail (literally), the gang moves across Europe with a failing circus troupe, looking for their big break and golden ticket across the pond. 

Third 'MIB' Outing Ends Series on Weakest Note

After a decade-long hiatus, the MIB franchise goes in a brand new direction - back in time.

Men in Black 3 was simply doomed from the start, desperately attempting to reacquaint moviegoers (or more-so subject moviegoers) to what was already an outdated and lifeless franchise. Times have certainly changed since the late 90s as has the quality of cinematic competition. Will Smith just doesn’t have the star power that he had a decade ago with his trio of revolving summer blockbusters: Independence Day, Men in Black, and Wild Wild West.  

And Tommy Lee Jones is no better off, straying from his slew of Oscar-bait performances for the sole purpose of revisiting campy nostalgia. Back as MIB Agents J and K, Smith and Jones once again don their signature black suits and Ray-Bans ready to take down intergalactic criminal, Boris the Animal (Jermaine Clement) hell bent on altering the space time continuum. So far, the plot doesn’t sound too bad, a bit derivative, but surely not dreadful. After all, Back to the Future and Austin Powers are deep in the time-travel genre and look how it enhanced those franchises.

Fourth 'Underworld' is Abomination, Not 'Awakening'

After being frozen for over a decade, Selene's back and ready to finish what she started.  

Vampires and werewolves are still battling one another and believe it or not it’s not Twilight. Sorry to get your hopes up Team Edward and Team Jacob. In fact, that other vampire and werewolf franchise is back in what seems to be the recent trend of every third year in January.  

Underworld: Awakening reintroduces the former Death Dealer, leather-clad Selene (Kate Beckinsale), who has been cryogenically frozen for the past twelve years since the events of “The Purge.” Selene finds herself in a world quite differently than one she remembers, most particularly one where an enigmatic hybrid could turn the tide in the ageless battle between vampires and lycans. Despite some chronological shifts in Rise of the Lycans, Awakening remains the fourth film in the series.