Box Office Update 4/3-4/5: Fast & Furious Goes Wild on April

Wow. I figured the latest Fast & Furious franchise entry would open well, but I had no idea it would have the strength to shatter the April opening record. Seriously, it was not by a little bit that it took the top spot. The Vin Diesel action vehicle (sic) took in nearly $71 million, besting the previous record holder Anger Management, which opened to the tune of $42.5 million. Not only that, it made more in its opening weekend than the prior entry, Tokyo Drift, made in its entire run. It also looks to be on track to top the $144 million take of the original 2001 film. I wonder, is this enough to jump start Vin Diesel's and Paul Walker's careers?

Slipping to second place is Monsters vs. Aliens with a tally of $32 million. The animated feature is doing well with families, but I wonder just what sort of legs it will have? I suspect it will do decent and end up in the $165 million range, helped by the next couple of weeks not offering a lot in the way of competition.

Third place is held by the haunted house tale The Haunting in Connecticut. The more I think back on the film, the more affection I have for it. It is no classic by any stretch, but it is quite effective in setting a mood. The jump scares were a bit much, but when I wasn't guessing them, I was drawn to the creepiness.

Knowing is holding strong in fourth place. This is one of the year's best surprises in terms of intelligent filmmaking. I am glad to see that people are still going out for this one, I would have suspected it to drop a lot faster than it has.

Fifth place plays host to I Love You, Man this week. This comedy is quite funny and well worth your time. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it goes a long way towards being something original, something we always need in a comedy.

Adventureland debuts in sixth place, which means this comedy will likely not be around terribly long. I did not get the chance to see it this past weekend, but hope to do so soon. It looks pretty funny, and from what I hear is considerably different than what is shown in the ads.

Next up is Duplicity in seventh place, another film I haven't seen. Despite the star power, I cannot claim to have a strong desire to do so.

Eighth place is the Disney remake adventure Race to Witch Mountain. This feature is fun but a little hollow upon exit. I had hoped for something a little more substantive than what I got.

12 Rounds is clinging to life in its second weekend. This is an action film that will have to wait for DVD to really make any of its money back, and I suspect it will do quite well in that market

The final film in the round up is Sunshine Cleaning, an indie comedy that has gotten good notice but did not do as well as had been hoped as its release expands. I enjoyed the film, although I have to wonder if this weekend is enough to warrant a wider release?

Next weekend is Easter and will have three new features arriving. Seth Rogen's Observe and Report brings an R-rated Paul Blart to the cineplex, while Dragonball: Evolution attempts to draw in more money than the recent Street Fighter debacle. The third film is the tween targeted Hannah Montana: The Movie, which I can guarantee you will not see reviewed by me.

Three movies dropped off the top ten this week: Taken (11), The Last House on the Left (12), and Watchmen (13).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	N	Fast & Furious	$70,950,500	$70,950,500	1
2	1	Monsters vs. Aliens	$32,609,165	$104,799,387	2
3	2	The Haunting in Connecticut	$9,481,647	$37,171,280	2
4	3	Knowing	$8,146,156	$58,219,770	3
5	4	I Love You, Man	$7,722,469	$49,159,559	3
6	N	Adventureland	$5,722,039	$5,722,039	1
7	5	Duplicity	$4,174,240	$32,250,215	3
8	6	Race to Witch Mountain	$3,212,602	$58,249,111	4
9	7	12 Rounds	$2,260,906	$8,982,767	2
10	11	Sunshine Cleaning	$1,807,164	$4,702,721	4

Box Office Predictions Recap
I guess I was a little bit under when I made my Fast & Furious prediction. Seriously, who would have guessed it would have such a monstrous opening? Still, I think I did all right for the most part. I was able to get six of the positions correct and some of those gross predictions were so close it is almost spooky. We will see where next week takes us.

Here is how the field matched up:

Actual	Prediction	Title	Wknd Gross	Prediction
1	1	Fast & Furious	$70,950,500	$41 million
2	2	Monsters vs. Aliens	$32,609,165	$32 million
3	3	The Haunting in Connecticut	$9,481,647	$12 million
6	4	Adventureland	$5,722,039	$10.5 million
5	5	I Love You, Man	$7,722,469	$10 million
4	6	Knowing	$8,146,156	$8 million
7	7	Duplicity	$4,174,240	$4.5 million
8	8	Race to Witch Mountain	$3,212,602	$3.5 million
10	9	Sunshine Cleaning	$1,807,164	$3 million
9	10	12 Rounds	$2,260,906	$2.5 million