THINK LIKE A MAN Wins over the GAMES – Weekend Box Office Report (April 20 – 22, 2012)

After four weeks of The Hunger Games sitting comfortably at #1, a new champion has taken over.  ScreenGems’ new comedy Think Like a Man opened at #1 with an impressive estimated $33.0 million.  This is great news for ScreenGems, as it has made nearly triple its $12 million production budget.  Next weekend is crowded for new releases, so it could drop a bit, but word-of-mouth is strong, and it’ll likely hold somewhere in the top 5.

THE HUNGER GAMES Holds at #1; THE CABIN Gets STOOGED – Weekend Box Office Report (April 13 – April 15, 2012)

After a fourth weekend in a row, the Lionsgate phenomenon The Hunger Games held the #1 spot, taking in another estimated $21.5 million.  The film has accumulated an estimated total of $337.1 million to date, and only dropped 35.1% from last weekend.  This has now fallen under the “repeat viewings successes” category, similar to the performances of the Harry Potter films, the Twilight films, and Avatar (Click here for my review of The Hunger Games).

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS – Movie Review

The buzz surrounding The Cabin in the Woods has been unlike anything I’ve seen for a film in years.  It opened the South by Southwest 2012 film festival, where it received ecstatic buzz.  There have been several other early screenings across the United States with the same reaction.  And while I may have built myself up for a level of hype that was unreachably high, The Cabin in the Woods is innovative, hilarious, and one of the most thought-provoking horror films I’ve ever seen.

TITANIC 3D – Movie Review

In 1997, James Cameron gave the world one of the biggest movies ever made, Titanic.  It’s currently the second highest grossing film of all time, and it swept the Academy Awards as well.  However, despite the fact that most people have seen it, at this point, Paramount has decided to rerelease the epic in post-converted 3D to mark the 100th anniversary of the infamous ship sinking in 1912.  And while the 3D isn’t necessary for a lot of the film, it’s pretty incredible to see the film on the big screen regardless.

THE HUNGER GAMES is Still the Champ; Audiences Both Attend the REUNION and Sail the TITANIC – Weekend Box Office Report (April 6 – 8, 2012)

Even after three weeks, the Lionsgate megahit The Hunger Games still stayed in the #1 spot, taking in another estimated $33.5 million, for an estimated total of $302.8 million.  The big piece of news regarding The Hunger Games from last week was that director Gary Ross will not be returning for the sequels.  While some might argue that this is breaking a formula that has worked incredibly successfully for one film, two equally successful franchises, Harry Potter and Twilight, have rotated through several directors in their lifetimes.  In fact, Twilight had a new one for every film.  I would personally be interested to see what another filmmaker could do with the already set-up universe (Click here for my review of The Hunger Games).

AMERICAN REUNION – Movie Review

Having still not seen the second and third films (and gratefully the direct-to-DVD sequels), I thought the first American Pie movie was decent, but don’t fully agree with the hype.  There are some funny moments, some good performances, but it felt a bit hammy and contrived in the emotional department, needless to say that my hopes for the fourth movie in the series, American Reunion, were mixed.  However, not only does Reunion trump the original; it’s the funniest film of the year so far.

THE HUNGER GAMES Takes Down the TITANS – Weekend Box Office Report (March 30 – April 1, 2012)

It was an expected holdover, but last weekend’s champ The Hunger Games came in at #1 again.  The Lionsgate action flick took in another estimated $61.1 million, for an estimated total of $251.0 million.  The film did drop 59.9% from last weekend’s $152.5 million opening, but it’s still holding incredibly well.  At this point, nearly everyone who had interest has seen the film, so for these next few weeks, the box office for The Hunger Games is likely relying on fans that are going back for multiple viewings (Click here for my review of The Hunger Games).