"CLASH" IS A TITAN

Director Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans (3-D) remake was Box Office gold this Easter weekend, pulling in a stunning $64.1 million dollars from 3,777 screens. The Warner Bros. film stars Hollywood's most bankable new actor Sam Worthington (Avatar), Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson. A strong cast wasn't enough to save it from being ripped to shreds by critics. Also, foreign totals have yet to come in, but it won't be long before this one recoups its $125 million budget. Well done, indeed.  Did any of you see it?  I'm still on the fence about it.

Director/actor Tyler Perry has his market cornered and they turned out again this weekend to show their ardent support for his latest effort Why Did I Get Married Too?, which came in second with $30.1 million from 2,700 theatres. The Lionsgate film stars Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Louis Gossett Jr.,  Michael Jai White and Perry himself.

The year's best-reviewed film How to Train Your Dragon from Disney earned $29.2 million in its second week bringing its total to $92.3 million in earnings. Worldwide, the film has made $134.6 million and should be sticking around the Top Ten for a while as the positive word-of-mouth continues to spread.

Alice in Wonderland (3-D) hangs on in fifth with $8.2 million this weekend, just surpassing the $300 million in earnings mark domestically.

Comedies Hot Tub Time Machine ($8 million), The Bounty Hunter ($6.2 million), She's Out of My League ($1.4 million) and the incredibly resilient Shutter Island just hangs on to a spot in the Top Ten with $1.4 million. Click on the links to read reviews for each of these.

Fox's Date Night opens in 3,300 screens next Friday. Expect a massive debut for the comedy starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON SETS WONDERLAND AFLAME

How to Train Your Dragon successfully usurped the throne of The White Queen in Wonderland this weekend, spitting out a fiery $43.3 million from 4,000 screens. Although not a jaw-dropping performance, it fared very well still and will likely do well again next weekend based on all the positive word-of-mouth it's getting. Read my glowing review of it here. Believe me though, I'm not the only one who loved it. Rotten Tomatoes has it a whopping 97% consensus among critics, making it the best reviewed film of the year.   Two-week champion Alice in Wonderland slipped to second this weekend and to-date it has made over $300 million domestically - a stellar showing.

MGM's Hot Tub Time Machine, tries to cash in on the travel back in time formula of Back to the Future and 17 Again, landing in third spot with $13.7 million from 2,700 screens. The comedy which caters to twentysomething plus male demographic hasn't fared decently with a 62% consensus at Rotten Tomatoes.

The Bounty Hunter continues to perform consistently, placing in fourth with $12.4 million this weekend, making it two Gerard Butler films in the Top Ten right now, the other being Dragon. It would be safe to say that he is one of the most bankable male actors now in Hollywood. Butler however isn't the only actor to accomplish the Top Ten double this week, as his Canadian Dragon co-star Jay Baruchel's She's Out of My League ranks in sixth this weekend.

There isn't much else to report from the Box Office this weekend. Many will be interested to know that Avatar finally has dropped off the chart, landing in twelfth spot. Its gross intake worldwide is now up to an unheard of $2.67 billion.

REVIEW: THE BOUNTY HUNTER

Contrary to some horrific reviews, Andy Tennant's The Bounty Hunter isn't all that bad.  Though the story has serious problems with implausibility, Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler's chemistry lights up the screen and then some, in this action/romantic comedy.

Butler plays Milo Boyd, an ex-cop who makes a "mistake" which we never really quite figure out, resulting in his divorce from wife Nicole Hurley (Aniston), a journalist.  Nicole is interested in a story about a police officer who suspiciously commits suicide, although she receives a tip-off from a reliable source Jimmy (Adam Rose), that it may in fact have been a murder.  This of course happens on the same day that she is scheduled to appear in court on a minor traffic offence, resulting in her skipping her own trial to get a lead on her story.  As a result, there is a warrant for Nicole's arrest and guess who gets hired to hunt her down?  You guessed it.

Milo tracks down Nicole in Atlantic City and what ensues is a "Battle of Exes" which involves Nicole constantly trying to escape and outwit Milo.  And believe me, they pull out all the stops including handcuffing each other to bedposts, making up stories of hot love affairs to make each other jealous and perhaps the lowest of lows, using a Taser Gun.  The journey isn't all-angry as the former couple take a trip down Memory Lane together, and why it is they truly broke up in the first place becomes confused.  Milo however, remains focused on getting his $5,000 reward for turning in Nicole, while she never loses sight of her need to escape from Milo, yet being drawn back to him time and again.  If only rekindling romance were that easy in real life....

THE BOUNTY HUNTER SHOOTS, BUT MISFIRES

Despite looking like a genuine threat to the throne, The Bounty Hunter was just no match for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland this weekend, which stays on top for a third week in a row taking in $34.5 million.  

Diary of a Wimpy Kid from Fox, lands in second spot with $21.8 million after getting much word-of-mouth build-up in the kids' demographic.  The adapted film is the first from its popular children's novel franchise.

The Bounty Hunter placed in third, a romantic comedy with a bit of action, stars Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston as a feuding ex-husband and wife.  Universally panned by critics, the film brought in $21 million this weekend from 3,074 theatres.  It was made for a $40 million budget and isn't looking like a loss for Sony Pictures as it has yet to open overseas... yet.  Read my review of it here.

Jude Law's action vehicle Repo Men from Universal Pictures, lands in a distant fourth spot earning $6.1 million, after being made for a $32 million budget.  Ouch.

Rounding out the bottom is Avatar which has seen better days, earning just $1.06 million in its 13th week and likely final week in the Top Ten.   Finally!  The film is said to be amidst another relaunch shortly with extended footage because clearly it hasn't made enough money the first time around.  God, help us.

As an interesting aside, The Runaways, which I loved,  landed in 13th spot with just $800k in earnings, but one most note that it only opened in approximately 230 theatres this weekend.  It will be expanding to wide release April 9, 2010.  Expect a huge spike in a couple weeks' time.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND - UNTOUCHABLE

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland continues to demolish its opponents at the Box Office. In its second week the film brought in an outstanding $62 million from 3,700 screens. It looks like a safe bet to hold on for a third week on top.

Matt Damon's latest film Green Zone which has been panned pretty much across-the-board, debuts in second with $14.5 million, which is uncharacteristically low for a film starring the Hollywood hunk.

Paramount's She's Out of My League (aka The Girl Next Door, aka Can't Buy Me Love) follows the formula of hot girl-paired with-geek yet again and performs respectably with a number three spot debut, with $9.6 million in earnings.

Shutter Island is still performing well even it its fourth week of release, slipping only to fifth spot with $8.1 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $108 million thus far.

Ugly Betty star America Ferrara headlines her first widely released film, Our Family Wedding from Fox Searchlight, bringing in $7.6 million in its first week. The interracial romantic comedy opened in 1,600 in theatres, which is by all means a fair showing.

Gerrard Butler and Jennifer Aniston's The Bounty Hunter is expected to debut big next weekend. But will it be enough to challenge Alice?  Maybe.  We'll see....