Box Office: Dark of the Horrible Zookeeper's Moon

I've got those whirling clanking gear-spinning metallic vibration noises clogging my brain today. Thanks a lot Greg P. Russell! ;) The 14 time Oscar nominated mixer had another epic job to perform with Transformers Dark of the Moon and how. Will he finally win the Oscar? Stay tuned.

Yes, readers I did see the latest Michael Bay spectacle. After that shot of glossy violent shot of testosterone I watched Far From Heaven and The Lady Eve back to back as schizophrenic counter-balance.  What did you see this weekend?

Weekend Box-Office (Estimates)
figures via box office mojo

01 TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON new $47.1 (cum. $261)
02 HORRIBLE BOSSES new $28.3
03 ZOOKEEPER new $20 
04 CARS 2  $15.2 (cum. $148.8)
05 BAD TEACHER $8.9 (cum. $78.6)


Nation Somehow Failed To Predict Attack By Michael Bay


06 LARRY CROWNE  $5.9 (cum. $26.1)
07 SUPER 8 $4.8 [thoughts] (cum. $118)
08 MONTE CARLO $3.8 (cum. $16.1)
09 GREEN LANTERN $3.1 [review] (cum. $109.7)
09 MR POPPER'S PENGUINS $3.1 (cum. $58)

Number two, bitch.Talking Points: Transformers is now the top US hit of 2011, outgrossing The Hangover Part 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean Part Another One. Worldwide grosses paint a different surprising picture of the film year with Pirates way out front of everything having grossed a billion dollars and Fast Five the second biggest hit of the year with over half a billion. I did not know this. Everyone loves action movies starring cars I guess. But regardless of how you count beans it's a sequel world out there. It's shocking when anything original breaks through.

Meanwhile Bridesmaids and Midnight in Paris, which had both been hanging on to the top ten despite being two months old (the box office equivalent of senior citizens) finally slipped out. Even though they're losing theaters each week they still have tinier percentile drops than any other pictures indicating that word of mouth continues to draw in the curious... or maybe repeat visitors? 

Links: Carrey, Turner, Pearce, Jordan (Hal), Thurman

Serious Film Jim Carrey's Oscar snubs. Will Mr Popper's Penguins bring more?
Variety Will The Hurt Locker team triumph again? Turns out the movie Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal were already working on to shoot this summer was about the very team that just killed Osama Bin Laden.
The Film Doctor questions why Fast Five is so popular... and attempts to answer.
i09 worries about Green Lantern in advance. Too much mythology?
Hollywood Reporter Wait. I thought Soderbergh was retiring? And now he's doing Magic Mike, a male stripper drama with Channing Tatum?

AV Club Remember when we were discussing Guy Pearce and why he doesn't get major parts? Well Ridley Scott to the rescue. Pearce has been cast in Prometheus, the is-it-or-isn't-it-an-Aliens-sequel?
Scott Feinberg likes Kathleen Turner in The Perfect Family. Will it find distribution and warm reception outside of Tribeca's fest?
La Daily Musto bizarre story about the Tribeca screening of the documentary Carol Channing: Larger Than Life. I was there and was very close to this row where Security was called. It was quite odd but here's the whole story.

Remember when Nicole Kidman did a commercial for Schweppes? Now Uma Thurman is making bank with the beverage. Here it is.

How many of my favorite actresses will they employ?

Box Office: Faster and Furiouser

The Fast & Furious franchise turned the box office into a regular demolition derby destroying its competition with over 60% of the top ten dollars. It seems absurd to make the comparison but maybe it's a Bondian franchise, the kind that only grows with time? Tokyo Drift, the only entry without Paul Walker or Vin Diesel in the driver's seat was its only underperformer. Okay so maybe the Bond comparison is a bad one since that series has easily survived cast changes. (Not that Fast Five didn't benefit from the addition of The Rock.

For Fast & Furious: Sixth Gear I think they should race famous vintage movie cars: The Batmobile, Thelma & Louise's Thunderbird convertiable, Bonnie & Clyde's Death Car.  And while we're on the Ian Fleming franchise subject, maybe throw in a musical dream segment starring Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; lead feet with twinkle toes!

The Box Office (Actuals)

01 FAST FIVE new $86.1
02 RIO $14.7 (cumulative $104)
03 MADEA'S BIG HAPPY FAMILY $9.8 (cumulative $40.8)
04 WATER FOR ELEPHANTS $9.3 (cumulative $32.4)
05 PROM new $4.7
06 HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL new $4.1
07 SOUL SURFER $3.3 (cumulative $33.8)
08 INSIDIOUS $2.6 (cumulative $48.3)
09 HOP $2.6 (cumulative $105.4)
10 SOURCE CODE $2.5 (cumulative $48.8)

Points of Interest:

Brandon Routh is "Dylan Dog"

• HOP proves that when you're holiday-themed, it's really wise to open well before the holiday. (I've never understood this with horror movies that choose to open on Halloween weekend.) Hop did huge box office right up until Easter. Afterwards? A huge 80% drop in attendance despite only losing 10% of its screens. Kill the wabbit kill the wabbit ♪ ♫
• Dylan Dog: Dead of Night opened wide but still coudn't crack the top ten. Ouch.
• Best Per Screen Average: Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams. In 3-D!
• Not every toon opens huge (Hoodwinked!) though it seems the norm (Rio, Rango, etc...)

What did you see this weekend? How many of the Fast & Furious films have you seen?