Two of the biggest comedic stars on television pair up for the Fox feature comedy Date Night [DATEN]. Steve Carell [SCARE] and Tina Fey [TFEY] play a married couple whose dinner date in NYC gets turned into a crazy adventure. Fans of their TV series may have hoped for a smart, raunchy affair like The Hangover, but unfortunately director Shawn Levy [SLEVY] is responsible for broad comedies like the two Night at the Museums. Although derided by critics, his movies are commercial hits with the mainstream audience. With no other recent films for adult couples, the PG-13 rated comedy looks to have a monopoly on the date night crowd as well as those looking for a laugh. Booked into 3374 theaters, Date Night could collect $30 million on its first weekend out.
While Clash of the Titans [CLASH] set a record opening for Easter weekend, its box office tally already suffered a decline from Friday to Saturday, typically the biggest grossing day of the weekend. With mixed word of mouth, the fantasy remake is likely to drop more than 55% in its second weekend to $26 million.
Meanwhile, great buzz has brought more family moviegoers to discover How to Train Your Dragon [HTRYD]. The 3D animated film should notch another $18 million.
Tyler Perry [TPERR] films are typically frontloaded and Why Did I Get Married Too [WDIG2], a sequel coming off Easter weekend, won’t be an exception. The drama looks to stumble 55% to about $12 million.
The Last Song [LSONG] has held up during its first week, which points to strong legs typical of a female-targeted romance rather than the short legs exhibited by Miley Cyrus’ [MCYRU] Hanna Montana films. The Last Song could score another $9 million.
Opening in 897 theaters, the drama Letters to God [LTGOD] is targeted at church-going Christian moviegoers. The uplifting story could bring in $2.5 million.
That's the whisper from the trading floor.
Tag(s): DATEN, SCARE, TFEY, SLEVY, CLASH, HTRYD, TPERR, WDIG2, LSONG, MCYRU, LTGOD