Critic Girl

It certainly wasn’t shocking that “Twilight” toppled the movie box office this weekend with a $70.6 million intake. “New Moon,” the “Twilight” sequel, was put quickly into production after “Twilight” made more than $30 million on Friday. However, since “Twilight” grossed almost exactly what it did on Friday as on Saturday and Sunday, there might be a huge drop next weekend. In other “Twilight” stats news, 75% of the audience was female, and 55% were under 25.

The horrifying part was “Quantum of Solace” suffering a 60% drop in its second week with $27.4 million, and “Bolt” coming in third with $27 million. After the final tallies come in, “Solace” and “Bolt” might change places.

For more info, go here.

Hellboy won the weekend, barely beating Hancock. Photo from Yahoo! Movies.

In a win that I had predicted, Hellboy II: The Golden Army took the weekend, hauling in $35.9 million. That’s more than the first movie premiered with, and it’s good sign for studio executives at Sony who took a risk on the sequel. Hellboy debuted at $23. 1 million and went on to make $60 million, which is disappointing, especially for a comic book movie. DVD sales, however, were better than expected, and the series’ director began gaining a large fanbase. Guillermo del Toro, who directed Pan’s Labyrinth, returned for Helllboy II;his next project are the two highly anticipated “Hobbit” films. Expect a beating at the theater next week, though; there are three formidable opponents of the horizon.

Journey to the Center of the Earth clocked in at number 3, landing $20.6 million, a sum far greater than other analysts had predicted. No doubt the higher priced IMAX tickets had something to do with it. Hancock was number 2 and received another $33 million, close to the $30 million I had expected. Hancock is doing fine at the box office, though it’s behind Will Smith’s more recent flicks. Wall-E was fourth with $18.5 million, a near perfect reflection of my $19 million prediction. Wanted was fifth with $11.6 million.

So where does that leave Meet Dave? It received a horrifying $5.3 million to land at number 7, making it more of a bomb than The Love Guru. It’s a desolate fate that even I had underestimated. On a positive note: it did better than The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

Next week’s predictions:

1. The Dark Knight ($125 million)
2. Mamma Mia! ($28 million)
3. Hellboy II ($17 million)
4. Hancock ($15 million)
5. Space Chimps ($10 million)

As always, head here for where I got my numbers.

Will Smith as Hancock. Photo from Yahoo! Movies.

Will Smith dominated another July 4th weekend with a $66 million gross over the three days. While some projectionists were expecting Hancock to top I Am Legend’s $77 million opening back in December, Hancock had premiered back on Wednesday and suffered from a lot of negative feeedback. Expect a big percentage drop next weekend; I’m guessing a total in the ballpark of $30 million.

Wall-E dropped a higher than predicted 48.5% to end up with $32.5 million, which is still an amazing sum. The steep decline over the weekend is not that worrisome considering Wall-E raked in the dough during the week, when harried moms and dads took their out-of-school kids to the movies during the day. Next weekend it should bring in about $18 million.

Wanted declined 60% this weekend, which is entirely plausible because it’s an action movie, and they always suffer big drop-offs. A similar drop may not happen next weekend because of the gigantic influx of kiddie films heading our way. Adults might run to Wanted to avoid the sugary popcorn films and to get a chance to see Angelina Jolie and lots of violence. Estimate: $11 million.

In other news, Kit Kittredge widened its release to a massive amount of theaters, but only landed at #8. A 4th of July disappointment, the movie had generated sequel buzz after its stunning first weekend. Now no one knows what will happen. It averaged a paltry $1,788 a theater, adding up to $3.3 million.

Next week will bring a fierce premiere showdown with three big movies premiering: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Meet Dave.

Predicted Weekend:

1) Hellboy II: The Golden Army (more adult, lots of fanboys)

2) Journey to the Center of the Earth (a lot of advertising, kid-friendly, nifty 3-D showings)

3) Hancock (Will Smith has serious holding potential)

4)Meet Dave (Eddie Murphy is on the outs after Norbit, Pluto Nash, and Haunted Mansion)

5) Wall-E (another sure holdout)

Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.

It took no one by surprise, but “The Incredible Hulk” landed at number one on the box office charts, beating out last week’s winner,”Kung Fu Panda.” It raked in a better than expected $54.5 million, although that is less than what its five year-old predecessor did. The new “Hulk” will most likely go on to best the previous movie’s total box office on the strength of word-of-mouth. “Hulk” received mostly positive reviews, which is a definite improvement over the critics’ reaction to the Ang Lee version.

M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” was welcomed to a $30.5 million opening, quite a change of pace from “Lady in the Water.” Don’t expect stunning numbers in the following weeks though. M. Night movies are always thrillers with a big twist at the end, and when the twist is revealed, people don’t want to go see the movie if they’ve already heard about it. Plus, the reviews were downright dreadful from both critics and audiences alike. Movie rating websites have been flooded with negative feedback about the movie all weekend long.

In other news, “Panda” and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” did as expected in their second week, dropping 44.2% and 57.3%, respectively. “Sex and the City” has been falling quickly down the charts, losing 53.9% in is third week and placing $5 million below the movie ahead of it, the fourth-week “Indiana Jones.” “Iron Man” continues to stun at the box office, dropping just one place and 24.8%. To see the full chart, click here.

Next week will feature the clash of the comedic titans: Mike Myers v.s. Steve Carell. Myers’ “The Love Guru” has been plagued by a lack of interest from the public; excessive plugging on “American Idol” and the MTV Movie Awards was more repulsive than intriguing. Carell’s “Get Smart,” on the other hand, has utilized smart promotions in movie theaters and commercials. Plus, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson are definite draws. The final nail in the “The Love Guru” coffin is that it is opening in 2,700 theaters, more than 1,000 less theaters in which “Get Smart” will be playing in.

Expected Top 5:

1) “Get Smart”- $40 million

2) “The Incredible Hulk”

3)”The Love Guru”- $25 million

4)”Kung Fu Panda”

5)”The Happening”