User blog:Ceauntay/Warner Bros.' Scooby-Doo scores Big 2011 Opening in Theaters

This weekend three new films arrive in theaters to kick off the month of April. The 2011 box office has been lagging behind 2010’s nearly every weekend this year and this weekend will not be the exception. Warner Bros. ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie is looking forward to scare away Universal’s (GE) family comedy Hop'', from the top of the charts this weekend and should enjoy a strong run throughout April. Summit Entertainment unleashes sci-fi thriller Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal and FilmDistrict will hope to scare up the horror audience for Insidious. Both Source Code and Insidious have the potential to be mid-range hits among their respective genres, but I’m not expecting huge box office results for either of them.

April of 2010 kicked off with Warner Bros. (TWX) Clash of the Titans ($61.2 million opening) and three new films combined will likely not be able to match it’s opening. That weekend also saw the premiere of Lionsgate’s (LGF) Why Did I Get Married Too? ($29.3 million opening) and Disney/Buena Vista’s (DIS) The Last Song ($16 million opening). Throw in How to Train Your Dragon’s second weekend haul of $29 million and you have a potent top 10 that collected $166.2 million total. Based on my estimates for the top 10 films this weekend, the box office will be up about 14.2% from this time last year.

Warner Bros. ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie'' is opening in theaters this month. The PG-rated animated film will be seen Scooby and the gang at the theater to not just solving the mystery, but saving the world as well. Scooby and the gang goes on a hunt to find three scientific batteries that fits to the Remote Control that brings monsters from the costumes to life created by scientist Dr. Peter Harvey. The film features voice guess stars of Megan Fox, Robin Williams and Mariah Carey.

It was originally going to be the third live-action film adaptation following from Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, but Warner Bros. says that this will be animated. While they can see if the cast from the live-action films can reprise their roles, but the cast of the animated series will be taking over the roles. Warner Bros. promises that this film will be pretty off the chang, and who doesn't need to see the live-action Scooby-Doo when they can see the animated version of Scooby-Doo. The film is looking forward for a strong opening to $57 million, which should be 2011's biggest opening yet. The film also hits IMAX screens.

Universal’s Hop is the fourth film released this past month catering to the family audience. The PG-rated film is about a bunny named E.B. who is next in line to be the Easter Bunny, but would rather play drums in a band instead. The film is a mix of live action and CGI animation and stars James Marsden, Kaley Cuoco and Russell Brand (as the voice of E.B.). Most industry expectations have the film opening in the low $20 million range.

Although there is a decent amount of competition for family audiences, I think Hop will be just fine. The film will likely appeal to a wide age range of children (ages 2 to 12) and most parents will be happy to take them to see it. Universal had a surprise hit last summer with Despicable Me and it seems like it's marketing Hop in the same aggressive manner showcasing the film on NBC and Bravo and tying the film into the networks shows. The characters are cute and fuzzy which helped propel Alvin and the Chipmunks to box office gold. In my opinion the only negative for the film is that once the Easter holiday is over, Hop will jump off the charts immediately. This leaves the film only four weekends to make its mark.

There is some competition for the family audience that could potentially dampen Hop’s potential, but I don’t think it will have that much have an overall impact. Paramount’s (VIA) Rango is entering its fifth weekend and should only steal away about $6 million this weekend. Disney’s Mars Needs Moms was a nuclear-sized bomb so no worries from that film. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules from 20th Century Fox (NWS) is entering its second weekend after securing a number-one victory last weekend, but sequels tend to have a front-loaded audience. Wimpy Kid will probably drop about 55% this weekend leaving plenty of room for E.B. and his furry friends. I’m going to go out on a limb this weekend and say that Hop will open to the tune of $32 million and have a total gross just south of $100 million by the end of four weeks.

Source Code from Summit Entertainment is a sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Duncan Jones (Moon). The PG-13 rated film is about a man who is continuously sent back in time for eight-minute clips to try and determine the cause of an explosion on a crowded passenger train. Things become complicated when he connects with a female passenger who is set to die in the explosion and he tries to change the past by stopping the train from exploding. The target audience for the film is adult men over 25 and there is some competition for that demo from holdover releases Limitless, The Lincoln Lawyer and Battle: Los Angeles.

Gyllenhaal has yet to be able to open a film on his own. For some reason or another, audiences have yet to embrace Gyllenhaal fully, despite the fact that he is a talented actor. His last two efforts, Prince of Persia and Love & Other Drugs, failed to generate any heat at the box office and Source Code may follow in their footsteps. Director Duncan Jones is an upcoming talent whose first film Moon starring Sam Rockwell has achieved cult status. Fans of Jones will likely come out to support his latest trippy sci-fi tale. The early reviews for the film have been really terrific and although this may only help the opening potential for the film slightly, the positive word of mouth coupled with the reviews could propel Source Code to have solid legs and achieve sleeper hit status. Look for Source Code to make about $18 million this weekend.

The final release for the weekend is horror film Insidious from FilmDistrict. The PG-13 rated film stars Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) and should pull in horror fans. The film is about a family who moves into a haunted house. After some strange occurrences, the eldest son falls into a coma and his parents must fight off demons that want to claim his body. The film is directed by James Wan, one of the creators of the original Saw. This should give Insidious a little prestige among horror fans, but I don’t think it will add much to the gross.

Films in the horror genre usually open in the mid-teens when marketed correctly, but awareness for Insidious is fairly low. Competition for adult men is also rather fierce at the moment and will dilute Insidious’ box office potential. Teenagers may give the film a shot, but the marketing hasn’t aggressively targeted that demo. Look for the film to scare up about $8.5 million from hardcore horror fans and for it to disappear from theaters shortly after.

To see the rest of my predictions for the weekend, check out the chart below.

Weekend Release Schedule, 2011 vs. 2010 All debuting titles for the weekend are in red.

Based on my estimates, total box office will be down about 34.2% from 2010.

Source: the-numbers.com, HSX, filmgo.net, imdb.com

Editor's Note: Bill Bonfanti writes daily as Box Office Analyst and Film Critic for FilmGo.net. Visit FilmGo to view the latest box office news, movie trailers and more.

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