Box Office Recap-April 11th, 2011

Wow is really the only thing I have to say about the box office this weekend. Things really got turned upside down and my predictions couldn't have been more incorrect. Hop easily won the weekend for the second straight time with over $21 million according to Ew.com and the AP. Hop continues to be a huge success and is really rolling along. There is a good chance that it won't slow down much either as Easter is still two weekends away. In second place, with a dismal $12.6 million was Arthur, the Russell Brand led remake of the classic Dudley Moore film. Arthur's expectations were set much higher than this, and with so many other new releases on the horizon, its hard to see Arthur holding up at all. In third place was Hanna with $12.3 million. While Arthur's total was below expectations, I think expectations for Hanna were much more tempered and this total represents a modest success. Marketing a film based on a 14 year old assassin is a tough sell and any total that puts it on track to make its money back has to be considered successful. In fourth place was the under marketed based off a true story Soul Surfer, about the young girl whose arm was taken by a shark, but who still surfs to this day. The film made $11 million, which returns over half of its $18 million cost. In fifth place was the horror film Insidious, in its second week it made just over $9 million. The big surprise for me was what happened in 6th place, my 1st place predicted film Your Highness, bombed completely and made only $9.5 million. This is a huge failure for the heavily marketed film. Both Hanna and Soul Surfer had far fewer marketing opportunities and both out grossed Your Highness. Its hard to tell if the films R rating kept people away, but the preview for the film made it look quite funny and it has an all star cast for a comedy. Overall it is a real shock to see Your Highness bomb in the way that it did.

Next week we get two more new releases, the animated film Rio and the franchise reviving Scream 4. My prediction sure to go wrong is that Scream 4 will win the weekend, followed by Hop, Rio, Soul Surfer, and Arthur. Check back later this week for reviews of Never Let Me Go, Your Highness, and Hanna, as well as Diomedes' weekend preview.

-Maximus