Hey junkies! First off, I know that posting this April has been incredibly sparse, and I'd just like to apologize for that. I think that April may be the busiest month in college. Classes are winding down as students gear up for finals, every organization is having its end-of-the-year meeting/party/formal, and it seems that there's been an event scheduled every second of every day. This blog (and especially its faithful readers!) means so much to me, but between planning out my summer, creating
The Box Office Challenge, celebrating my birthday, and dealing with a slew of school projects, I admit that I've let my blogging fall to the wayside a little bit, and I'm sorry for that. Still, I don't just want to be one of
The Losers who completely stops blogging. Instead, I have a
Back-Up Plan that will wash away any of my readers' discontent with the power of many
Oceans. My plan: to keep doing the best I can! I know that statement is not that groundbreaking, and I know that you know me well enough to understand that the purpose of the preceding two sentences was simply to test whether or not I could incorporate this week's new releases into my writing, but I really do mean it. I'm going to try my hardest to stay on top of
The Box Office Junkie! That being said, let's get going with New And News, which not only previews all the new releases this week, but also features not one, not two, but THREE blog posts about me! It's been a very flattering week.
New:
The Back-Up Plan (CBS Films) - 3,300 theaters - Reviews
After years of dating, Zoe has decided waiting for the right one is taking too long. Determined to become a mother, she commits to a plan, makes an appointment and decides to go it alone. That same day, Zoe meets Stan - a man with real possibilities. Trying to nurture a budding relationship and hide the early signs of pregnancy becomes a comedy of errors for Zoe and creates confusing signals for Stan. When Zoe nervously reveals the reason for her unpredictable behavior, Stan commits fully and says he's in. Never before has love seen a courtship where a wild night of sex involves three in a bed - Stan, Zoe and the ever-present massive pregnancy pillow. Or, where 'date night' consists of being the 'focal point' at a near-stranger's water birth which does for kiddie pools what "Jaws" did for swimming in the ocean. The real pregnancy test comes when both of them realize they really don't know each other outside of hormonal chaos and birth preparations. With the nine month clock ticking, both begin to experience cold feet. Anyone can fall in love, get married and have a baby but doing it backwards in hyper-drive could be proof positive that they were made for each other.
After an unsuccessful year in music, Jennifer Lopez is implementing a career Back-Up Plan and returning to her wheelhouse film genre, romantic comedy. She's done well here before with movies like The Wedding Planner ($60M), Maid In Manhattan ($92M) and Monster In Law, ($82M), and I'd expect this to be a solid mid-level hit as well. While the production for The Back-Up Plan looks just as amateur-hokey as CBS Films' other feature, Extraordinary Measures, fans of romantic comedies couldn't care less about quality, so I'd expect reviews to be a non-factor. The planned pregnancy plot is trés-2010, and it could be a bit too current for some audiences with traditional values, but I'd still expect J-Lo's drawing power (plus Alex O'Loughlin's legion of Moonlight fans) to push this into the $50 million range.
The Losers (Warner Brothers) - 2,950 theaters - Reviews Members of an elite U.S. Special Forces unit are sent into the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. The team -- Clay, Jensen, Roque, Pooch and Cougar -- find themselves the target of a lethal betrayal instigated from inside by a powerful enemy known only as Max. Presumed dead, the group makes plans to even the score when they're joined by the mysterious Aisha, a beautiful operative with her own agenda. Working together, they must remain deep undercover while tracking the heavily-guarded Max, a ruthless man bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global war.
A fanboy-targeting action ensemble film opening in April. Why does that sound so familiar? Oh yea, because Kick-Ass came out last weekend. The Losers has considerably less buzz than Kick-Ass, and while a niche audience of comic book fans may turn out for the film, I wouldn't expect too many other people to want to see The Losers. Give it a mediocre $30 million total for Warner Brothers.
Oceans (Disney) - 1,250 theaters - Reviews
Nearly three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water and OCEANS boldly chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind - exploring the harsh reality and the amazing creatures that live within. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan and featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, OCEANS offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea.
I have to wonder if Disney has any regrets about forming its Disneynature subsidiary a few years ago. Back in 2007, "going green" in response to global warming and depleting fossil fuels was hip and cool. These days, I'm sensing a backlash. Disney can crank out these nature documentaries as much as they want, but I don't know how much longer audiences will be excited about them. Last year, Disney released Earth into 1,804 theaters on Earth Day, and the film went on to open with $9 million on its way to a $34M total. That film was essentially some re-cut footage of the Planet Earth series, but for Oceans, Disney actually shelled out $81M for shooting. The documentary has already earned $53 million overseas, but I wouldn't expect it to do much more than break even here in the US. I just don't see Americans being that excited to watch a movie about the oceans... I think people generally find land much more exciting. I'll make a preliminary guess and say Oceans earns $23M total.
News (sorta):
Motivators Writes A Really Nice Post About Me!
I really, really appreciated this post. The fact that social media actually allowed me to get my dream internship was really incredible, and it means a lot that you'd take time to write about my experience.
Amanda Writes A Really Nice Post About Me!
Amanda, you've been a great fan for these past few months, and this was so nice of you to write!
Brandon Writes A Really Nice Post About Me!
Longtime reader, Brandon put down a quick preview post about a podcast interview I did with him a week ago. You should keep checking his site to see when the full (and very long, rambling) podcast posts.
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