John Carter surveys the box office wasteland.
The lure of adventures on Mars wasn’t quite enough to get filmgoers to plunk down their hard-earned for Disney’s sci-fi western John Carter.
In a battle of average films, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ pulp hero lost out to the animated adventures of “The Lorax” this weekend. The result was that receipts were down by 19.1 percent from the weekend before. Courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo, here’s a quick rundown of the numbers:
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count /Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | 1 | Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Uni. | $39,100,000 | -44.3% | 3,746 | +17 | $10,438 | $121,950,000 | $70 | 2 |
| 2 | N | John Carter | BV | $30,603,000 | – | 3,749 | – | $8,163 | $30,603,000 | $250 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | Project X | WB | $11,550,000 | -45.1% | 3,055 | – | $3,781 | $40,125,000 | – | 2 |
| 4 | N | Silent House | ORF | $7,010,000 | – | 2,124 | – | $3,300 | $7,010,000 | – | 1 |
| 5 | 3 | Act of Valor | Rela. | $7,000,000 | -48.4% | 2,951 | -102 | $2,372 | $56,100,597 | $12 | 3 |
| 6 | N | A Thousand Words | P/DW | $6,350,000 | – | 1,890 | – | $3,360 | $6,350,000 | $40 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Safe House | Uni. | $5,000,000 | -32.3% | 2,144 | -409 | $2,332 | $115,800,000 | $85 | 5 |
| 8 | 7 | The Vow | SGem | $4,000,000 | -33.5% | 2,478 | -348 | $1,614 | $117,614,000 | $30 | 5 |
| 9 | 8 | This Means War | Fox | $3,750,000 | -32.6% | 1,949 | -393 | $1,924 | $46,889,000 | $65 | 4 |
| 10 | 6 | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | WB | $3,685,000 | -43.7% | 2,525 | -535 | $1,459 | $90,716,000 | $79 | 5 |
The New York Times profiles “21 Jump Street” star Channing Tatum calling him a star-in-the-making.
Here’s the nut graf:
“A former Chippendales-style stripper, Mr. Tatum, 31, will next appear in the comedy “21 Jump Street” — a calculated move by this actor and his advisers, including two senior agents at United Talent (home to Mr. Depp), to broaden his fan base beyond the young women who have flocked to see him in romances like “The Vow.”
But leading-man manufacturing has changed in one very important way: The success rate has plummeted. For over a decade now Hollywood has failed to mint a new heavyweight, the kind of actor who can anchor a blockbuster and repeat that feat over a prolonged period. Today’s A list includes Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam Sandler, all of whom climbed into the cultural firmament 15 or more years ago.
Daniel Craig may come the closest. James Bond made Mr. Craig a star six years ago, but his movies outside of that franchise (“Cowboys & Aliens,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”) have been box office disappointments. In the last decade or so a cavalcade of men reached for the stratosphere and stalled: Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, Edward Norton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Hartnett, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Dorff, Garrett Hedlund, Tobey Maguire.”
Read the full story here.
The Cineaste's Lament. 