US BOX OFFICE
Irrespective of the trashing that it is receiving from the critics, this week's release Jumper has managed to leap straight upto the top spot at the US box office. What is helping its cause is the additonal Presidents Day that gave it one more day to reap in the BO benefits. This one bags an opening of 31.7 million which is sweet enough considering that it beat the Valentine mood to be here. Twentieth Century Fox is also smiling since their plan of giving it a worldwide opening has worked to its benefit.
Dancing into second place is the sequel to Step Up. The film titled Step Up 2 The Streets have a different cast from the original but it still had the crowd checking it out inspite of having fewer theatre count.
The family feature Spiderwick Chronicles have opened steady with an estimated 26 millilon and with the overall opinion of the movie being very good, it looks like it shall hold steady in the coming weeks. The makers are waiting to see how the movie fares, afterall the fate of a franchise depends on it!
The other new release of the week and one of the stronger ones - Definitely, Maybe starring Ryan Reynolds seems to have the charm effect. But have opened pretty disappointingly finishing fifth this week. Probably the good reports coming in shall see the movie stay put on.
BOLLYWOOD THIS WEEK
As far as Bollywood goes...it has been Jodhaa Akbar all week. However that too comes with its own drama. Thanks to the battle between the producers and the multiplex owners, the movie could not make it till Saturday morning. Moreover with a lengthy running time, there were fewer shows. Also poor publicity campaign, the failure of the music to really catch on, and that historical subjects never really take off at the box office - all these reasons have been floated against a good start.
But the truth is Jodhaa Akbar has started off well and two major factor is working for the film. First of all, there is no other major releases till Race shows up on March 21. So it shall have a free run till then. And the media word has been pretty good which means it shall draw in more crowd eventually.
DOWN SOUTH
So how things moving down south. Jodhaa Akbar has also topped Chennai, but Tamil industry seems to have got a contemporary classic in the form of Anjathey. They film has been definitely praised by the critics and audiences alike, but for the average moviegoer - two major problems arise. Too lengthy at 3 hrs 10 mins , and hardly any of the crass commerical elements. So how far will Anjathey sustain at the box office is yet to be seen. OR will it be a class act that finds no takers. The latest buzz is that the producer wants to trim it down by 20 mins or so, while the director Mysskin will not have anything chopped out from it.
Malayalam film industry also saw a movie that seems to be running on its strength. Cycle boasting of newcomers seems like a dark horse that shall emerge victorious while the 'superstar'vehicles fail to generate the buzz. Mammooty's Roudram manages to stay afloat but Mohanlal's College Kumaran has certainly bit the dust. Blessy's venture with Dileep Calcutta News seem also going through tough tides at the box office.
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