Weekend box office should see Green Lantern top charts with $50-60 million debut
Warner Bros. Pictures' Green Lantern makes its opening run in 3,816 theaters, with a cast including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Temuera Morrison, Angela Bassett, Jon Tenney, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clark Duncan.
The Martin Campbell-helmed sci-fi action adventure has 2,711 3D venues. Critics have not received the film well in general, holding a poor 21% positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Still, this means nothing in terms of box office figures. Poorly rated Hangover Part II has grossed a gargantuan amount thus far from a 35% thumbs up response from reviewers.
Top 5 Box Office Super Hero Movie Comparisons: (from highest openers)
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The Dark Knight - $158.4 million opening weekend from 4,366 theaters, at average of $36,283 per venue. Total domestic gross of $533,345,358.
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Spider-Man 3 - $151,116,516 debut weekend from 4,252 locations, averaging $35,540 per theater. U.S. gross of $336,530,303.
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Iron Man 2 - $128,122,480 weekend pull from 4,380 theaters at an average of $29,252 per location. Domestic cume of $312,433,331.
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Spider-Man - $114,844,116 from 3,615 locations with an average of $31,769 per theater and a total gross of $403,706,375
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X-Men: The Last Stand - $102,750,665 from 3,690 venues. Pic averaged $27,846 per location and ended up with $234,362.
Also debuting this weekend, 20th Century Fox's Mr. Popper's Penguins starring Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Ophelia Lovibond and Philip Baker Hall, finds 3,338 locations. Pic aiming at family viewers, is adapted by Jared Stern, John Morris and Sean Anders, based on the children's book by Florence Atwater. Mark Waters directs the John Davis-produced film.
Opening in 6,10 locations and aiming for a high per-theater average, Fox Searchlight Pictures' The Art of Getting By (a.k.a. Homework) stars Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts in the romance. Gavin Wiesen directs and writes. Cast has a nice buffet of talent and makes for a solid escape from Green Lantern madness, including Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Alicia Silverstone, Blair Underwood and Rita Wilson.
The rest of the field is limited to indie openers including documentaries like Screen Media's Jig, IFC's Buck, Magnolia Pictures' Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times and Farmageddon.