Weekend Box Office Preview: Mar. 19 and Mar. 26
The Weekend Box Office Preview features movies with teen and tween appeal opening in the next two weeks. For the most part I won’t feature R-rated films, but occasionally there will be R-rated movies on teens’ radar and the rating will be noted. Limited release movies will be featured the week they get a wide release.
March 19
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on the wildly popular books by Jeff Kinney, is sure to be a hit with kids and kids at heart. The story follows the trials and tribulations of sixth-grader Greg Heffley as he tries to survive his first year middle school. The movie doesn’t have any huge stars attached, which is refreshing for a kid’s film, and two of the writers were writer-producers on Freaks and Geeks, one of the best portrayals of awkward high school life, so this adaptation looks promising.
For a slightly older crowd, Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler star in The Bounty Hunter. In this action comedy, Butler plays a bounty hunter whose next target is his bail-jumping ex-wife, Aniston. This could certainly find an audience this weekend, especially with its star power, but the trailers make this one look truly atrocious.
Though it’s rated R and only opening on 225 screens this weekend, The Runaways has tons of appeal for teens and music fans. Based on the true story of the ’70s punk band’s formation and rise to fame, the movie stars Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherrie Currie, with a host of other up-and-coming teen actresses rounding out the cast. A wider release is slated for April 9.
March 26
Another book to movie adaptation will try to entice kids to the theaters this weekend. An animated film loosely based on the books by Cressida Cowell, How To Train Your Dragon tells the story of a teenaged viking who upsets the status quo by befriending a dragon. While it will have to compete with the Wimpy Kid fans, it benefits from a huge marketing campaign.
The title of Hot Tub Time Machine (rated R) succintly describes its plot. Four friends wake up in 1986 after a wild night in a ski resort hot tub and capitalize on the opportunity to change their futures. The premise is ridiculous, but this will appeal to fans of movies wacky comedies like The Hangover.
Best bets: Diary of A Wimpy Kid or The Runaways
Coming up: The big budget, mythological Clash of the Titans, Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Last Song with Miley Cyrus, Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too, sequel to the 2007 movie, broad comedy Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carell
Follow the Youth Services Corner RSS Feed
Leave a Reply