Domestically this was a very weak weekend. The defending champion held its crown among a very unimpressive selection of new challengers. Think Like A Man dropped about 47% to bring in around $18 Million. The back-to-back wins catapulted the film passed Titanic 3D as the highest grossing film released this month.

The second place finisher was the most recent stop-motion animated film from the guys over at Aardman Studios. The Pirates! Band of Misfits did typically weak for the British Animation Studio who has yet to have a huge box office win despite a quality of output that ranks right up with PIXAR.

The Lucky One sputtered into third place with just over $11 Million, representing a 50% drop over its debut weekend. If the number seems low that’s because it is. The weekend as a whole was incredibly light compared to last year. All of this has the distinct feel of the quiet before the storm as The Avengers comes out next week.

After a very impressive run, The Hunger Games has finally fallen from the top spot of the box office. It held well again, dropping only 31% and bringing in an estimated $14.5 Million, but at the end of the day it was time for a new hit to take over champion duties, and Think Like A Man is a hit.

Bringing in $33 Million, Think Like A Man ranks as one of the biggest openings of the year. The movie surpassed the expectations and becomes another victory notch in Sony’s belt on the year. When you compare Think Like A Man’s opening with other like films it is ahead of nearly all of them. The strong weekend also ranks as Screen Gem’s third number one opening of the year.

Coming in at number two is the next in a seemingly endless line of romantic films hoping to rekindle The Notebook’s fervor. The Lucky One pulled in nearly $23 Million, which actually made more than Nicholas Sparks’ most famous adaptation. However, like another recent Sparks adaptation, Dear John, more money doesn’t translate to more popularity.

Kind of hard to not sound redundant at this point, but The Hunger Games once again beats off a flurry of new comers and takes the weekend. With a very solid hold from last weekend, the adaptation has now brought in over $337 Millions dollars. There  is no reason the film wont play well over the next few weeks and the box office world braces itself for a huge summer.

Unforgivably, The Three Stooges came in at second place with $17.a Million over the weekend. This actually represents the third highest opening for a Farrelly Brothers film which seems like encouragement for the future of these types of films. The general success of the film isn’t repulsive because of the film itself, but more so because it goes on record as beating whats at number 3.

The spectacular The Cabin in the Woods debuted in the third slot this weekend with a hair under $15 Million. In context to what the film is, and how it was marketed, that is a pretty solid number. It just stings a bit that a film as effective and crowd pleasing as this isn’t going to have a bigger audience in the movie theater.

Don’t worry whedonites, The Avengers isn’t the only Joss Whedon related project coming out in 2012. The Cabin in the Woods, a film that Whedon produced, is heading to theaters in just over a month.

The long delayed project is finally going to see the light of day, and early word is that the film delivers big time. One of the main thrills of the movie is it’s twists and turns, so we here at The Flickcast have been careful not to be spoiled.

Thankfully Lionsgate just released a new, and concise trailer in advance of this week’s premiere at the SXSW festival. For those of you who are completely in the black about what this movie is, the official synopsis sums it up well:

Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen. 

If you think you know this story, think again. From fan favorites Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard comes THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, a mind blowing horror film that turns the genre inside out.

The trailer hints that this film is more than your average lonely cabin horror film, but we are no doubt in for crazy twist on the classic horror set up.

Check out the new trailer after the jump.

Remember that movie The Cabin in the Woods we first told you about over two years ago? What ever happend to that one?

It had a lot going for it, coming from Cloverfield writer and director Drew Goddard and co-written by the man himself Joss Whedon. It also stars Chris Hemsworth, who went on to be in Marvel’s Thor and the upcoming The Avengers.

Sadly, the movie fell victim to MGM’s money troubles and ended up being put on the shelf until the company emerged from its money troubles or found another company to distribute the film. Fortunately, both of those things seems to have happened and now it’s set to be released on April 13.

To get people ready for the occasion the first trailer for the film has been released. We have it for you right here, of course.

In addition to Hemsworth, the film features Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Brian White.

Take a look at the trailer after the break.

Yes, there’s bound to be several barbarian-like hordes of Twilight fans (that is, if there were a tribe of sickly-looking, sparkle-ridden barbarians…maybe those wimpy Phoenicians) at this year’s Comic Con, but those of us who prefer vampires of Buffy-slaying variety will be pleased to know that Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s newest project A Cabin in the Woods now has a U.S. release date: April 13th, 2012. Need I mention that’s a Friday? OOooOOoooOOo!

Aside from Whedon producing and co-writing with frequent collaborator and Cloverfield and Buffy writer Drew Goddard (who’s also directing), Cabin stars Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth as a young professional who, with a group of friends, visits a rustic cabin in the woods (makes sense) “and ends up scratching the surface of something so massive and horrific that they can only begin to fathom it as time quickly runs out.” My guess is that it’s a busted septic line.

The film also stars Richard Jenkins (Let Me In), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), Kristen Connolly (The Happening), Brian J. White (Stomp the Yard), Amy Acker (Angel), Fran Kranz (Donnie Darko), and Jesse Williams (Brooklyn’s Finest). Not much else has been said about the film, but with such names behind it, we can expect some genre-bending badassery (septic tank or not). Whedon himself has described it as, “The horror movie to end all horror movies,” though he may be slightly biased.

Remember that movie The Cabin in the Woods we first told you about almost a year ago? What ever happend to that one?

It had a lot going for it, coming from Cloverfield writer and director Drew Goddard and co-written by the man himself Joss Whedon. It also starts Chris Hemsworth, soon to be seen in Marvel’s Thor extravaganza.

With all that going for it, why haven’t we seen it yet? Well, it was initially postponed for conversion to 3D. Why? Who knows.

Then, it fell victim to MGM’s money troubles and ended up being put on the shelf until the company emerged from its money troubles or found another company to distribute the film. Fortunately, both of those things seems to have happened and Lionsgate has agreed to take on the film and bring it to a waiting audience.

With all this good news we still have a bit of bad. We don’t know the exact release date for the film and we still don’t know exactly what the film is about. However, based on prior experience with films of this type we can guess it involves several attractive people, a cabin, blood, death, creatures and a bit of humor.  Sounds good. I’m in.

In addition to Hemsworth, the film features Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Brian White. When we get an official release date, we’ll let you know.

MGM Studios has decided to push back Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods by nearly a year. The horror film was set to open Feb. 5, 2010 but will now open Jan. 14, 2011.  Don’t worry though, this scheduling adjustment is for good reasons instead of bad.

First off, the film has been testing very well with audiences. No surprise there, Joss Whedon wrote it. This in turn lead MGM to the second reason for the delay, spending six months converting  The Cabin in the Woods to 3D. As an added bonus this puts the film on track to open during a four day weekend which could help ticket sales.

Given MGM’s recent struggles financially it’s good to hear they may have a hit on their hands.  While delaying the film is not the best situation better for them to take the time and do The Cabin in the Woods right instead of rushing it out the gate. This may also afford the studio some extra time to get The Hobbit or next Bond film on the fast track.

The Cabin in the Woods is being directed by Cloverfield’s Drew Goddard. Considering how well he captured the events of a giant monster rampaging through New York I’m anxious to see how he handles the horror genre head on.  I’m not a real fan of horror but even I want to see this movie. Consider that a win MGM.