Screened News

People Flock to Watch Los Angeles Explode, Shun Creepy Computer People, and Other Box Office News

Plus, Red Riding Hood is not your new Twilight.


 I didn't see the movie, but looking over the stills, clearly this is a story about a space pedophile.
 I didn't see the movie, but looking over the stills, clearly this is a story about a space pedophile.
As I ducked around PAX East looking at vidja games, and Rorie bobbed and weaved around Austin looking for panels and screenings, regular movie stuff happened. Specifically, Battle: Los Angeles came out loud and angry, taking the top spot for this weekend's box office. It grossed around $36 million, which sandwiches it between District 9 and The Day the Earth Stood Still on the all-time box office list for alien invasion flicks. Transformers 2 remains our champion. Thank god.
 
Elsewhere, the Twilight wannabe Red Riding Hood came in third, with about $14.1 million in tickets. That sandwiches it between the Jack Nicholson werewolf "classic" Wolf, and 2005's Cursed, which I didn't even know existed until just now. 
 
The last new release of the weekend was the Robert Zemeckis-produced 3D animated creep-fest Mars Needs Moms. Up until now, people have been all about Zemeckis' brand of recreating humans through computers for no other reason than because he can. Now, it seems, they've turned on him, with the film only taking in $6.8 million upon opening. Just to list a few computer animated films that had stronger openings, we've got The Ant Bully, Alpha and Omega, 9, Igor and Space Chimps. Thankfully, it managed to beat Fly Me to the Moon. That would have just been embarrassing, otherwise.
 
On the indie front, a few new releases hit, and people evidently were very much enthused to get back to their local art house theaters after a long dry spell. Jane Eyre, Kill the Irishman and Certified Copy all debuted on 4-5 screens each, and all of them grossed over $16,000 per-screen, with Eyre earning the highest average of $45,000 per. I like to think that's due to what I call the " Fassbender effect." Namely, that he's so dreamy.

C'mon, let's check out the full top 10 list. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU BEHIND.

1. Battle: Los Angeles

$36 million / NEW
Wait, you mean the first legitimately exciting looking blockbuster action film of 2011 was a financial success, despite middling to not good reviews? Tell me another one!

2. Rango

$23.1 million / $68.7 million
Nice to see Rango hang on strong for its second week. I couldn't tell if the first week word of mouth would send parents screaming away from this thing, with their children's eyes and ears covered. Apparently not. Yay society!

3. Red Riding Hood

$14.1 million / NEW
Catherine Hardwicke will just have to keep looking for her next Twilight, it seems. Has anyone done a sexy abstinence parable version of C.H.U.D.?

4. The Adjustment Bureau

$11.5 million / $38.5 million
Another one I thought might nosedive after word of mouth got around, but apparently not. Apparently I'm just not giving people enough credit when it comes to good, if slightly mismarketed movies.

5. Mars Needs Moms!

$6.8 million / NEW
Just for funsies, I'm gonna take a look at this movie's budget and OH MY GOD HOW DID THIS MOVIE COST $150 MILLION TO MAKE OH MAH GAWD WHAT A FLOP WHAT A FLOP STONE COLD STONE COLD HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE.

6. Hall Pass

$5.1 million / $34.9 million
Yet another movie I figured would drop hard this week, further proving that when it comes to box office predictions, I am more Criswell than Nostradamus.

7. Beastly

$5 million / $17 million
I finally figured out who it is that crazy makeup job makes Alex Pettyfer look like: An asshole.

8. Just Go With It

$4 million / $94 million
How about Just Go Away?

9. The King's Speech

$3.6 million / $129.1 million
After 16 weeks at the box office (most of those in the top 10), I think we can finally say goodbye to the Best Picture winner after this week. It's been a hell of a run, filled with jokes about stuttering, fancy-pants English people and gay porn, but now it's time to say goodbye the only way I know how: With a totally safe for work porn parody trailer.

10. Gnomeo and Juliet

$3.5 million / $89 million
The biggest money drop of the weekend, which makes sense considering all those families that likely flocked to go see Mars Needs...oh, wait...

 
Dropped Out: Unknown, I Am Number Four, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
 
Source: Box Office Mojo
mylifeforAiuron March 15, 2011 at 12:46 a.m.
Mars Needs Moms! looks horrifically disturbing. 

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