By Chris Kavan - 05/17/12 at 08:19 PM CT
After two weeks on top, and two weeks of numerous records broken The Avengers looks once again to make the third week the charm, but may actually face some competition for the top spot.
1) A movie named after a board game that looks like the sequel to Transformers that never got made - Battleship looks to increase the action quotient over the weekend. Will I be watching this? Yes. Do I think this is going to be a good movie? Probably not. In fact, considering how I felt about Transformers 2 and 3, I don't think Battleship will even match up to those rather mediocre standards. But Battleship does have one advantage over The Avengers - the support of the US military. Something tells me even with the Navy behind them, it will still be an uphill battle to topple the super hero party of the year.
2) Sacha Baron Cohen goes back to what he knows best - playing a foreign person with a funny accent and ridiculing said cultures while also poking fun at America at the same time. Hey, I enjoyed Borat - I skipped Bruno, so don't ask me about that, but can lightning strike a third time? They certainly are trying to market the hell out of this movie, beginning with the Oscar stunt and running right through Cannes - with all the publicity, The Dictator's Wednesday debut couldn't top The Avengers. That does not bode well for the comedy being able to do any better over the weekend. Despite a lack of straight-up comedy at the box office, The Dictator will probably have to settle for something in the top 5 - but certainly won't take the top spot. I really hope this is that last foray into the whole funny foreign guy routine for Baron Cohen - he was a lot of fun in Hugo, and that's what I want to see him in. As for The Dictator, I might consider renting it some day, but I don't see it as being theater worthy.
3) Another genre that needs a bit of sprucing up is the romantic comedy. For four weeks Think Like a Man and The Lucky One have managed to hold their own, but perhaps audiences are in the mood for something different. Maybe What to Expect When You're Expecting will be able to fill that role. The film boasts a pretty impressive ensemble cast from the likes of Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chris Rock, Matthew Morrison, Anna Kendrick, Rodrigo Santoro and Dennis Quaid. However, just having big names doesn't guarantee success *cough* New Year's Eve *cough*. It all comes down to if these big names have any kind of chemistry - both in the romance angle and the comedic angle. From what I've seen in commercials, I'm not overly impressed. In fact, I admit, it's kind of depressing seeing some comedians like Rock cracking jokes about fatherhood and babies - it just seems wrong to me. However, if I were to be dragged to a romantic comedy, I think this may not be as bad as come others (certainly I'd choose this over The Lucky One) - but if early reviews are any indication, it's not going to make many waves over the weekend. Still, this is one genre that probably has the biggest chance of capturing the audience away from The Avengers, so it just may surprise.
At least the box office will be putting up a bit of a fight this weekend. Still, I'm sticking with The Avengers making it three weeks in a row at the top. I'll be back on Sunday with the final results.
