The Heart Wants What it Wants….
Apparently guys bit the bullet and allowed their girlfriends to drag them to see the ‘star-studded’ but poorly reviewed romantic comedy Valentine’s Day. Starring such luminaries as Ashton Krutcher, Topher Grace, and Jennifer Garner—OK, Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway are in there too—the film drew a woeful 16% positive rating at Rottentomatoes.com. (Not that that’s stopped director Garry Marshall before; he also directed the repugnant Pretty Woman, which was a massive hit.)
But timing is everything, and the picture banked an impressive $54 million from cuddling ticket buyers to lead the frame. We’ll see what the drop-off is for next weekend, what with the film’s time-sensitive title and all. Still, romcoms generally do well on home video, so this seems like a nice hit already.
Coming in second, and exhibiting little box office magic, was Percy Jackson and the Movie that Looks Just Like a Harry Potter Movie. Despite being made by director Christopher Columbus, who helmed the first two Harry Potter movies, Percy Jackson reviewed rather less wizardry. With an estimated $31.1, it just edged out The Wolfman for second place.
Joe Jackson’s The Wolfman warbled more than howled at the box office, drawing a mediocre $30.6 million (estimated) for the frame. Universal, which has stuttered in its steps to capitalize on its Classic Monsters properties, cannot be overly pleased. (Still, it’s a vast improvement from Van Helsing.) Marvel Comics is presumably a bit taken aback as well, since the Wolfman’s director is shepherding the company’s Captain America movie to the screen. Hopefully that one comes off better. Here’s a nice summation of The Wolfman’s various production straits, ironically caused by Universal trying to keep the budget low (originally $85 million) while at the same time rushing the film into production.
For what it’s worth, I still think a PG-13 Wolfman movie would have made a lot more sense than an R rated one. And it should be noted that The Wolfman did a lot worse than the raw box office take indicates. Valentine’s Day not only made the most money of the three new arrivals, but cost the least to make, being budgeted at a thrifty $52 million.
In contrast, The Wolfman cost a whopping $150 million (!!). Valentine’s Day thus made about as much in its first weekend as it cost (although the studio will only see about half of that), while The Wolfman made about a fifth of its budget—of which, again, Universal will see about $15 million entire. I wouldn’t be banking on the Creature of the Black Lagoon remake leaping before cameras anytime soon.
So did you guys see anything this weekend.
