The Easter holiday weekend is poised to bring bountiful returns to the box office led by the fantasy remake Clash of the Titans [CLASH]. Witnessing the success of Avatar, Warner Bros. decided to convert the already completed Clash of the Titans into 3D to cash in on its higher ticket prices. Avatar-star Sam Worthington [SWORT] also leads Titans, which updates the stop-motion animation effects from the 1981 original with modern CG special effects. Buzz has been high since the very effective first trailer and the marketing campaign have build up anticipation on par with Warner Bros.’ previous ancient Greek epic 300. The PG-13 rated Titans should surpass the $70 million opening of the non-3D, R-rated 300. Although reviews on the 3D conversion have been negative, there hasn’t been an action spectacle promising incredible visuals targeted at the male audience in a while. Clashing into 3777 theaters with approximately1800 3D screens, Titans should topple around $75 million.
Although How to Train Your Dragon [HTRYD] opened milder than the typical DreamWorks Animation release, the 3D family film has extremely good word of mouth. With the holiday weekend, Dragon should be able to fetch $29 million in its second session.
The drama Why Did I Get Married Too [WDIG2] is the first direct sequel from writer/director Tyler Perry [TPERR]. The original opened to $21.4 million in 2007, while Perry’s last film I Can Do Bad All By Myself did $23.4 million. Perry’s core fanbase of black women consistently delivers in that box office range. With a built-in audience for a sequel, Married Too should score at least $25 million from 2155 targeted locations.
The Last Song [LSONG] will test the starpower of Miley Cyrus [MCYRU] with her first film not associated with her hugely popular Hanna Montana character. She smartly hooks up with Disney and writer Nicholas Sparks, whose last film Dear John opened with $30 million. The PG-rated teen romance opened in 2673 theaters on Wednesday to take advantage of kids on spring break. Having already earned $5 million on its opening day, The Last Song should be able to belt out another $18 million over the weekend.
That’s the whisper from the trading floor.
Tag(s): CLASH, SWORT, HTRYD, WDIG2, TPERR, LSONG, MCYRU