By Chris Kavan - 05/31/12 at 11:25 AM CT
What to make of this weekend's box office? You have a fairytale princess turning-action hero, a bunch of ravenous killer fish and yet another misfit group of dancers trying to make it to the top... yup, summer has officially arrived.
1) I can't say I was that impressed when I heard about Snow White and the Huntsman. For one, as soon as I heard Kristen Stewart was cast in the title role, I was immediately turned off - the woman has like one emotional expression and she doesn't exactly scream "badass fighting chick" to me. However, the addition of Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron helped soften that casting, and some of the dwarves are simply awesome casting: Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Toby Jones and Ian McShane. I'm not sure how big a role they will play, but those names alone are enough to make me regain interest. Plus, in the form of dueling Snow White pictures, I think this also looks loads better than the more kid-friendly Mirror Mirror, and chances are good it will do better at the box office. So while I still have some major trepidations going in, I will give this a shot. Hopefully Stewart can show more than one emotion and the action will work well in the fantasy setting. Fingers crossed.
2) In you're not into princesses swinging swords, maybe you like your horror dosed with a healthy bit of comedy. When Piranha 3D came out in 2010, it didn't exactly break records, but thanks to its use of some rather good actors dying in various ways (Richard Dreyfuss, Elisabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell and Adam Scott just to name a few), it developed a cult status, so a sequel was inevitable. Still, for quite awhile it looked like Piranha 3DD was going straight to DVD, which, admittedly, would be a pretty stupid move for a movie filmed in 3D. While those in the UK are subject to that fate, the movie is getting a proper theatrical release. I see this film running about in line with the first one: a handful of die-hard enthusiasts and horror fans will show up, but I don't expect it to do much business - but it will probably do better once it actually does hit DVD.
3) Finally, for those who can't get enough of dance battles and underdogs rising to the challenge, you have Step Up 4... Oh wait, my bad, that actually doesn't come out until later in the year... but to tide yourself over there is Battlefield America (which sounds like the sequel to Battle: Los Angeles but don't be fooled). I really don't understand the popularity of these dance off films - but since there is going to be a Step Up 4, obviously the formula must work, so why not add another to the mix? I see this dancing off to middling numbers (at best) but I'm sure there will be yet another iteration of this kind of film next year (and years to follow).
Will Snow White and her huntsman dominate the weekend? After a somewhat mediocre start for Men in Black III and the hype finally starting to die down over The Avengers, I would say it has a good shot at making the top spot. The other two films will be lucky to hit the top five. See you back Sunday when the numbers are tallied.
