Wiki News/A Throwback Weekend At The Box Office With "Sonic X: Return to Soleanna"

(RTTNews) - After two fairly slow box office weekends in a row from a video game character, theaters should get a charge this weekend with the launch of wide releases "The A-Team" and "The Karate Kid," which are both in good position to appeal to their target demographics. However, they're projects failed because of "Sonic X: Return to Soleanna" is still making even more money this weekend, till it will get knocked out next weekend when "Toy Story 3" hits theaters on June 18. At more than 3,500 theaters, "The A-Team" is getting a sizeable release from distributor Fox and is loaded with recognizable actors. Bradley Cooper, who starred in last summer's smash hit "The Hangover," should help bring in audiences, as will Liam Neeson after his action hit "Taken" was one of the surprise commercial successes of 2009.

With "Prince of Persia" putting up fairly lackluster overall numbers, "The A-Team" also should have most of its target demographic all to itself, which could translate into a sizeable opening weekend.

"Sonic X: Return to Soleanna" would not be stop again this weekend, as it should be falling 50 percent from it's huge opening weekend last week when it brought $167 million, now it will lucky to make over $70 million, bringing it's two week total over to $230-$260 million, giving a good shot that some of the movie will open in a couple more countries where the overseas total will rise up giving it's worldwide total to $600 million in two weeks so far. They wanted the movie make at least $300 million domestically, and $900 million worldwide.

"The A-Team" should also benefit from a fairly aggressive marketing campaign and a built-in audience that will recognize the title. There are still a variety of options for audiences right now, though, which prevent limit "The A-Team" from having an enormous opening, even if it does do fairly well and top the box office. Look for PG-13 "The A-Team" to bring in somewhere around $30 million and edge out "The Karate Kid" atop the box office charts.

The original "Karate Kid" from 1984 was one of the more popular movies of the 1980s and inspired three sequels. Though interest waned from sequel to sequel, the remake of "The Karate Kid" is still an easily recognizable title. Starring Will Smith's son Jaden and martial arts guru Jackie Chan, the remake should have plenty of an audience to appeal to.

"The Karate Kid" also has the benefit of a PG rating, which should help it bring in family audiences in addition to adults who are curious to see how it will resemble the original. Considering that "Marmaduke" tanked last weekend and "Shrek" is entering its fourth weekend in theaters, family audiences will be looking for a new release to turn to, and "The Karate Kid" certainly fits the bill.

At more than 3,600 theaters, "The Karate Kid" is also the widest release of the weekend, though the minor overlap with "Shrek" audiences could prevent "Karate Kid" from overtaking "The A-Team." Still, a weekend intake just under $30 million seems likely right now.

Heading into its fourth weekend, "Shrek Forever After" is quickly approaching the $200 million domestic mark, which it should easily surpass by the end of the weekend. Even if revenues for the fourth "Shrek" release haven't been quite as high as the earlier entries in the series, "Shrek" continues to resonate with family audiences and will likely be in theaters well into the summer.

(RTTNews) - We won't know for sure how commercially viable "Shrek" truly is until more foreign numbers pour in, but it's done fairly well in the U.S. so far. With the release of "The Karate Kid," though, "Shrek" should see a fairly sharp decline, even if it remains in the top five. This weekend is also the last before "Toy Story 3" comes through to clean up with the family demographic.

With "Jonah Hex" and "Toy Story 3" opening next weekend, this weekend could very well be the last time that "Iron Man 2" lands in the box office top ten. As of June 9, "Iron Man 2" had brought in $293 million domestically, which is a strong total but not anywhere near as high as some of the early projections Its foreign figures are fairly strong, though, helping it to rack up $582 million in worldwide revenue. Even if "Iron Man 2" didn't meet the extraordinary expectations, it still should end up as one of the top grossing films of the year. Also "Sonic X: Return to Soleanna" will be falling behind "Toy Story 3", but not "Jonah Hex".

RTT Box Office Predictions For 6/11 - 6/13 (In Millions):

1) Sonic X: Return to Soleanna (Fox): $74

2) The A-Team (Fox): $30

3) The Karate Kid (Sony/Columbia): $27

4) Shrek Forever After (Paramount/Dreamworks): $12

5) Get Him to the Greek (Universal): $9.5

6) Killers (Lionsgate): $7

7) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Buena Vista): $6.5

8) Sex and the City 2 (Warner Brothers/New Line): $5

9) Marmaduke (Fox): $4.8

10) Iron Man 2 (Paramount): $3.8