Swinging in at #1...

Ok, it's no surprize that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came in at #1 this weekend. The movie ended up taking in over $311 million worldwide, giving it the second biggest Memorial Day opening box office ever (with #1 being held by the 3rd Pirates of the Carribean movie.) It also raked in enough to come in #5 in the list of the biggest 5-day weekend draws.

The major question, of course, is how the movie will do next weekend. Though there aren't any real blockbusters coming up at the end of May, the widely mixed reviews that the latest Indiana Jones movie has been getting might cut severely into it's second-week draw. Folks seeking action might migrate to the thriller The Strangers, while others may choose the Sex and the City movie instead of Indy. You can still expect them to be making money by the bucketful, but there's a decent chance that there may not be as many buckets as the filmmakers originally were anticipating.

The other big sequel so far this summer, Prince Caspian, did well over the Memorial Day weekend and pulled in at #2. Iron Man, the first blockbuster of the summer, held strong at #3 and looks to be making its presence known in the top 10 for a least a few more weeks.

The Prince is the New King

So The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian managed to do what Speed Racer couldn't... it knocked Iron Man out of the #1 spot. Iron Man's still #2, though, and did fairly well in its 3rd week (it's up to around $428 million internationally) while Speed Racer dropped to #4. It was a relatively low-volume weekend at theatres aside from the Caspian and Iron Man crowds, though... one of the movies in the top 10 didn't even top $1 million (though given that it was a limited release, the director was still very pleased to be in the top 10.)

In other news, Ben Barnes (of the afore-mentioned Prince Caspian) has been signed on to play the title character in an upcoming film version of The Portrait of Dorian Gray. The movie is being directed by Oliver Parker and produced by Barnaby Thompson, the pair who worked together on previous adaptations such as The Importance of Being Earnest. Though several adaptations of The Portrait of Dorian Gray have been made over the years, if this film gets a wide release then it will be the first major production done of the book.

Friday rolls 'round again...

Well, it's Friday... and that means new movies. The 3rd blockbuster of the summer season hit theatres today, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but I've been hearing generally positive reviews of it thus far. A lot of people seem to be quite surprised at how well the adaptation went, as they're saying they like the movie but hated the book (or at the very least, it was their least favorite of the Narnia series.) Though there seems to be a trailer at the beginning for something called "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" or something like that... at least one theatre apparently greeted that trailer with boos from the audience.

Next week, of course, is the movie that a lot of folks have been waiting for... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'm excited about it, but I'm trying not to get TOO excited lest I be disappointed with the final result. Given his recent Shia Lebeauf obsession, I'm not entirely convinced that Spielberg didn't just create Shia's character as a way to get him in the movie. The part of me that loved Indy in the 80's wants it to be amazing, but the part of me that weeps when I think of the Spielberg-produced Shia-starrer Transformers: A Michael Bay Film is worried that it's going to disappoint a lot of people.

Ah, well. I've already seen Iron Man, so my summer's set.

After Indy, there's still a number of movies you might want to check out this summer: Postal (yes, it's a Uwe Boll film, but I know a lot of folks are actually curious about it), War Inc., Sex and the City, Kung Fu Panda, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, The Love Guru, WALL-E, Wanted, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, The Dark Knight, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor... and a lot more movies between now and the end of August that I just didn't have time to write out.