Warner Bros. hopes to start a new superhero franchise from their DC Comics with Green Lantern [GLANT]. Ryan Reynolds [RREYN] stars as Hal Jordan who inherits a ring that gives him superpowers as well as a CG suit. While Warner Bros. has spent heavily on the marketing campaign, the focus has been on the special effects and the intergalactic space mythology. The PG-13 rated film is so laden with special effects and alien characters that the film appears cartoon-ish, which could limit its appeal to just teen boys and comic fans. While most superhero flicks have been grounded in our world, the heavily sci-fi Green Lantern may be too far out for mainstream moviegoers. Reviews are also not as good as Thor or X-Men: First Class, which could further deter audience interest for a second tier superhero. Lighting up 3816 theaters, Green Lantern may power up around $48 million.
The normally PG-13 Jim Carrey [JCARR] goes PG for the family film Mr. Popper’s Penguins [POPNG]. Fox was late in building up awareness for the film as its first teaser was not released until 3 months ago. Then again, the trailers have all been mediocre resulting in minimal buzz. With light competition for family films though, Mr. Popper’s Penguins could entice some parents to bring their kids and tally about $21 million from 3338 locations.
Super 8 [SUPR8] connected with older adult moviegoers. The NBA Finals took a bite out of last Sunday’s box office, but Super 8 should make some back with Father’s Day this Sunday. Super 8 may deteriorate 45% to $19 million for its second weekend.
The franchise relaunch X-Men: First Class [XMEN4] hasn’t been holding up. With added competition from Green Lantern, the mutants are likely to decay 50% to $12 million.
That’s the whisper from the trading floor.
Tag(s): GLANT, RREYN, JCARR, POPNG, SUPR8, XMEN4