Vince Vaughn has proven that his comedy star power is still going strong this weekend as his tropical rom-com Couples Retreat snagged the top spot at the box-office taking in a very solid $35.3 million. Three out of his past four comedies, (minus Fred Claus) Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up and Four Christmases all grossed well over $100 million domestically, displaying the affection most movie-goers have for the fast-talking funnyman.

Despite being co-written by Vaughn and Swingers/Made writer Jon Favreau, which would seemingly solidify comedic quality, Couples Retreat was bashed hard by most critics, receiving an awful 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Again proving that critical acclaim is not mutually exclusive with commercial success; although if it is indeed that bad, it should receive some negative word-of-mouth backlash on Twitter.

The blood-bath comedy of the year, Zombieland, continues to perform decently at the box-office by coming in second place with $15 million in its second weekend. As funny and as awesome as this movie is (I gave it an A grade in my review last week) the zombie genre in general is much more “cult exclusive,” thus restraining its potential blockbuster status. “This year’s Blair Witch Project,” Paranormal Activity, has made an exponential profit at the box-office vs. it’s production budget by taking in $7.1 million during its opening weekend, coming in at #5. Paranormal Activity‘s budget was a mere $15,000, but has made it’s creators Hollywood royalty over night. The film has received phenomenal reviews and is being dubbed as “the scariest movie of the decade.” Can’t wait to see it.

Opening up this weekend is the absolute no-brainer of the Fall to make a massive splash at the box-office, I am of course talking about Where The Wild Things Are. This is the film that myself, and most of my friends have been anticipating for months now and should easily be the most successful movie of the fall. WTWTA is a children’s book that has a lot of meaning for many people as it is has had a lot of emotional impact on our generation’s childhood. That, plus the constant marketing and very solid early reviews, I have no doubt that  Where The Wild Things Are will easily gross over $200 million domestically.

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

1) Couples Retreat $35.3 million
2) Zombieland $15 million
3) Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs $12 million
4) Toy Story 2/3 in 3D $7.7 million
5) Paranormal Activity $7.1 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

After a very warm critical reception and the enticing brand name that is Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds blew up the box-office this weekend by raking in an impressive $37.6 million. It’s the biggest opening weekend for Tarantino’s blood-spattered career; the second best being Kill Bill in 2003, which brought in just over $22 million during its opening weekend. Oh, and the fact that The Weinstein Company had Brad Pitt’s face to plaster all over banner ads and TV spots didn’t hurt. It was just a great movie and it really was Tarantino’s masterpiece; as Lt. Aldo Raine  mentioned in the film’s closing shot.

I’m having a tough time deciding between Basterds and District 9 for the “best film of the summer/year” just yet, but it seems audiences are having a similar predicament, as the little sci-fi movie that could had a solid second weekend at the box-office, taking in $18 million. Let’s put this in perspective, District 9 relied its financial success on an unknown director, a first-time actor and a production budget of only $30 million.  After10 days, it’s total domestic gross is now $73 million; a $43 million profit (minus marketing costs) for a movie that had no brand name or familiar franchise association. It’s really nice to see that quality films like Basterds and D9 are making bank at the box-office, especially since this summer has been filled with mediocrity.

G.I. Joe is still struggling to truck along, which came in third this weekend with $12.5 million. It’s domestic total is now at just over $120 million. That number is deceiving though, as Joe’s production budget was $175 million, PLUS marketing costs. Either way, we’re going to see a Joe 2 sometime in the next couple years. UGH.

This weekend it’s all about which movie “kills it,” as two horror franchises unveil their latest installments, with Rob Zombie’s Halloween II and The Final Destination in 3D going head-to-head. Although the FD franchise has completely outstayed its welcome for sometime, I think the 3D factor could play big here. Rob Zombie’s first Halloween was decent, but I’m really “meh” about #2. I think that The Final Destination will be on top this weekend with a modest $25 million. I also think that Basterds will have a solid second weekend and come in at #2 with $21 million. Halloween II is going to flop and only bring in about $17 million, which puts District 9 at #4 with a solid $13 million third weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

1) Inglorious Basterds – $37.6 million
2) District 9 – $18.9 million
3) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – $12.5 million
4) The Time Traveler’s Wife – $10.02 million
5) Julie & Julia – $9 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Looks like I was finally right with my G.I. Joe box-office prediction, or at least close. Last week I predicted that Joe & Co. would top the box-office this weekend with $62 million. I was only off by $6 million as Joe brought in an impressive $56.2 million from Friday to Sunday. The rest of my predictions were way, off, but I digress. So despite mostly negative reviews and just general negative perceptions prior to release, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra showed, like Transformers 2, that mindless action can find a significant audience during the summer months. So much so, that Paramount has already announced plans to very soon, initiate development on G.I. Joe 2: Reign of Cobra?. Classic.

The Movie Mash hasn’t posted a review for Joe yet because I’m leaving that responsibility to our very own Mr. Travis Andries, as he is a G.I. Joe connoisseur. He’s taking his time to give the best, most in-depth and analytical analysis possible because of his life-long passion for Joe. Just quickly from me, I thought it was entertaining, had some cool action sequences, but ultimately was too cheesy and had too much action to make it a coherent film. Also, Channing Tatum is the worst actor on the planet. So…(B-).  Stay tuned for that full review to be up in the next couple days. What’s interesting is that Joe was really the only movie that had much success this weekend, as the #2 spot went to Julie & Julia starring Merl Streep, which took in only $20 million; not a shabby amount for a film such as that, but a significant drop off from the #1 to #2 spot. The rest of the top five were in single digits.

This weekend should prove to be interesting as arguably the most-anticipated (at least for me), yet most unknown movie of the summer is about to hit theaters, District 9. I’ve been discussing the awesomeness of this film for a while now, but regardless of the bombardment of TV ads, it’s still a question mark because of the unknown actors and director involved. Reviews should do nothing but help the film as it is currently sitting at a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, a number that is of course subject to change. The film is apparently so good, that it’s currently the cover of Entertainment Weekly with the title, “Why District 9 Will Blow Your Mind.”  So while I am ecstatic and everyone in the biz who has seen it, loves it, can a completely original sci-fi movie that has no major stars and a rookie director make a splash at the box-office? Hellz yeah I say! G.I. Joe will have a major drop-off of 50% or more because of bad word-of-mouth, Julie & Julia won’t do anything more than another $12-15 million. And the only other same-day competition that it has is The Time Traveler’s Wife, which actually could prove as a worthy advisory; pitting the fanboys vs. date night. I still think that District 9 will come out on top and take in $40 million over three days. The Time Traveler’s Wife will come in second and take in $32 million. And G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra will round out the top three and take in $26 million over its second weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

CHAMP: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $56.2 million
2) Julie & Julia $20.1 million
3) G-Force $9.8 million
4) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $8.8 million
5) Funny People $7.8 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Sorry for the hiatus folks, but after Comic-Con I think studios needed a week or so to decompress, thus resulting in the VERY slow past five days of movie news. Anyway, I’m back with this week’s edition of Box-Office Benjamin$ and Judd Apatow’s Funny People is on top, taking in a respectable $22.7 million during it’s opening weekend. This could be seen as somewhat of a disappointment for a labeled “R-rated blockbuster comedy” with such name-brand star-power, while The Hangover makes over twice as much on its opening weekend. Word must have spread about the heightened level of emotional drama, compared to Apatow’s previous two films, which maybe some people didn’t like or want to see.  But that is why I think this movie is so great and is FAR superior as a motion picture than The Hangover. Check out my review of Funny People HERE.

It’s not all over for Funny People though, as Apatow’s flicks tend to take some time to get rolling. The 40-Year-Old Virgin only made just over $21 million on its opening weekend and then went on to gross over $100 million. Knocked Up only made $30 million its opening weekend and then went on to rake in an impressive $150 million domestically. Funny people is in the middle of the pack and can hopefully get some repeat viewings from movie-goers who appreciate Apatow’s creative ambition to make a comedy with potty humor, as well as real emotional substance.

I wasn’t able to talk about this last week, but boy WTF happened to Harry Potter? It got smoked last week by G-Force. Wow! Seems outrageous, right? Maybe not. Upon further examination, HP6 seems to be following the pattern of all the previous Potter flicks. HP6 currently stands at $255 million domestically and the only film to gross more than $300 million is HP1 with $317 million  back in 2001. While this seems to follow suit in regards to box-office, I have to ask, what’s the deal Potter fans? Doesn’t the HP fan-base scour worldwide and is comprised of hundreds of millions of people? Why can’t all these movies at least break $300 million each? Do you not like the films? Would you rather Warner Bros. not make them at all? What’s the deal nerds?!?!?!?!?!?

This weekend should be interesting. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra finally hits theaters and this is going to either go one way or the other. It’s either going to be really surprising and make like $70 million, or it’s going to crash and burn immediately and make like $21 million. Reviews thus far have actually been extremely positive, contrary to pre-conceived notions of sub-par/mediocrity. I’m gonna be a glass half-full guy and go with a surprisingly successful debut. Remember Fast & Furious surprised everyone a few months ago by taking in over $75 million its opening weekend, and at least G.I. Joe is a fresh franchise. So I think its got a good chance.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is going to be #1 this weekend, taking in a surprising $62 million. Whoooaaaaa!!! I know right? There’s virtually no other competition. But you know what always fairs well? Horror. Coming in second will be the island horror/thriller A Perfect Getaway (with Mila Jovovich and Steve Zahn), taking in $23 million. Funny People is going to make a run at #3 and take it with a solid $17 million second weekend. Meryl Streep’s Julie & Julia will flop and take in barely over $14 million. HP6 will round out the top 5 with $12 million. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 At The Box-Office from this past weekend.

CHAMP: Funny People $22.7 million
2) HP6 $17.9 million
3) G-Force $17.5 million
4) The Ugly Truth $13.2 million
5) Aliens in the Attic $8 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Another Potter flick another dollar. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince muggled out the competition this weekend by taking in a massive $158 million over five days, as it opened on a Wednesday instead of a Friday. It made $77.8 million from Friday-Sunday. The film has received stellar reviews across the board, as well as on The Movie Mash, although that didn’t go over well with some (cough) “Potter Purists.” So it seems as though Warner Bros. got their 2009 money-maker after the box-office debacles that were Watchmen and Terminator Salvation. While this is undoubtedly a complete and utter victory for WB and Potter fans, with such anticipation, it still was unable to beat Transformers 2 and The Dark Knight in the five-day race, by a significant margin.

As mentioned in last week’s B.O.B. report, the box-office record for the first five days of a film’s release is $203.1 million, set last summer by my favorite film of all-time, The Dark Knight. Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opened last month, seriously threatened that record by raking in close second $201 million in its first five days. Now this is where the analysis gets interesting. The sixth Harry Potter film, HP & THPB who’s release had been delayed six months, was only able to muster $158 over five days…In July. Hmmmmmm. Now there’s no knocking that feat, as it’s very impressive, or is it?

Batman Begins only made $205 million in total, during its domestic run. It’s sequel, The Dark Knight, ultimately shattered every box-office record imaginable and ended with $533 million, second all-time only to Titanic. Of course Begins had three years to build a solid fan base after being released on DVD. And obviously the Heath Ledger factor was a huge box-office draw, especially the buzz surrounding his legendary performance. But how did The Dark Knight make in three days, what HP 6 made in five? Doesn’t Harry Potter have the biggest fan-base ever? Is the Batman fan-base bigger than Harry Potter’s, or were the “Potter Purists” boycotting repeat viewings because of adaptation accuracy squabbles? Does Transformers have a bigger fan-base than Harry Potter’s, or were the “Potter Purists” telling their other “Potter Purist” friends not to go back a second time? IDK because I’m not a “Potter Purist.” I haven’t read the books, but I thought the movie was great and I really don’t give a shit. Regardless, I seriously don’t know what is preventing these films from shattering box-office records every time. So I’m asking, what is it?

I’m sure that this mild speculation, as well as the image above, is undoubtedly causing an uproar in traffic, so it felt like a required proposal. HAHAHAHAHA! Why So Serious? Anyway, as the Hogwarts brigade were waving their wands at the concession stands, the other competition at the box-office inevitably suffered. Ice Age 3 continues to perform well by taking in an impressive $17.5 million in its third weekend, coming in second and bringing its domestic total to just over $150 million. Transformers 2 also continues to impress in its fourth week by taking in $13.6 million, coming in third, and bringing it’s domestic total to a whopping $363 million. And as speculated in last week’s B.O.B. report, “Bruno ist Auschwitz.” With the combination of Harry Potter and (ironically and hypocritically) homo-phobes, Bruno plummeted in its second week with a pathetic $8.3 million. (All of these numbers are Friday-Sunday three-days). Ah well, I guess genius shouldn’t be measured in dollars and cents. Oh and I know that gay Potter reference will surely ruffle some feathers.

This week is going to get crowded as Potter nerds, families, couples on dates and horror fans will all be battling it out. I predict that Harry Potter 6 will be on top once again, dropping a healthy 50ish percent and taking in $75 million in its second week. Jerry Bruckheimer’s 3D animation guinea pig flick,(no pun intended) G-Force, will come in second with a solid $42 million. The Gerard Butler/Katherine Heigel rom-com The Ugly Truth will come in third with $28 million. The first legit horror film since Drag Me To Hell, Orphan, will unfortunately come in fourth with $18 million. And Ice Age 3 will round out the Top Five with $11 million in its fourth weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend. (All numbers are Friday-Sunday three-days).

CHAMP: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $77.8 million
2) Ice Age 3 $17.5 million
3) Transformers 2 $13.6 million
4) Bruno $8.3 million
5) The Proposal $8.2 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Just have to start off saying that Bruno’s baby O.J., is probably the cutest baby ever. Look at him. So adorable. Anyway, as I predicted, Bruno was #1 at the box-office this weekend by taking in a solid $30.6 million. For you nit-pickers, yes I was off by about $12 million in my predictions, but I did accurately choose the the order of box-office postings. I didn’t write a review from Bruno because that review would take so long to dissect and I didn’t have the time, I will say that I absolutely loved it and thought it was great. I nearly peed my pants with shocking laughter, so in a quick review I’ll give it an A-, as the story is not as good as Borat.

Borat opened with just over $26 million in 2006 and ended up making a very impressive $128 million domestic total for Universal Studios. So you’d think, that with a $30 million opening weekend, Bruno would be well on its way to beating it right? Well maybe not. It’s very unusual for a film to drop significantly from Friday to Saturday during it’s opening weekend. It usually goes up since most people don’t work Saturday. Well Bruno was not so fortunate by dropping from a $14 million Friday to an $8 million Saturday. That’s nearly a 50% drop, that like I said, is very unusual. This obviously means that the film suffered from a massive negative word-of-mouth effect. This would most-likely be because of the outrageously pervasive sexual and offensive content including fire extinguisher sex, a penis hole  that shouts “Bruno!!” and a black baby nailed to a cross like Jesus.  But, you know, what the heck did people expect? It’s Sacha Baron Cohen. It’s rated-R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language. And it’s not just mindless hilariously awkward gay sex (although at times it is). It’s a critique on America’s still-present nonacceptance of gay people: ranging from uncomfortable to downright hate. It’s the same fashion of Borat, except Borat exposed America’s nonacceptance of “Arabs:” ranging from uncomfortable to downright hate.

So only time will tell how to see if Bruno has legs, but these statistical drops at the box-office sure don’t help. The parents who weren’t able to get a babysitter to see Bruno, helped Ice Age 3 come in 2nd with a solid $28.5 million, bringing its 12-day domestic total to just over $120 million. Michael Bay’s Transformers 2 continues to rake in the money, coming in third with an impressive $24.2 million, bringing its massive total to $342 million domestically, $711 million worldwide, just passing Lord of the Rings: Two Towers on the all-time chart. That’s pretty damn impressive considering nearly everyone I’ve talked to unfairly hated it. Entertainment writers are calling it, “the most successful bad movie of all-time.” Whatever.

Oooooo. Do you hear that? It’s Potter and Co. coming to massacre the box-office. Harry Potter is back after over a two-year hiatus and it’s gonna be big. Not only does Harry Potter have one of the largest and most intense fan-bases on the planet, but this particular installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has received almost flawless reviews, being hailed as “the best Potter film yet.”

The Harry Potter film franchise has made over $4.5 billion total combined. This latest film was supposed to be released this past November, but Warner Bros President Alan Horn pushed it back to July of 2009 because of the uncertainty of the Watchmen legal battle between WB and Fox. So needless to say the Potter fan’s anticipation is at it’s boiling point and the wait is going to pay-off for Warner Bros. HP and the HPB opens Tuesday at midnight and over the following five days, it’s going to dominate with repeat viewings. I predict that HP and the HPB will obviously be #1 at the box-office this weekend, with a five-day total of $210 million. That will shatter the five-day record held by my precious Dark Knight ($203 million), set last summer. This record was recently threatened by Transformers 2, but came up short with just $201 million over five days just a couple weeks ago. This is a very reluctant prediction as I would like for TDK‘s record to stand for as long as possible.

Ice Age 3 will come in second with a solid $22 million in its third weekend. Bruno will tie with Transformers 2 by both taking in $18 million. I’ve been pretty terrible at predictions so far, but I’m gonna keep at it cuz it’s fun! Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

1) Bruno $30.4 million
2) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $28.5 million
3) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $24.2 million
4) Public Enemies $14.1 million
5) The Proposal $10.5 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.

From a box-office analysis standpoint, I really wish all movies would open on a Friday, it would really make things a lot easier. But I digress. As the week prior, my box-office predictions were little off in last week’s edition of BOB. I’ll get it, don’t worry. Ice Age 3 and Public Enemies opened last Wednesday, July 1st in an effort to derail the box-office behemoth that is Transformers 2. It looks as though the prehistoric animated family comedy beat a lot of exceptions by coming in first…barely and technically.

Despite the well-known and unfair loathing of Michael Bays Sci-Fi-action epic, Transformers 2 held its own at the box-office, pulling in an impressive $42.5 million over the 4th of July weekend. Ice Age 3 held ITS own, by posting the exact same figure, $42.5 million over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So that’s a tie, right? As I mentioned earlier, Ice Age 3 opened on Wednesday, so the true comparison of who actually won the day comes in comparing the Wednesday and Thursday grosses of last week. Transformers 2 pulled in $22.5 million on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing its 5-day total to $65 million. Ice Age 3 squeaked by its rival robots and contrasting audience demographic by taking in $25 million on Wednesday and Thursday, helping it to a 5-day best of $67.5 million.

Damn that’s close. So the eccentric squirrel and friends barely bested Megan Fox and Shia…BARELY! What’s somewhat disappointing, from a prediction and affectionate standpoint, is the performance by Johnny Depp’s Public Enemies, which inevitably came in third with a $26 million weekend/$41 million 5-day gross. I predicted that PE would bring in $48 over five days, which was pretty close, but I had the John Dillinger gangster flick coming in second, so I guess I’ll live to fight another day. What should be noted about all this is the epic, massive amount of money that the Transformers sequel is bringing in. In just over 10 days, the little film that could about the alien-robots has brought in a ridiculous $293 million domestically so far.

This weekend should be interesting as we’ll see just how much controversy and publicity can help a film’s success at the box-office. Yes, Bruno is finally here this Friday and it should prove to be much more successful than its predecessor. Borat made an impressive debut when it was released, bringing in a respectable $26.5 million on opening weekend, and ending with just over $128 million during its domestic run. Now, the reason why Bruno should be more successful is three reasons: 1) Sacha Baron Cohen and his shenanigans is much more well-known now and Borat did extremely well in DVD sales, so his fan-base has had nearly three years to grow. 2) Bruno is a much more controversial character as he is known for his outrageous sexual exploits, which will propel the inevitable word-of-mouth effect. 3) Sacha/Bruno has been promoting the shit out of this movie, appearing on pretty much every talk show in existence.

I predict that Bruno will be on top this weekend with $42 million. The parents will hit the theaters again, putting Ice Age 3 at a close second with $38 million. Transformers 2 will drop some and come in third with a respectable $32 million. Just to clarify, all of these projections are over THREE DAYS. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this THREE-DAY weekend.

CHAMP: TIE, Transformers 2 & Ice Age 3 $42.5 million
2) Public Enemies $26.1 million
4) The Proposal $12.7 million
5) The Hangover $10 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Not to brag or nothin, but I did predict last week that the Ryan Reynolds/Sandra Bullock rom-com would take top spot this weekend and it did with a very respectable $34.1 million, beating Jack Black’s Year One in the process, which took in a mediocre $20 million. To make things more fun here on The Movie Mash, from now on during my weekly Box-Office Benjamin$ report, I’m going to start not only predicting the winner of the next weekend, but also how much that winner will take in. Feel free to say “Challenge” and provide your predictions in a comment. The winner will be mentioned in the  following week’s report. Anyway, after two weeks of The Hangover dominating with its outrageous-factor, people decided to get their LOLs from a more traditional, situational comedic outlet in The Proposal.

The Hangover did, however, continue to truck along strong, by posting an astounding $26 million in its third weekend, with a grand domestic total of just over $152 million. Now this is really something. Knocked Up was considered to be a “blockbuster comedy” and it didn’t even crack $150 million during its entire run. At this rate, I think it an be safe to predict that The Hangover will be the first comedy, in a long while, to break the $200 million  mark. This film has turned out to be the saving grace, thus far, for Warner Bros. After the abysmal performances of their two supposed action-blockbusters for 2009, Watchmen and Terminator Salvation, WB was having some very bad luck financially as those two films cost more money to make than they actually grossed. The Hangover, however, only cost $35 million to make and thus far has netted the studio a near $130 million profit (minus advertising & promotion of course). I used the conditional term “thus far” earlier, obviously because WB can rest easy that the long-anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters next month and usually does pretty well at the box-office.

So now what do we have coming up this weekend? That little movie about the alien-robots that turn into different stuff. That’s right, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen finally hits theaters on Wednesday and will obviously destroy everything else. Sucks to be you My Sister’s Keeper. Even though reviews thus far have been sub-par, people have been itching for some kick-ass robot action. Back in 2007, the first Transformers opened with a solid $70 million, solid being the term because Shia LaBeouf was a relative newcomer and Transformers was a known popular culture commodity, but no one knew how they would translate into an action film. I’m going to predict that Transformers Revenge of the Fallen will post the first $100 million+ opening of 2009 with $115 take-in over five days. Now remember, this film opens on Wednesday, so it’s got two full days of extra showings before the traditional three-day weekend kicks in. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend.

CHAMP: The Proposal $34.1 million
2) The Hangover $26.8 million
3) UP $21.3 million
4) Year One $20.2 million
5) The Taking of Pelham 123 $11.3 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist corny puns that most sites and publications put in their weekly box-office reports. Terminator fans are sighing with disappointment today due to the poor showing Terminator Salvation had at the box-office this weekend. Ben Stiller’s epic comedy sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, was #1 at the box-office over this Memorial Day weekend raking in a $70 million holiday gross. Despite having the Wednesday midnight showings, all-day Thursday showings and fanboy anticipation, the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise starring Christian Bale could only muster a measly $53.8 million over four days. That has got to be extremely disappointing for Warner Bros. for three big reasons: 1)Because it’s sci-fi action epic that is apart of an already successfully established franchise 2) WB put a lot of time and money in advertising and promotion 3) Producers decided to play it safe and make the film PG-13 after the failed box-office showing of the R-rated Watchmen back in March; which obviously didn’t help much.

I am surprised and disappointed because I thought it was a great action movie and deserved to make more money. But in any case (say except for The Dark Knight) no matter how anticipated a superhero/action movie is, counting on the epic family adventure to be box-office champ is always a safe bet. Something else to note is the continued success of Star Trek. I’ve said in the past couple B.O.B reports, that it is so good, so well-reviewed and has such good word-of-mouth that it’ll crack $250 million eventually. Competing against Terminator and Night at the Museum is no easy task, but it still managed to pull in an impressive $29.5 million over it’s third weekend in release, bringing it’s domestic total to a very solid $191 million. $250 million might be a challenge, but I’m sticking to my guns and predicting that it eventually grosses a quarter billion during it’s full run in theaters.

Closing out May’s Blockbuster Blood Bath this Friday is the battle of the flawless reviewed, contrasting genre flicks. Disney/Pixar’s UP, and Sam Raimi’s return to horror Drag Me to Hell, are both CURRENTLY sitting pretty at a cool 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Let’s see how the rest of May’s blockbuster’s fair when Pixar and horror are thrown into the mix. Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this Memorial Day weekend.

CHAMP: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $70 million
2) Terminator Salvation $53.8
3) Star Trek $29.4 million
4) Angles and Demons $27.7 million
5) Dance Flick $13.1 million

Source: Box-Office Mojo

What Do You Think? Discuss.