New Movies to Crave: Wrath & Mirrors - Snow White and Perseus Try to Topple Hunger Games

By Chris Kavan - 03/30/12 at 11:13 AM CT

After the "girl on fire" set the box office alight to the tune of $152.3 million last weekend, The Hunger Games officially became the next big franchise. Now it's not a question of whether the movie is going to strike it big, but just how big it's going to wind up this weekend of March 30, 2012.

Good news for the film is that unlike Harry Potter and Twilight, The Hunger Games retained much more audience over the weekend. That should mean that this second weekend it should also enjoy a better hold - unlike Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2, which holds a dubious honor of biggest second-week decline amongst movies considered "blockbusters". The Hunger Games will be sitting pretty if it can limit its drop to 50%-60%.

That being said, there are a couple of movies that look to take a piece of the box office away with them, though I don't think either will be able to dethrone Katniss and Co. from the top spot.

1) Up first is the sequel to Clash of the Titans that I'm still not sure why they made, Wrath of the Titans. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes return as their roles as Perseus, Zeus and Hades joined by newcomers Édgar Ramírez as Ares, Toby Kebbell as Agenor, Rosamund Pike as Andromeda and Bill Nighy as Hephaestus. Conspicuously absent? Gemma Arterton who rightfully chose not to return as Io (plot-wise they explain her death away, but I think she may be the big winner in the whole thing). Currently sitting at a pretty dreadful metacritic score, and being compared unfavorably to the first film (which currently sits at just 5.8 on IMDB) - the buzz on this is all the wrong kind. Still, it will probably have a decent opening, I just hope they get the message and aren't planning a third.

2) The battle of the dueling Snow White films also starts this weekend when Mirror Mirror opens. For those keeping track, Mirror Mirror is the family-friendly PG version with Lily Collins and Julia Roberts. Snow White and the Huntsman (coming out in June) is your fantasy/action setup. So how will audiences react to a sweet, family tale ala Enchanted? While it's tracking a bit better than Wrath of the Titans, it still sits at roughly 50% - not exactly a glowing endorsement. It will really come down to if families turn out for this with the younger crowd as the teen crowd and older will ignore this in favor of The Hunger Games.

3) In limited release I have to mention the hockey comedy Goon, headed by Seann William Scott and co-starring Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill and Liev Schreiber. Has there really been a decent hockey comedy since Slapshot (of which this is being compared to) - Happy Gilmore doesn't count and The Mighty Ducks was aimed at a younger audience. As an added benefit, this is actually based on a real-life goon ("Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey" by Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith), so drawing from an actual source will probably help things. This is one of those movies that goes under the radar, but I would love to check out once it hits rental status.

Despite some decent competition, I don't think The Hunger Games will have to worry about losing its crown this week. It should be able to top the $200 million mark without much problem, but I'm interested to see just how much of an audience it can hold its second week out. See you back on Sunday with the final results.

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