New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Adding the 3D element certainly didn't help the reviews. The Louis Letterier film (he directed the "good" Hulk with Ed Norton – where's my 3D sequel?) is a remake of the 1981 original that is often attributed to Ray Harryhausen, but was directed by Desmond Davis. Harryhausen produced the original Clash of the Titans and provided the effects, which were similar to that of his earlier films, like the Sinbad films and 1963's Jason and the Argonauts. The film became a cult classic due to those wild effects, but was definitely not a masterpiece in filmmaking. Neither is the remake. The 2010 version was seen by 157 critics via RottenTomatoes, of whom only 49 found something to like, giving it a fresh rating of 31%. Due to the opening, legs won't be necessary, but would help Warner Bros. and Legendary Films (The Dark Knight, Where The Wild Things Are) recoup the $122 million investment that went into this one. For now, Clash of the Titans has to be deemed a huge success, despite the critical drubbing, as this one should play as well overseas as it does domestically, if not better.

Finishing second is Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too, the sequel to Perry's 2007 film that opened to $21.4 million. With a much better (and religious) release date, and an Oprah appearance, Why Did I Get Married Too opened much better than the original, taking in $30.2 million from 2,155 venues. With that lower venue count, Married Too managed a huge venue average at $13,991. The cast includes Janet Jackson and Perry himself (not in drag this time), and since the movie is a sequel, Perry managed his biggest opening since Madea Goes to Jail, which took in over $41 million in its opening frame. Perry has now directed eight films, none of which have opened in the single digit millions. Unfortunately, there is no budget data available, but a usual Perry flick costs about $20 million these days, so this is going to be another one weekend winner for Lionsgate, which also sees it biggest open since Madea Goes to Jail.

Third place How To Train Your Dragon, which enjoys a decent hold that could have been better had it not been Easter weekend. With kids out of school on Friday, Dragon was huge, taking in $11 million on Friday. Comparing this Friday to last Friday, Dragon was only off its opening day gross by about $1 million, or less than 10%. It couldn't hold that strength all weekend, though, as for some, Sunday brings the Easter Bunny and all that goes with it. In the end, Dragon held well, pulling in $29.2 million. It was off 33%, but that has to be considered a big success, as Clash of the Titans muscled in on Dragon's 3D territory, and the Paramount release was considered a disappointment last weekend. It's unclear how it will behave next weekend, but a big drop would be very bad news for Paramount and DreamWorks, as Dragon carried a price tag of $165 million. The good news is that it doesn't have further kids competition until the end of the month when Furry Vengeance opens. Give it a 10-day total of $92.3 million.

Continued:       1       2       3