LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – A romantic comedy that would have seemed insipid even in 1953, "Love Wedding Marriage" is one of those unnecessary films that makes your scream (or least wonder), "Why?"
Why did anyone think this, instead of almost anything else, was worth making? Why did Dermot Mulroney decide that this was the right material for his directorial debut? Why is the normally smart IFC Films involved with this? The answers already lie among the mysteries of the ages. The film is available through video-on-demand beginning May 1, with theatrical release to follow June 3.
Maybe someone who could swallow the idea of twentysomething Mandy Moore as a marriage counselor/psychologist could go along with the irksome inventions of the script by Caprice Crane, who, it is not surprising to learn, wrote numerous episodes of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place," and Anouska Chydzik; Crane's work is nothing if not consistent.
No sooner has she married vintner and Maserati-driving Charlie ("90210" and "Twilight" hunk Kellan Lutz) than Moore's Eva desperately dedicates herself to saving the marriage of her parents. Mom (Jane Seymour) has had it with crazy Dad (James Brolin), who runs around asserting his Jewishness (whether hereditary or newly acquired remains unclear), questioning whether or not his alcoholic beverages are kosher and nailing a mezuzah to his daughter's doorframe even as she protests she's not Jewish.
In the process, of course, Eva neglects her own marriage, which hits its biggest bump with the revelation that beefcake Charlie has never disclosed a secret prior marriage. Eva just doesn't know if she can get over this betrayal, even as she works on her mom to forgive Dad his progressive lunacy and an equally inane deep dark secret of his own.
Supplied with uniformly vapid dialogue, the characters come off like a bunch of twits: Moore's wide-eyed, open-mouthed reactions to every little surprise are those of a high school student, not a doctor; Lutz's dyed blond hair does nothing to encourage taking him seriously; Brolin and Seymour have never played in such a caricatured manner, and cameos by Christopher Lloyd and Colleen Camp as eccentric therapists are embarrassing. A sappy musical score provides the syrup for this very flat pancake of a movie.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Vanessa Hudgens to play Fraser's daughter in drama
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Former "High School Musical" starlet Vanessa Hudgens is set to play a pregnant, homeless teen "Gimme Shelter," an indie drama that will also star Brendan Fraser as her father.
Hudgens' character flees her abusive mother and seeks out her biological father. He first takes her in but then throws her out when she refuses to abort her child. Fraser's character fathered her as a result of a youthful fling.
Ron Krauss is writing and directing the picture, which is eyeing an end of May start in Connecticut.
"Shelter" marks the 22-year-old actress first purely ' dramatic feature role, and continues her efforts to move beyond her teen-queen image. Hudgens came into the public's eye with Disney's "High School Musical" movies before moving to Zack Snyder's ensemble fantasy "Sucker Punch," and she has the family adventure movie "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" opening in September.
Fraser, who coincidentally starred in the first "Journey to the Center of the Earth" film, was last seen in "Furry Vengeance."
Hudgens' character flees her abusive mother and seeks out her biological father. He first takes her in but then throws her out when she refuses to abort her child. Fraser's character fathered her as a result of a youthful fling.
Ron Krauss is writing and directing the picture, which is eyeing an end of May start in Connecticut.
"Shelter" marks the 22-year-old actress first purely ' dramatic feature role, and continues her efforts to move beyond her teen-queen image. Hudgens came into the public's eye with Disney's "High School Musical" movies before moving to Zack Snyder's ensemble fantasy "Sucker Punch," and she has the family adventure movie "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" opening in September.
Fraser, who coincidentally starred in the first "Journey to the Center of the Earth" film, was last seen in "Furry Vengeance."
`Bombay Beach,' `The Guard' highlight Tribeca
NEW YORK – A welcome sense of optimism pervaded the 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival.
After several years of gloomy prospects for independent film, filmmakers and audiences seemed buoyed by the hope of new technologies leading viewers to worthy movies.
"The field has been completely leveled," said writer-director Edward Burns at the closing night screening of his "The Newlyweds." "It is a good time to be a filmmaker."
Burns' proclamation — unthinkable so recently — was largely because, as he boasted, he made "The Newlyweds" for just $9,000. He was able to because of a cheap but still highly professional-grade camera (and, surely, product placement dollars from most of Tribeca's prominent sponsors).
Several of the films at the festival were to be released by Tribeca Film on video-on-demand, a platform many hope will help resuscitate independent films, many of which have struggled to find release after the shuttering of many distributors and the narrowing of studio interests.
Business, too, seemed on the uptick when — following healthy buying at the Sundance Film Festival — several films found distribution in the first few days of the festival. Among them was "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," a documentary on master sushi chef Jiro Ono and culinary perfectionism acquired by Magnolia Pictures.
It was one of several highly enjoyable films from the festival. Here are a handful of other highlights:
"BOMBAY BEACH": Arguably the hit of the festival, Alma Har'el's lyrical debut was the unanimous jury choice for best documentary feature. It's a beautifully stylized film about stray characters living in the California desert by the Salton Sea, a small community in a forgotten, post-apocalyptic landscape. Shot largely at sundown and with a soundtrack of Bob Dylan and Beirut, the film takes on a dreamlike quality. Many fictional films try to portray dignity in rural decay, but the authentically poetic "Bombay Beach" is the real deal.
"THE GUARD": Tribeca has had a curious Irish connection. Two of the best films to come out of the festival in recent years were from Ireland: the absurd comedy "Zonad" and Conor McPherson's cathartic ghost story "The Eclipse." "The Guard," which earlier premiered at Sundance and will be released later this year, was written and directed by John Michael McDonaugh, who shares the darkly comic sensibility of his playwright brother, Martin McDonaugh. Brendan Gleeson stars as a thoroughly politically incorrect police officer in Galway. He proudly calls himself "the last of the independents." When a drug smuggling case brings over an FBI agent (Don Cheadle), the two spark an irresistible chemistry.
"DESPICABLE DICK AND RIGHTEOUS RICHARD": The aging, Midwestern rascal Dick Kuchera has been on a decades-long path of 12-step program recovery. He tries to cloak a lifetime of lying and selfishness in psycho-babble, rarely convincing anyone of his earnestness. Joshua Neal's documentary on Kuchera is an unforgettable character study. Kuchera is locked on the make-amends step and one wonders if he'll ever get out: Each day brings another round of sins to atone for. Most movies tell stories of change, but "Despicable Dick" is one of utter, human stasis.
"THE TRIP": The meta narratives of Michael Winterbottom are so layered that you'd expect them to result in confusion rather than laughter. But Winterbottom's "The Trip" was the funniest film of Tribeca. It's a kind of follow up to the director's 2005 comedy, "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," which depicted a film production trying to adapt Laurence Sterne's famous novel. There were a few scenes of brilliantly rhythmic exchanges between British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, each playing exaggerated versions of their selves. "The Trip," which ran as a TV miniseries in the U.K., simply continues their banter, here on a road trip of haute cuisine in northern England. It opens in the U.S. on June 10. If the prospect of dueling Michael Cain impressions isn't enticing, what is?
"CATCHING HELL": An Alex Gibney documentary is one of the most reliable things at Tribeca. He has previously showcased films such as "My Trip To Al-Qaeda" and the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side." This year, he finds an equally harrowing but less severe story of injustice on the baseball diamond — or more accurately, just adjacent to it. "Catching Hell," a film originally made for ESPN's "30 for 30" series that will be broadcast later his year, is about the scapegoating of Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who was made a villain for his minor role in a 2003 playoff game. Gibney's film, though, is more about mob mentality, which can rage even over a little bloop hit down the left-field foul line.
After several years of gloomy prospects for independent film, filmmakers and audiences seemed buoyed by the hope of new technologies leading viewers to worthy movies.
"The field has been completely leveled," said writer-director Edward Burns at the closing night screening of his "The Newlyweds." "It is a good time to be a filmmaker."
Burns' proclamation — unthinkable so recently — was largely because, as he boasted, he made "The Newlyweds" for just $9,000. He was able to because of a cheap but still highly professional-grade camera (and, surely, product placement dollars from most of Tribeca's prominent sponsors).
Several of the films at the festival were to be released by Tribeca Film on video-on-demand, a platform many hope will help resuscitate independent films, many of which have struggled to find release after the shuttering of many distributors and the narrowing of studio interests.
Business, too, seemed on the uptick when — following healthy buying at the Sundance Film Festival — several films found distribution in the first few days of the festival. Among them was "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," a documentary on master sushi chef Jiro Ono and culinary perfectionism acquired by Magnolia Pictures.
It was one of several highly enjoyable films from the festival. Here are a handful of other highlights:
"BOMBAY BEACH": Arguably the hit of the festival, Alma Har'el's lyrical debut was the unanimous jury choice for best documentary feature. It's a beautifully stylized film about stray characters living in the California desert by the Salton Sea, a small community in a forgotten, post-apocalyptic landscape. Shot largely at sundown and with a soundtrack of Bob Dylan and Beirut, the film takes on a dreamlike quality. Many fictional films try to portray dignity in rural decay, but the authentically poetic "Bombay Beach" is the real deal.
"THE GUARD": Tribeca has had a curious Irish connection. Two of the best films to come out of the festival in recent years were from Ireland: the absurd comedy "Zonad" and Conor McPherson's cathartic ghost story "The Eclipse." "The Guard," which earlier premiered at Sundance and will be released later this year, was written and directed by John Michael McDonaugh, who shares the darkly comic sensibility of his playwright brother, Martin McDonaugh. Brendan Gleeson stars as a thoroughly politically incorrect police officer in Galway. He proudly calls himself "the last of the independents." When a drug smuggling case brings over an FBI agent (Don Cheadle), the two spark an irresistible chemistry.
"DESPICABLE DICK AND RIGHTEOUS RICHARD": The aging, Midwestern rascal Dick Kuchera has been on a decades-long path of 12-step program recovery. He tries to cloak a lifetime of lying and selfishness in psycho-babble, rarely convincing anyone of his earnestness. Joshua Neal's documentary on Kuchera is an unforgettable character study. Kuchera is locked on the make-amends step and one wonders if he'll ever get out: Each day brings another round of sins to atone for. Most movies tell stories of change, but "Despicable Dick" is one of utter, human stasis.
"THE TRIP": The meta narratives of Michael Winterbottom are so layered that you'd expect them to result in confusion rather than laughter. But Winterbottom's "The Trip" was the funniest film of Tribeca. It's a kind of follow up to the director's 2005 comedy, "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," which depicted a film production trying to adapt Laurence Sterne's famous novel. There were a few scenes of brilliantly rhythmic exchanges between British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, each playing exaggerated versions of their selves. "The Trip," which ran as a TV miniseries in the U.K., simply continues their banter, here on a road trip of haute cuisine in northern England. It opens in the U.S. on June 10. If the prospect of dueling Michael Cain impressions isn't enticing, what is?
"CATCHING HELL": An Alex Gibney documentary is one of the most reliable things at Tribeca. He has previously showcased films such as "My Trip To Al-Qaeda" and the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side." This year, he finds an equally harrowing but less severe story of injustice on the baseball diamond — or more accurately, just adjacent to it. "Catching Hell," a film originally made for ESPN's "30 for 30" series that will be broadcast later his year, is about the scapegoating of Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who was made a villain for his minor role in a 2003 playoff game. Gibney's film, though, is more about mob mentality, which can rage even over a little bloop hit down the left-field foul line.
`Bombay Beach,' `The Guard' highlight Tribeca
NEW YORK – A welcome sense of optimism pervaded the 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival.
After several years of gloomy prospects for independent film, filmmakers and audiences seemed buoyed by the hope of new technologies leading viewers to worthy movies.
"The field has been completely leveled," said writer-director Edward Burns at the closing night screening of his "The Newlyweds." "It is a good time to be a filmmaker."
Burns' proclamation — unthinkable so recently — was largely because, as he boasted, he made "The Newlyweds" for just $9,000. He was able to because of a cheap but still highly professional-grade camera (and, surely, product placement dollars from most of Tribeca's prominent sponsors).
Several of the films at the festival were to be released by Tribeca Film on video-on-demand, a platform many hope will help resuscitate independent films, many of which have struggled to find release after the shuttering of many distributors and the narrowing of studio interests.
Business, too, seemed on the uptick when — following healthy buying at the Sundance Film Festival — several films found distribution in the first few days of the festival. Among them was "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," a documentary on master sushi chef Jiro Ono and culinary perfectionism acquired by Magnolia Pictures.
It was one of several highly enjoyable films from the festival. Here are a handful of other highlights:
"BOMBAY BEACH": Arguably the hit of the festival, Alma Har'el's lyrical debut was the unanimous jury choice for best documentary feature. It's a beautifully stylized film about stray characters living in the California desert by the Salton Sea, a small community in a forgotten, post-apocalyptic landscape. Shot largely at sundown and with a soundtrack of Bob Dylan and Beirut, the film takes on a dreamlike quality. Many fictional films try to portray dignity in rural decay, but the authentically poetic "Bombay Beach" is the real deal.
"THE GUARD": Tribeca has had a curious Irish connection. Two of the best films to come out of the festival in recent years were from Ireland: the absurd comedy "Zonad" and Conor McPherson's cathartic ghost story "The Eclipse." "The Guard," which earlier premiered at Sundance and will be released later this year, was written and directed by John Michael McDonaugh, who shares the darkly comic sensibility of his playwright brother, Martin McDonaugh. Brendan Gleeson stars as a thoroughly politically incorrect police officer in Galway. He proudly calls himself "the last of the independents." When a drug smuggling case brings over an FBI agent (Don Cheadle), the two spark an irresistible chemistry.
"DESPICABLE DICK AND RIGHTEOUS RICHARD": The aging, Midwestern rascal Dick Kuchera has been on a decades-long path of 12-step program recovery. He tries to cloak a lifetime of lying and selfishness in psycho-babble, rarely convincing anyone of his earnestness. Joshua Neal's documentary on Kuchera is an unforgettable character study. Kuchera is locked on the make-amends step and one wonders if he'll ever get out: Each day brings another round of sins to atone for. Most movies tell stories of change, but "Despicable Dick" is one of utter, human stasis.
"THE TRIP": The meta narratives of Michael Winterbottom are so layered that you'd expect them to result in confusion rather than laughter. But Winterbottom's "The Trip" was the funniest film of Tribeca. It's a kind of follow up to the director's 2005 comedy, "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," which depicted a film production trying to adapt Laurence Sterne's famous novel. There were a few scenes of brilliantly rhythmic exchanges between British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, each playing exaggerated versions of their selves. "The Trip," which ran as a TV miniseries in the U.K., simply continues their banter, here on a road trip of haute cuisine in northern England. It opens in the U.S. on June 10. If the prospect of dueling Michael Cain impressions isn't enticing, what is?
"CATCHING HELL": An Alex Gibney documentary is one of the most reliable things at Tribeca. He has previously showcased films such as "My Trip To Al-Qaeda" and the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side." This year, he finds an equally harrowing but less severe story of injustice on the baseball diamond — or more accurately, just adjacent to it. "Catching Hell," a film originally made for ESPN's "30 for 30" series that will be broadcast later his year, is about the scapegoating of Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who was made a villain for his minor role in a 2003 playoff game. Gibney's film, though, is more about mob mentality, which can rage even over a little bloop hit down the left-field foul line.
After several years of gloomy prospects for independent film, filmmakers and audiences seemed buoyed by the hope of new technologies leading viewers to worthy movies.
"The field has been completely leveled," said writer-director Edward Burns at the closing night screening of his "The Newlyweds." "It is a good time to be a filmmaker."
Burns' proclamation — unthinkable so recently — was largely because, as he boasted, he made "The Newlyweds" for just $9,000. He was able to because of a cheap but still highly professional-grade camera (and, surely, product placement dollars from most of Tribeca's prominent sponsors).
Several of the films at the festival were to be released by Tribeca Film on video-on-demand, a platform many hope will help resuscitate independent films, many of which have struggled to find release after the shuttering of many distributors and the narrowing of studio interests.
Business, too, seemed on the uptick when — following healthy buying at the Sundance Film Festival — several films found distribution in the first few days of the festival. Among them was "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," a documentary on master sushi chef Jiro Ono and culinary perfectionism acquired by Magnolia Pictures.
It was one of several highly enjoyable films from the festival. Here are a handful of other highlights:
"BOMBAY BEACH": Arguably the hit of the festival, Alma Har'el's lyrical debut was the unanimous jury choice for best documentary feature. It's a beautifully stylized film about stray characters living in the California desert by the Salton Sea, a small community in a forgotten, post-apocalyptic landscape. Shot largely at sundown and with a soundtrack of Bob Dylan and Beirut, the film takes on a dreamlike quality. Many fictional films try to portray dignity in rural decay, but the authentically poetic "Bombay Beach" is the real deal.
"THE GUARD": Tribeca has had a curious Irish connection. Two of the best films to come out of the festival in recent years were from Ireland: the absurd comedy "Zonad" and Conor McPherson's cathartic ghost story "The Eclipse." "The Guard," which earlier premiered at Sundance and will be released later this year, was written and directed by John Michael McDonaugh, who shares the darkly comic sensibility of his playwright brother, Martin McDonaugh. Brendan Gleeson stars as a thoroughly politically incorrect police officer in Galway. He proudly calls himself "the last of the independents." When a drug smuggling case brings over an FBI agent (Don Cheadle), the two spark an irresistible chemistry.
"DESPICABLE DICK AND RIGHTEOUS RICHARD": The aging, Midwestern rascal Dick Kuchera has been on a decades-long path of 12-step program recovery. He tries to cloak a lifetime of lying and selfishness in psycho-babble, rarely convincing anyone of his earnestness. Joshua Neal's documentary on Kuchera is an unforgettable character study. Kuchera is locked on the make-amends step and one wonders if he'll ever get out: Each day brings another round of sins to atone for. Most movies tell stories of change, but "Despicable Dick" is one of utter, human stasis.
"THE TRIP": The meta narratives of Michael Winterbottom are so layered that you'd expect them to result in confusion rather than laughter. But Winterbottom's "The Trip" was the funniest film of Tribeca. It's a kind of follow up to the director's 2005 comedy, "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," which depicted a film production trying to adapt Laurence Sterne's famous novel. There were a few scenes of brilliantly rhythmic exchanges between British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, each playing exaggerated versions of their selves. "The Trip," which ran as a TV miniseries in the U.K., simply continues their banter, here on a road trip of haute cuisine in northern England. It opens in the U.S. on June 10. If the prospect of dueling Michael Cain impressions isn't enticing, what is?
"CATCHING HELL": An Alex Gibney documentary is one of the most reliable things at Tribeca. He has previously showcased films such as "My Trip To Al-Qaeda" and the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side." This year, he finds an equally harrowing but less severe story of injustice on the baseball diamond — or more accurately, just adjacent to it. "Catching Hell," a film originally made for ESPN's "30 for 30" series that will be broadcast later his year, is about the scapegoating of Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who was made a villain for his minor role in a 2003 playoff game. Gibney's film, though, is more about mob mentality, which can rage even over a little bloop hit down the left-field foul line.
'Fast Five' takes checkered flag at box office
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The first big budget film of the summer season, "Fast Five," broke new records as it scored $83.6 million in its first weekend in theaters, industry estimates showed Sunday.
Ticket sales for the fifth volume in the high-speed car chase series marked the biggest premiere for any film so far this year, largely outpacing other new films this week.
Coming-of-age flick "Prom" only got $5 million for its cast of young and largely unknown actors, while moviegoers were similarly unimpressed by "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil," a 3-D cartoon which opened with $4.1 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Movie ticket sales have been soft this year, reflecting the impact of a deep recession, the worst in the United States since the 1930s.
Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were among "Fast" veterans who reunited for the fifth edition in the series, with Rio de Janeiro as a setting this time.
The "Hoodwinked" sequel's poor showing may owe to the continued popularity of two other 3-D animated family films: tropical bird comedy "Rio," in second place with $14.4 million, and 9th place finisher "Hop," an Easter romp that scored $2.6 million in its fifth week on the big screen.
"Rio" previously roosted atop the box office for two consecutive weeks. The cartoon about pet macaw Blu voiced by "Social Network" star Jesse Eisenberg bolts from chilly climes to Brazil's beaches.
"Hop," a real-action-animation hybrid about the wayward son of the Easter Bunny, had also spent two weeks at the top.
In fourth place was the latest comedic offering from Tyler Perry, the critically-panned "Madea's Big Happy Family," which raked in $10.1 million in its second weekend.
Ticket sales for the fifth volume in the high-speed car chase series marked the biggest premiere for any film so far this year, largely outpacing other new films this week.
Coming-of-age flick "Prom" only got $5 million for its cast of young and largely unknown actors, while moviegoers were similarly unimpressed by "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil," a 3-D cartoon which opened with $4.1 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Movie ticket sales have been soft this year, reflecting the impact of a deep recession, the worst in the United States since the 1930s.
Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were among "Fast" veterans who reunited for the fifth edition in the series, with Rio de Janeiro as a setting this time.
The "Hoodwinked" sequel's poor showing may owe to the continued popularity of two other 3-D animated family films: tropical bird comedy "Rio," in second place with $14.4 million, and 9th place finisher "Hop," an Easter romp that scored $2.6 million in its fifth week on the big screen.
"Rio" previously roosted atop the box office for two consecutive weeks. The cartoon about pet macaw Blu voiced by "Social Network" star Jesse Eisenberg bolts from chilly climes to Brazil's beaches.
"Hop," a real-action-animation hybrid about the wayward son of the Easter Bunny, had also spent two weeks at the top.
In fourth place was the latest comedic offering from Tyler Perry, the critically-panned "Madea's Big Happy Family," which raked in $10.1 million in its second weekend.
"Fast Five", "Thor" top box office attractions
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "Fast Five," the fifth entry in the "Fast and the Furious" street-racing franchise, raced to the biggest opening of the year at the North American box office, while "Thor" was the top choice overseas.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Fast Five" earned about $83.6 million during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada, proving the appeal of car chases in exotic locales for young male moviegoers.
Industry prognosticators had expected the film to edge past the $71 million start for the previous film, "Fast and Furious" in 2009. The opening also boosted the flagging fortunes of both its distributor, Universal Pictures, and the overall industry.
"Thor" pulled in $83 million from 56 foreign markets, a week before the Marvel comic book adaptation opens in North America. Top-ranked openings included Britain ($9 million), France ($8.1 million) and South Korea ($5.7 million). Its foreign total stands at $93 million after the Paramount Pictures release got an early start in Australia last weekend.
"Fast Five" earned $45.3 million internationally after expanding to 14 markets from four last weekend. It opened at No. 1 in each of the 10 new markets, including Russia ($11.5 million), Germany ($10.2 million) and Spain ($6.3 million). Its foreign total stands at $81.4 million.
The strong performances of the two action films suggest a strong summer for the Hollywood studios, which have suffered a dismal year so far. Ticket sales in North America are off 17 percent and attendance is down 18 percent from 2010. Universal, newly controlled by Comcast Corp, had the smallest market share of the six major studios last year. It has enjoyed a decent 2011 because it distributed the hit cartoon "Hop."
BRAZIL IN SPOTLIGHT
Boasting a price tag of about $125 million, "Fast Five" reunites franchise stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in a high-octane series of car chases set in the slums of Rio De Janeiro. It easily crushed the old mark for the best opening of the year -- $39.2 million -- set two weekends ago by "Rio," a cartoon also set in the Brazilian city. "Fast Five" is actually the strongest new release since "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I" opened to $125 million last November.
Universal said "Fast Five" set a new company record, surpassing the $72.1 million bow of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" in 1997. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.
The franchise originated in 2001 as "The Fast and the Furious," and hit top gear with the 2009 installment, which earned $353 million worldwide.
Two other new releases crashed in North America during the weekend. The Walt Disney Co teen comedy "Prom" came in at No. 5 with $5 million, and Weinstein Co's animated sequel "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" at No. 6 with $4.1 million. They had been expected to open in the $7 million to $9 million range.
"Prom" marks the first film given the green light by Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross after he was given the job during a restructuring in October 2009. It cost about $8 million to make. Disney hopes to do better when its fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film opens on May 20.
Weinstein, the closely held studio behind best picture Oscar winner "The King's Speech," said it was disappointed by the opening for its Hansel and Gretel story, but it had limited financial exposure. The company received a distribution fee from the film's producer, a firm run by vodka mogul Maurice Kanbar. The Hollywood Reporter described "Hoodwinked" as "one of the most obnoxious and least necessary animated films of the century thus far."
After two weeks at No. 1, "Rio" fell to No. 2 with $14.4 million; the total for the Fox cartoon rose to $103.6 million. Fox is a unit of News Corp.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Fast Five" earned about $83.6 million during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada, proving the appeal of car chases in exotic locales for young male moviegoers.
Industry prognosticators had expected the film to edge past the $71 million start for the previous film, "Fast and Furious" in 2009. The opening also boosted the flagging fortunes of both its distributor, Universal Pictures, and the overall industry.
"Thor" pulled in $83 million from 56 foreign markets, a week before the Marvel comic book adaptation opens in North America. Top-ranked openings included Britain ($9 million), France ($8.1 million) and South Korea ($5.7 million). Its foreign total stands at $93 million after the Paramount Pictures release got an early start in Australia last weekend.
"Fast Five" earned $45.3 million internationally after expanding to 14 markets from four last weekend. It opened at No. 1 in each of the 10 new markets, including Russia ($11.5 million), Germany ($10.2 million) and Spain ($6.3 million). Its foreign total stands at $81.4 million.
The strong performances of the two action films suggest a strong summer for the Hollywood studios, which have suffered a dismal year so far. Ticket sales in North America are off 17 percent and attendance is down 18 percent from 2010. Universal, newly controlled by Comcast Corp, had the smallest market share of the six major studios last year. It has enjoyed a decent 2011 because it distributed the hit cartoon "Hop."
BRAZIL IN SPOTLIGHT
Boasting a price tag of about $125 million, "Fast Five" reunites franchise stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in a high-octane series of car chases set in the slums of Rio De Janeiro. It easily crushed the old mark for the best opening of the year -- $39.2 million -- set two weekends ago by "Rio," a cartoon also set in the Brazilian city. "Fast Five" is actually the strongest new release since "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I" opened to $125 million last November.
Universal said "Fast Five" set a new company record, surpassing the $72.1 million bow of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" in 1997. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.
The franchise originated in 2001 as "The Fast and the Furious," and hit top gear with the 2009 installment, which earned $353 million worldwide.
Two other new releases crashed in North America during the weekend. The Walt Disney Co teen comedy "Prom" came in at No. 5 with $5 million, and Weinstein Co's animated sequel "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" at No. 6 with $4.1 million. They had been expected to open in the $7 million to $9 million range.
"Prom" marks the first film given the green light by Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross after he was given the job during a restructuring in October 2009. It cost about $8 million to make. Disney hopes to do better when its fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film opens on May 20.
Weinstein, the closely held studio behind best picture Oscar winner "The King's Speech," said it was disappointed by the opening for its Hansel and Gretel story, but it had limited financial exposure. The company received a distribution fee from the film's producer, a firm run by vodka mogul Maurice Kanbar. The Hollywood Reporter described "Hoodwinked" as "one of the most obnoxious and least necessary animated films of the century thus far."
After two weeks at No. 1, "Rio" fell to No. 2 with $14.4 million; the total for the Fox cartoon rose to $103.6 million. Fox is a unit of News Corp.
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