New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

And despite the drop off from the original, this film is already a recipe for success. It surpassed its production budget in week one, and will likely get beyond marketing costs in the next couple of weeks. I don't think it is going to be around very long, but it is going to make money.

Max Braden: That's an impressive weekend number. I agree it probably isn't indicative of a strong overall run, but that's probably evidence that the audience was saying "We're just here for Kevin Hart." The movie may have opened to half this number without him. And even if the movie falls off, Hart gets to point to another big opening on his filmography.

David Mumpower: I agree with Bruce in that sometimes too much is asked of a product. Think Like a Man was never intended to be a franchise. It was a one-off film in the same vein as the briefly ubiquitous star cast romance movies such as Valentine’s Day, He’s Just Not That into You and Couples Retreat. After New Year’s Eve bombed dramatically, studios ran away from such projects. Since Think Like a Man had already been filmed, Warner Bros. was stuck with it but then rewarded because the genuinely entertaining movie became a pleasant surprise at the box office. Nobody expected even that from it, much less a sequel.

Fast forward to today. The luckiest aspect of Think Like a Man was the casting of diminutive funnyman Kevin Hart. The trailers highlighted all of his best jokes such as, “Look at how small your skirt is!” In the process, they leveled up Hart as a box office draw. He has experienced only success over the interim since the original film came out, including Ride Along a few months ago. I suspect that the blockbuster nature of that film elevated expectations for a needless sequel to a surprise hit. In reality, Think Like a Man’s $33.6 million was always the reasonable high end for its sequel. $29.2 million represents a dazzling return for a $24 million production, so I see nothing but good news here.

Kim Hollis: Jersey Boys, an adaptation of the Broadway musical from Clint Eastwood, opened to $13.3 million this weekend. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: This is pretty par for the course for Eastwood's films, and is actually his best wide-release opening since Space Cowboys opened to $18 million back in 2000 (he's had some pretty huge hits since then, most notably Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino, but they all opened in limited release, racked up impressive numbers there, then slowly expanded). Considering that the musical is one of the most popular Broadway shows ever, this result has to be considered pretty disappointing, and this opening can be chalked solely up to goodwill from that show and curiosity about what Eastwood would do with a musical, since the trailers and the reviews didn't make the film seem enticing. However, considering that it skews decidedly older than pretty much every other film currently in release (or due to be released in the near future), and older audiences don't rush out on opening weekend, there is a chance that it might have legs and be able to quietly chug along for the rest of the summer. Since word-of-mouth is mixed at best, though, I'd be surprised if it winds up making its $40 million budget back domestically.

Matthew Huntley: This has to be viewed as a disappointment, but given that this is an adult-skewing, R-rated musical, is it really that surprising? I question Warner Bros.' decision to open the movie in the middle of the summer season anyway, since even mature adults - to whom this film is geared - typically flock to what's popular over what's substantive this time of year. Unfortunately, the mixed reviews and subject matter don't suggest Jersey Boys will be in the black any time soon.

Continued:       1       2       3