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Movies 2011 - April to May

Here's as I promised a long delayed Movies 2011 edition. This time we are looking at a crowded April 2011 followed by juggernaut sequel driven May 2011.

The first quarter of the year started very slow but it is time to catch up.
Let's have a quick look on what to expect from April 2011 to May 2011. (June will be included in Summer 2011 Preview)

                                                                                                                                                

April 2011


April is definitely one of the strong months this year with heavy frontloaded sequels and Adorable Pet featured movies for kids. The highly anticipated and biggest movies this month are Fast Five (featuring the comeback of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker and adding much oomph with The Rock) and Scream 4 (also returning the cast from first 3 movies). Both these movies have generated a lot of buzz and are expected to easily beat this year's highest OW number of 38m set by Rango, although none of them are expected to have good afterlife.

Fox brings an original animation in Rio, whereas Universal is targetting Easter with Easter bunnies by Hop. Both these are expected to do good business as the next big kids/family movie comes at the end of May. Weinstein is also targetting for kids with Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil that looks good but hasn't generated as much buzz. Rio looks to have the upper hand from all of these movies in April.


Adults are already the busiest customers this year and this will continue with Source Code (starring Jake Gylenhaal, Vera Ferminga and Michelle Monaghan) and the adaptation of Water for Elephants (starring Reese Witherspoon, Christopher Waltz and Robert Pattison). Studios are trying to terrify audiences with Insidious (starring Patrick Wilson) and Dylan Dog : Dead of Night (with Superman famed Brandan Routh) which is a comedic take on the subject.

A lot of mild scale comedies are also coming out this month. Leading the pack is the usual for this time Frame Tyler Perry's comedic chracter Madea with Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, also joining are remake of classic Arthur (led by Russel Brand starring Helen Mirren), Pineapple Express director David Green's Your Highness (starring Natalie Portman and James Franco along with Danny McBride). Disney will try to attract teens with Prom about high-school prom, though a skeptical release date.

                                                                                                                                               

May 2011


May marks the start of Summers in the states for movie industry. We are in for a real treat because this summer looks more fresher, though we also have a load of sequels coming in. Last May we saw the huge opening on Iron Man 2 (opened with $128m, #5 all time) and this year we are expecting something very similar from the juggernauts Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2, all coming at you in 3D.....gosh they could have done without these 2's and 3D as well.

Pirates and Panda looks to be battling for the highest opening numbers, though I give the edge to Pirates, Panda will have Memorial Day weekend to boost its Sunday. Pirates with mermaids and fountain of youth, is trying to reboot the franchise along with Cap'n Jack Sparrow (yes...you know me hehe) and a fresh cast. Panda 2 though will ride on the success of the predecessor and the good will the first movie left. Sneaking on these two is The Hangover Part II in 3D which would also ride on the good word-of-mouth the first one left, though this could turn out to be a hit or miss case.


As the kick start of summer we have action movies all over this month with lightning hammer-wielding god Thor(starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman along with Anthony Hopkins and Samuel L. Jackson) and alternate world post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Priest (with Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandent and Maggie Q) in 3D. Thor has generated some buzz but it's Box-Office potential is yet to be seen. Priest will try to repeat the run of last year's Legion(2010), this time in summer but it will be too much for it to handle Thor and Pirates.

Comedies will also fill in May with two marraige themed women driven movies and an urban appealing out and out comedy. Jude Aptow's Bridesmaids(led by Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig) is a comedy about two friends' battle to be the best maid of honour.  Warner Bros romatic comedy Something Borrowed(led by Kate Hudson) is also about two friends fighting for getting their best man. Last we have Tristar's Jumping the Broom (starring Angela Bassett and good cast) but it is releasing too close to Madea which will definitely hurt its chance.
                                                                                                                                               

April and May, 2010 were good box office months with great legs from How To Train Your Dragon, one of the biggest openings by Iron Man2, stellar opening of Clash of the Titans and a little disappointing but good opening of Shrek4. These months are very crucial for 2011 to make up some ground over 2010 in terms of Box-office. Look out for the next edition of Movies 2011 - Summer 2011 (June to August 2011)

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Total Comments: 6
Karl Schneider
Karl Schneider    Apr 17 2011 2:35am
What a craptastic bunch of films. Source Code is the only film I'm interested in at all, and my interest is very low. I may catch Thor if it's On Demand or something similar ... that actually doesn't look horrible (though I expect disappointment at the BO).
David
David    Apr 17 2011 3:16am
No mention of The Tree of Life.

=(
Jack Sparrow
Jack Sparrow    Apr 17 2011 3:45am
Sorry Gun this will become a loong article if I start putting all the movies. Though I do agree that I should do something with the Non-wide releases. I'll try to put a section for that next time
Patrick Ferrara
Patrick Ferrara    Apr 17 2011 3:57am
My chest fell when I read there's going to be yet another Tyler Perry Madea movie, but overall I like some of these flicks' chances. Fast, Pirates, Hangover and most likely Thor will be the top earners of the bunch, but this year won't beat 2010's numbers.
Jack Sparrow
Jack Sparrow    Apr 20 2011 10:02pm
Wow....this one got a pretty low score :(
Karl Schneider
Karl Schneider    Apr 22 2011 1:06pm
Haha, all articles start with a low score. They go up over time based on hits, ratings, comments, 24 (what it's at now) actually isn't that bad. Give it time.