With The Flickcast’s own Shannon Hood covering all the excitement at SXSW this week yours truly is stepping in to take over box office duty. Don’t worry all you Hood fans, I have no doubt that she’ll be back next week, which means I’m only here for one week. That’s something that can’t be said about Alice in Wonderland, however.

Even with mixed reviews, Alice took the top spot again over the weekend. While it dropped 46% drop from last week, the 3D fantasy took in another $62 Million, bringing its total to $208 Million in only two weeks. As Shannon noted last week, this is Tim Burton’s biggest opening and the film is certainly finding an audience.

One concern from reviewers was whether or not audiences would be somewhat disappointed by the 3D aspect of Alice in comparison to Avatar. While Avatar was quite an immersive experience Alice in Wonderland presented more of your traditional 3D environment. It seems movie goers don’t mind the difference and are eager to see Johnny Depp and cast as they romp through Wonderland.

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Welcome to the second part of my look at the duplicity that is the Hollywood we know and love (or love to hate in some cases).   Yesterday I delved into the mainstream films, such as Transformers, which get little to no recognition by the Academy.  These are movies that represent the very monetary foundation of which Hollywood is built.

Today I’m going to slide the other way and talk about the performance side of Hollywood.  Films with limited budgets, little to no marketing and have to fight tooth-and-nail in some instances for distribution as well as theater screens.  They are the darlings of Hollywood, praised for often dramatic portrayal of characters and deeply emotional stories.  Yet, even with all the attention they receive when nominated for an Oscar, only a select group of viewers end up seeing these films.

In contrast to their mainstream counterparts, performance films have always been the underdog.  It starts from the very point the script is completed all the way to getting onto the screen.  It’s the latter which ultimately proves the most critical because without theaters to show it, what good is a movie?

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It was an interesting show for the Oscars this year.  From the “Kanye” moment to Sean Penn somewhat proudly proclaiming he’s not part of the Academy.  Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role (The Blind Side) the very same year she accepted a Razzie for Worst Actress (All About Steve).  And, of course, the gross upset of Avatar at the hands of The Hurt Locker.  With 41 million viewers, this year’s Oscars had something for everyone but, perhaps more interestingly, it best reflected the two sides of Hollywood which exist today.

How fitting to have two hosts on the one Oscar night that would truly exemplify both faces of Hollywood.  For so long many have seen Hollywood as one massive, filmmaking entity but that really isn’t the case.  Now more than ever there’s a division between what I’m calling (for the purposes of this article) “mainstream” Hollywood and “performance” Hollywood.  The names pretty much say it all.

Films in the mainstream category are all the summer blockbusters, tent pole movies studios rely on to turn a healthy profit year over year (e.g. Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Avatar).  In contrast you have the performance pictures, lesser known films with limited release and all too often far less money behind them (e.g. Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker).  These are two very different types of films, each vying for the attention of movie goers.

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Though Avatar didn’t pick up the best picture award at the Oscars on Sunday, the filmmakers can console themselves by sobbing into the ridiculous pile of money the film is still making and a few technical awards. Even without a big Oscar win, the 3D juggernaut in Hollywood keeps rolling along, as word is now coming in that Warner Bros. is planning on rebooting the holiest of classics: The Wizard of Oz.

And yes, it will be in 3D. From The LA Times:

The studio is examining two existing “Wizard of Oz” projects, with an eye toward giving one of them a modern gloss and moving it toward the screen.

One project, called “Oz,” currently lives at Warner’s New Line label. It’s being produced by Temple Hill, which is behind a little franchise called “Twilight,” and has a script written by Darren Lemke, a writer on the upcoming “Shrek Forever After.”

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Wow, I don’t think anybody predicted the massive opening weekend that Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland just had. Audiences scooped up an amazing $116 Million worth of tickets to the film. This is the biggest opening weekend in Tim Burton’s entire career, and despite a critical consensus that this was a very average movie, word of mouth appears to be good.

This also appears to indicate that audiences are embracing the 3D trend. I am very curious if there will be a large drop-off next weekend, because the 3D in Alice was in no way comparable to  the 3D in Avatar. If  Avatar is what people are expecting, they are going to be disappointed.

It is interesting to note that Avatar only opened to $77 Million, but has now grossed over $720 Million. I will be pretty shocked if Alice has any real legs at the the box office, but the totals this morning show me that this movie may be full of surprises.

Brooklyn’s Finest, starring Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, and Ethan Hawke, came in second over the weekend with $13.5 Million.  It played in just under 2,000 theaters, and has a fairly modest budget of $25 Million, so it will likely end up profitable.

Shutter Island made about $13 Million in its 3rd week in release.  It now has exceeded its budget of $80 Million (with $95 Million total), and looks certain to hit $100 Million next weekend.

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There was no runaway hit this weekend at the box office, as the top three movies were only separated by a few million dollars. When it was all said and done, Shutter Island managed to hold on to the top spot with $22.2 Million. The movie has managed to gross $75 Million to date.

The Kevin Smith directed Cop Out did not seem to be hindered by horrific reviews. It still came in at the number two spot, and made $18.5 Million. This is the largest opening weekend for a Kevin Smith film. With a $30 Million budget, this movie should be profitable.

Overture films scared up $16.5 Million with the horror flick The Crazies, and it should easily recoup its $20 Million budget.  I was hoping to see a little higher total, but good word of mouth should help this in the next few weeks.

Avatar stuck around yet again, and made $14 Million.  It has now exceeded $700 Million domestically. Next weekend Alice in Wonderland will be taking over a lot of the screens, so there is certain to be a drop in its box office totals.

Holdovers Percy Jackson and Valentine’s Day both brought in about $9M.

Director Martin Scorsese and frequent collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio proved to be a lethal combination at the box office this weekend, as Shutter Island sold the most tickets. The psychological thriller scared up a healthy $40 Million during its first weekend in release, buoyed by mostly favorable reviews. The film piqued the interest of horror fans, DiCaprio fans, and  Scorsese loyalists.

Despite tumbling a massive 69% from its opening weekend, Valentine’s Day still managed to snag an additional $17 Million. Avatar is still comfortably hanging out in the top five, and added $16m to its staggering totals. Ten weeks, people. Unbelievable.

Number four Percy Jackson dropped about 50% for $15 Million. Universal’s worst fears about The Wolfman have come true. The film dropped 68% from last weekend, and made a measly $9.8 Million.  That $150 Million budget looks impossible to make back at this time.

You can’t blame it strictly on bad word of mouth-I have yet to hear of one single person who actually enjoyed Valentine’s Day, yet people still flocked to see the film. Quite frankly, I am scratching my head over this turn of events. There’s a reason I don’t write box office predictions.

Outside of the top five, Dear John is shaping up to be a nice hit for Sony. After 3 weeks in release, the film has more than doubled its budget of $25 Million, and has made a solid $65.9 Million.

Doh! Women flexed their box office muscles once again and helped boost the bland Valentines Day to a record breaking weekend.  Silly Hollywood, when will you learn?

First we had New Moon, then last weekend Dear John, and now Valentine’s Day. Each time a movie that has a largely female demographic wins the weekend, all the trades are SHOCKED to find out that women go to the movies.

Each time, I read that there will be a onslaught of female centric movies green lit by the studios.  And, it never happens.  I must say I am not completely proud of what my sisters choose to spend their box office dollars on (before you boys snicker, might I remind you of G.I. Joe, and Transformers), but it is interesting to note  this possible shift in marketing.

Three day totals for Valentine’s Day are around $52 Million, making it the highest grossing movie ever for a President’s Day weekend. Women weren’t the only ones in the mood for movies this weekend. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief made a very respectable $31 Million over the weekend, and Benicio Del Toro’s The Wolfman took a bite out of the box office to the tune of $30 Million (sorry, that was a terrible pun.)

Avatar took a tumble to the number four position this weekend, but a $22 Million gross is still quite astonishing for its ninth week in release.  Dear John dropped about 50% from its opening weekend, which is average, and earned an additional $15 Million.

The action movies Edge of Darkness, and From Paris, With Love both are shaping up to be box office disappointments.  Edge of Darkness has only made $36 Million in three weeks (with a budget of $80 Million), and From Paris now stands at $15 Million after two weeks.

This summer wasn’t looking like that big of a deal last month, but in that time, we’ve already picked up the pace with Clash of the Titans getting a late Spring release, and now it looks like June will be a battle between Warner’s The Losers and Fox’s The A-Team.

Both films have a similar premise, with A-Team being a reboot of the popular TV series from the 80’s and Losers being an adaptation of a comic book. With more than enough money in either film’s budget, both can be considered a “summer blockbuster” on their own.

This isn’t the first time this year that Warner Bros is messing with release dates. It came out a few weeks ago that the studio would be pushing the release of Clash of the Titans back one week in order to compensate for the film’s conversion to 3D. Now their changing the release date of Losers from April 9th to June 4th. A bold move.

In history, a change in a film’s release date usually means that the film didn’t test very well with audiences, and they have to go back with reshoots in order to get a better audience score. The same thing was done with this weekend’s release of Universal’s The Wolfman, which was changed twice.

I swear I heard my keyboard purr when I typed that headline. Those of us who cover weekly box office totals have been in a rut for seven weeks, and like it or loathe it, Dear John gives us something new to talk about.

Despite tepid reviews, Dear John shocked prognosticators by soundly beating Avatar this weekend. Dear John hauled in $32 Million to win the weekend over Avatar, which made an additional $23.6 Million.

I didn’t see Dear John, but I do find it interesting that everyone continues to underestimate the female ticket draw. The book by Nicholas Sparks was very popular, and currently boasts a 4.5 reader’s rating on Barnes and Noble’s web site. Didn’t Hollywood learn anything from New Moon? Rabid female book fans = box office gold.

Side note, I was shocked to receive an email from my very own parents, who have not seen a movie in the theater in over 5 years, sharing that they saw a matinee of Avatar in 3D and loved it. I quote, “We both wanted to live in that forest.”  Um, what?

This coming from a couple who still enjoys dial-up internet. They voluntarily donned 3D glasses because they felt that this movie just had to be seen. I only mention this because this is precisely why the movie has made so much money.  There are people going to see it that don’t ever go to movies, and that is quite a feat.

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