TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count  / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 N Pain and Gain Par...

TWLWTitle (click to view)StudioWeekend Gross% ChangeTheater Count /ChangeAverageTotal GrossBudget*Week #
1NPain and GainPar.$20,244,505-3,277-$6,178$20,244,505$261
21OblivionUni.$17,803,425-52.0%3,792+9$4,695$65,090,925$1202
3242WB$10,657,443-39.9%3,405+155$3,130$69,011,815$403
4NThe Big WeddingLGF$7,591,663-2,633-$2,883$7,591,663$351
53The CroodsFox$6,726,918-27.2%3,283-152$2,049$163,151,701$1356
65G.I. Joe: RetaliationPar.$3,701,825-35.8%2,707-468$1,368$116,477,968$1305
74Scary Movie 5W/Dim.$3,434,451-44.2%2,733-669$1,257$27,471,387$203
87Olympus Has FallenFD$2,863,345-36.0%2,334-304$1,227$93,171,817$706
96The Place Beyond the PinesFocus$2,699,000-45.1%1,584+42$1,704$16,205,000$155
109Jurassic Park 3DUni.$2,374,685-41.4%1,848-482$1,285$42,065,060$104

Although it is yet to release in the US, Iron Man 3 has topped The Avengers' opening gross overseas. Yes, this is surprising as I thought only The Avengers 2 would accomplish that. However, strong critical acclaim and awaiting of the third part of the metallic superhero series.

(Iron Man 3 North American poster)

Robert Downey Jr. reprises the titular role for the fifth time (he appeared as Tony Stark in the Incredible Hulk). Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow are also returning. The villain is played by Academy Award attainer Ben Kingsley. Last time it was the Oscar-designated Mickey Rourke. Now Iron Man 2 in my opinion was super boring. The first part overcoming it easily. Three is directed by Shane Black whose first venture was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, also starring Downey Jr.
  KKBB was humorously brilliant. But Black has written films as early as the Lethal Weapon franchise. Iron Man 3 already has a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. With negative reviews not being too negative. The earlier films also have had fresh ratings. Iron Man with 95% and the sequel with 73% both movies being directed by Jon Favreau.
  So I'm more interested in watching this one in the theatre. After all, summer has begun. Though it is still spring in Al Ain, UAE. Another point to note is that Iron Man grossed a little above $580m but the sequel only reached $623.9m. I'm not shocked as I hated the latter.
  The three-quel has made $198.4m in its worldwide opening. This is at the same time The Avengers emerged with $185m. This also clears the point that Iron Man is Marvel's most powerful stand-alone Avenger.
  So yes, anything above $800m globally is expected. Though it's not written in stone that the possible last of this trilogy will land at $1b.
  Now for news other than all the above mentioned. Oblivion is at number 2 in its second leg. I also wanted to include a mini-review of Oblivion in this week's article. Starring Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko and Morgan Freeman. The film shines with a star cast (okay discarding Kurylenko). Still, it was a bad flick. 
  Sci-fi today is predictable and demands originality. Oblivion started as any dystopian science-fiction movie would. But Oblivion is not only a post-apocalyptic movie, it's an apocalypse of a movie. Seriously, the  venture became so predictable after one hour that the brilliant director tried to show his finesse afterwards. That ended up being more than audiences bargained for. And I seriously had a headache in the cinema hall. Compared to this, Prometheus looks like a futurism legend.
(Oblivion looks Oblivious)

  With notable action scenes and great acting by Cruise, as usual, Oblivion was fine for the first hour and a half. But the remaining 35 minutes were shear torture. I regretted being born in those final moments. This is the biggest problem with director-writer Joseph Konsinski. He based this film on his unpublished graphic novel to only prove why the art was not published in the first place. He also wrote/directed Tron Legacy that had a stupendous ending yet better than Oblivion's. Well, the whole movie was better than the latter.
  Oblivion has a 56% rotten rating. The consensus: 'Visually striking but thinly scripted', is the best description for that universe. No sequel is in the news and it is possible with the film 1 million dollars away from attaining the $200m mark. Domestically, it has grossed $65m on a budget of $120m. Tom Cruise's face in the trailers were enough to cross the $100m milestone. It won't cover its budget in the States, probably ending up with $100 million. The people's rating on IMDB rating is 7.2. My rating is a razor-edge 1.5/4. 
  The newcomers this week are Pain and Gain at number 1, with The Big Wedding not so big at 4th place. The former stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson respectively.
  That's all from me folks, stay tuned next week for further discussion on this weekend's top spot. And I'd like to end this article with a quote by a fellow movie critic:
'Oblivion is one of the best-looking bad films ever made'. - Shaun Munro (WhatCulture).

(Chart by Box Office Mojo)

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count  / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 N G.I. Joe: Retalia...

TWLWTitle (click to view)StudioWeekend Gross% ChangeTheater Count /ChangeAverageTotal GrossBudget*Week #
1NG.I. Joe: RetaliationPar.$40,501,814-3,719-$10,891$51,008,689$1301
21The CroodsFox$26,705,868-38.8%4,065+19$6,570$88,887,945$1352
3NTyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage CounselorLGF$21,641,679-2,047-$10,572$21,641,679-1
42Olympus Has FallenFD$14,147,416-53.4%3,106+8$4,555$54,890,085$702
53Oz The Great and PowerfulBV$11,702,316-45.7%3,324-481$3,521$198,374,716$2154
6NThe Host (2013)ORF$10,600,112-3,202-$3,310$10,600,112$401
74The CallTriS$4,925,675-44.7%2,439-68$2,020$39,605,891$133
85AdmissionFocus$3,235,263-47.4%2,161+1$1,497$11,744,141$132
96Spring BreakersA24$2,774,146-42.9%1,379+275$2,012$10,074,433$53
107The Incredible Burt WonderstoneWB$1,343,025-68.9%1,575-1,585$853$20,629,646$303

Before going into the topic that is mention in this week's post, another story caught my attention. Nicolas Cage got a number 1 opener in the US last weekend with The Croods. His last North American and international numero uno was Knowing in 2009. Yes, it's been along time of average grosser plus flops. But that didn't mean to misjudge Cage's talent. He performed equally well in all of his movies after Knowing.
  His script choices speak the contrary. Stolen was a straight rip-off of Taken and Seeking Justice was not seeking criticism. So Cage tried mostly action and thriller films and in the end, an animated feature was his comeback.
  The Croods is set in the Stone Age as audiences were probably tired of the Ice Age quadrilogy. It's title is taken from the prehistoric era known as The Croodaceuous. Though, I would've been happy with Stone Age except that it wouldn't of come from the same studio as IA.
  Also starring in the animation are stars Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone, along with semi-famous voice actors.
I might've not mentioned The Croods if it weren't for my favourite actor Nicolas Cage but what the heck. Now for the important news (for this week), G.I. Joe unsurprisingly opens at the top spot. The only movie it did face competition from was The Croods but seeing as it is an original movie and not a sequel, the overall danger was limited. I'll be watching G.I. Joe 2 tomorrow hopefully.
  G.I. Joe Retaliation has discarded many of its main cast members. Mainly, the beautiful Rachel Nichols from the TV series Continuum's fame. Still, get the damsels out of distress and put the heroes into full thrust. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson an Bruce Willis are there. Both of them had successes earlier with their silver screen releases. 
  In the 4-day Easter weekend G.I. Joe Retaliation has made $40.5m. This is $10m lower than what G.I. Joe made in 2009. My friend Shahwath gave Retaliation a 7/10 and that's the same I would've given to the first. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was a surprise hit. The Transformers was also based on a Hasbro toyline but it still had screen credibility with cartoon adaptations before. G.I. Joe was a make-it or break-it film and it managed to gross a little above $302m worldwide on a budget of $175m. This was more like Channing Tatum's rise as an action star leaving behind his dancer persona. 

  Notable thespians were also included like Sienna Miller and Dennis Quad but are nowhere to be seen now. Marlon Wayans, who starred in the first couple of Scary Movie films, was an added surprise in an action role. And his on-screen shenanigans will be missed. So despite G.I. Joe 2 having 2 adrenaline megastars, it showed that audiences halved their cinema credit with The Croods and Temptation.
  Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor is written-directed by the titular name. This is Perry's 13th film and based on a play by him with many changes to the original script. It is a hit already with $21.6m domestically on an unspecified budget, but one that has or will eventually be crossed. The thriller. Also, as the title suggests, it is based on a married woman's temptation by a billionaire leading to even  further affairs. 
  As with many of Perry's releases (written, directed or starred in), such as Alex Cross and Madea's Witness Protection, the movie received universal negative reviews. One could say it was due to Temptation not being screened in advance to critics, storyline, or Tyler Perry's name in the title. The receipts glory could be because of Kim Kardashian's co-star role or Perry himself not being in the feature.
  I have only seen one of Perry's films and that is Alex Cross. It received a negative critical consensus in my mind although his portrayal of the fictional detective was beyond passable. 
  Selena Gomez starrer Spring Breakers has risen above its tiny budget and will leave the top ten next week. Surprisingly, it received primarily positive reviews, although I saw nothing under the superficial bikini babes. Disney chose their whiz kids wisely.
  Olympus Has Fallen might make $60m-$65m and also depart from the ticket booth  falling short of its $70m budget in the national market. Still it has a great chance of making at least $90m internationally after being released in more theatre-themed territories like Australia, Russia, etc.
  OHF has received medium reviews and with audiences rating it What Die Hard 5 should have been. I might even watch it and agree. Hollywood should really start casting the US President as African-American already.
  The Host has opened up at 6. Based on the novel of the same name and by the Twilight author, I expected this much. 
  That's all from me folks, check out The Wolverine trailer below with a surprise appearance from Famke Janssen:


(Chart by Box Office Mojo)