BoxOffice101 Movies

(hollywood.com)

  

Yes, it is from commercially acclaimed director Michael Bay (Transformers 1,2,3 and Armageddon). So the starring of both Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Mark Wahlberg, does not come as a surprise. This is due to the fact Bay's film usually have not only one big male star, but usually two: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage in The Rock; Will Smith, Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys and its sequel.

  Based on a true story, Pain and Gain's plot comprises of a trio of bodybuilders (third being Anthony Mackie) who get involved in extortion, kidnapping and murder in Florida. This is typical Michael Bay. The premise being wrongly done by the mob boss. And the following being a strike by the employees. If Bay was in a Trade Union, there would've been strikes all over the country.

  Mackie was also the only African-American lead in this year's brilliant Gangster Squad. The trailer of GS looked average yet it delivered in full-time. We could expect the same for Pain and Gain. After all, it stars Dwayne Johnson and his films are seldom supremely disappointing (well, if you forego the crappy kid comedies).

  Now the trailer was really unimpressive. I mean it gives no incentive to the viewer to spend cash on the cinema ticket. Unless he's a die-hard The Rock fan. P+G had made $20m on its beginning weekend. I expected a $15m inception although it was off due to the lack of competitors. It is now on $33m in the US surpassing its $26m budget. Worldwide revenue has not been accounted for yet. It has already been released in the Emirates and Russia, and will sooner or later n the UK.

  In this round-up, there was a lack of competitors - not of a monopoly AKA Iron Man 3. The three-quel reached the 2nd largest opening in North American theatrical history, with $174m. This is behind The Avengers' massive $207m and above Deathly Hallows Part 2's $169m. The introductory gross also pummels my theory that Iron Man 3's attainment of the 1 billion dollars mark is not written in stone. Now it shall be written in box office history.

  The global total is already at $678 million. Nevertheless, Iron Man 3 will not cross The Avenger's $1.5b ending. Problem with The Avengers was that the interest downsized in the last months, so it could have grossed $1.6b. Iron Man 3 will probably end up with $1.2b-$1.3b. IM3 most probably has the topmost kickoff this year. The only sure competitor is Man of Steel. But I will be shocked if it crosses BoxOffice101's prediction of a $150m start-up.

  G.I. Joe: Retaliation finally makes its exit from the top 10 with $118m in the States alone, with a budget of $130m. It will not beat G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra's domestic total of $150m but has already beaten its worldwide total of $302m with $355m. Funny thing to note is that the first part had insignificantly famous actors than the sequel. Overwhelmingly negative reviews from US itself could have diminished the potentiality of audiences. 

  Overall, G.I. Joe 2 was better than the first in my opinion. Though a better story could have broadened my horizons for a third try. The action scenes involving the character Snake Eyes were breath-taking, literally on the cliffs' showcasing.

  Scary Movie 5 has been classified as a disappointment. Rightfully so, the 4th part in the series produced a $178m global cumulative. The 5th has barely managed to hit an approximate $50m mark. Scary Movie 4 grossed $90m domestically, and 5 will exit the top ten with $31m-$32m.

(shockmansion.com)

  

Either it was the colossal number of writers or new direction that doomed the spoof-comedy. Or the casting of Ashley Tisdale instead of traditional (and way better) actress Anna Faris. A movie that Charlie Sheen couldn't save is a box office bomb. Its $20m budget has however been surprassed by $29m. A 6th part might take longer than the 7-year duration between 4 and 5.

  Not all the Scary Movies were brilliant. The third was still the best and four was good in comparison. So with reviews citing this venture lower than the fourth, it might be proportionate to the critical consensus.

  The Place Beyond the Pines is a low-budget crime drama that was at 9 last week, and 10 this weekend. It stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes. The film has 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. It had a commencement of $4.9m.

  The Big Wedding with a big cast is still small at the theatre toll. The likes of Robert De Niro and Susan Sarandon could not save this fictional ceremony. Surprisingly, LionsGateFilms was the distributor that specialises in horror films namely all the SAWs.

  Oz: The Great and  Powerful returns from number 13 to 8 with $228m above its $215m production cost. So original director of the first 3 Spider-man films faces another success commercially and critically. Also note the comparatively inferior earnings of films other than IM3 this weekend.

  That's all from me folks, join me next time on The Fast and The Furious 6's debut. To end with a high note below, is the teaser for the much-awaited (by comic-books fan like myself) Man of Steel:

(Oblivion looks Oblivious)

I might've not mentioned The Croods if it weren't for my favourite actor Nicolas Cage but what the heck. Now for the important news (for this week), G.I. Joe unsurprisingly opens at the top spot. The only movie it did face competition from was The Croods but seeing as it is an original movie and not a sequel, the overall danger was limited. I'll be watching G.I. Joe 2 tomorrow hopefully.

  G.I. Joe Retaliation has discarded many of its main cast members. Mainly, the beautiful Rachel Nichols from the TV series Continuum's fame. Still, get the damsels out of distress and put the heroes into full thrust. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson an Bruce Willis are there. Both of them had successes earlier with their silver screen releases. 

  In the 4-day Easter weekend G.I. Joe Retaliation has made $40.5m. This is $10m lower than what G.I. Joe made in 2009. My friend Shahwath gave Retaliation a 7/10 and that's the same I would've given to the first. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was a surprise hit. The Transformers was also based on a Hasbro toyline but it still had screen credibility with cartoon adaptations before. G.I. Joe was a make-it or break-it film and it managed to gross a little above $302m worldwide on a budget of $175m. This was more like Channing Tatum's rise as an action star leaving behind his dancer persona. 

  Notable thespians were also included like Sienna Miller and Dennis Quad but are nowhere to be seen now. Marlon Wayans, who starred in the first couple of Scary Movie films, was an added surprise in an action role. And his on-screen shenanigans will be missed. So despite G.I. Joe 2 having 2 adrenaline megastars, it showed that audiences halved their cinema credit with The Croods and Temptation.

  Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor is written-directed by the titular name. This is Perry's 13th film and based on a play by him with many changes to the original script. It is a hit already with $21.6m domestically on an unspecified budget, but one that has or will eventually be crossed. The thriller. Also, as the title suggests, it is based on a married woman's temptation by a billionaire leading to even  further affairs. 

  As with many of Perry's releases (written, directed or starred in), such as Alex Cross and Madea's Witness Protection, the movie received universal negative reviews. One could say it was due to Temptation not being screened in advance to critics, storyline, or Tyler Perry's name in the title. The receipts glory could be because of Kim Kardashian's co-star role or Perry himself not being in the feature.

  I have only seen one of Perry's films and that is Alex Cross. It received a negative critical consensus in my mind although his portrayal of the fictional detective was beyond passable. 

  Selena Gomez starrer Spring Breakers has risen above its tiny budget and will leave the top ten next week. Surprisingly, it received primarily positive reviews, although I saw nothing under the superficial bikini babes. Disney chose their whiz kids wisely.

  Olympus Has Fallen might make $60m-$65m and also depart from the ticket booth  falling short of its $70m budget in the national market. Still it has a great chance of making at least $90m internationally after being released in more theatre-themed territories like Australia, Russia, etc.

  OHF has received medium reviews and with audiences rating it What Die Hard 5 should have been. I might even watch it and agree. Hollywood should really start casting the US President as African-American already.

  The Host has opened up at 6. Based on the novel of the same name and by the Twilight author, I expected this much. 

  That's all from me folks, check out The Wolverine trailer below with a surprise appearance from Famke Janssen:

  

 

 (Chart by Box Office Mojo)