This weekend at the box office brings to mind all the childhood memories of Easter. Eggs, romance, violent toys, cities destroyed, infidelity, bank robbery, and of course, a Kardashian. Look out, Peter Cottontail, this could be a big one.
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” takes our favorite Hasbro toy-based heroes into unfamiliar territory. Not only are they fighting their arch nemesis Cobra, but they’re taking on their own government and the box office of the first G.I. Joe movie. The 2009 “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” brought in $54.7 million in its first three days, according to Boxofficemojo. Although it grossed $300 mil worldwide (roughly split domestically and overseas), Paramount felt that wasn’t enough. They didn’t reboot the franchise, but booted most of the cast. There’s less Channing Tatum and no Marlon Wayans, but a lot of The Rock and Bruce Willis. Think bigger guns and bigger muscles. Paramount is hoping that translates into bigger box office. They’ll need it take down last week’s #1 film, “The Croods”.
Also fighting for your leftover Cadbury egg money is “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor”. It’s one part romance, one part seduction and one part fatal attraction. Tyler Perry wrote and directed the film with a primarily African-American cast featuring Vanessa Williams, Lance Gross and Jurnee Smollett-Bell (“True Blood”). Don’t expect Madea to show up or the normal $20 mil opening box office. Of course, this will be a chance for Kim Kardashian fans to scream “See, we told you she could act” or find a way to sneak out before the end credits.
Ryan Gosling jumps on a motorcycle and sports more ink than a library in the drifter drama “The Place Beyond the Pines”. Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes also star as their lives become intertwined in crime, tragedy, and really questionable parenting. Yes, really pretty people can have baby mama drama. The film opens in very limited release in L.A and New York this weekend, but will likely expand.
If you have young adults, tweens, or kids who are still going through “Twilight” withdrawal, then they’ll likely be off to see “The Host”. Based on Stephanie Meyer’s popular novel, “The Host” deals with the fate of mankind being on the line when aliens take over humans and erases their memories. Meyer wrote the “Twilight” films, so kids may find “The Host” worth sinking their teeth into.
Other films debuting this week include:
“Welcome to the Punch” a cop drama starring James McAvoy from Ridley Scott studios.
“Blancanieves” – Written and directed by Pablo Berger, “Blancanieves” is a unique take on “Snow White” set in the 1920s. Snow White is a Spanish bullfighter. It’s a silent film and in black and white. It’s won nearly 3 dozen film awards, so it may be worth a look.
“Mental”- Toni Collette(“United States of Tara”) shows that playing crazy is just one of her many talents as she is the eccentric nanny to five girls. It also stars Anthony LaPaglia and Liev Schreiber.
