It seems everyone went to see Oz the Great and Powerful past weekend making it the best opening weekend release in 2013 and one of the best March openings ever. Although, in fact, most of the top 5 movies of the week this week haven’t been warmly embraced by critics, the public showed that fantasy and 3D movies are much preferred nowadays. So, which are the top five movies of this week?
First place in the most recent weekly U.S. and Canadian box office chart is, as expected, for the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, Disney’s 3D big-budget Oz the Great and Powerful. The story of an ordinary circus magician who becomes a great wizard managed to bring over $80 million only in its first weekend perfectly staying true to its title. Just like the 1939 classic with the unforgettable Judy Garland, Oz the Great and Powerful is a good old-fashioned family entertainment.
Hollywood’s recent obsession with fairy tales continues with the second spot at the box office – Jack the Giant Slayer, starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci. With only $9.84 million of revenue this weekend, the film is way behind Oz, but still favourite to children. The adventure movie is loosely based upon the English folk tale Jack and the Beanstalk, and just like the fairy tale, it is light hearted family- and children-oriented film.
The comedy Identity Thief directed by Seth Gordon disappointed most of the critics, but remained in the top 10 of the box office for fifth week. Despite the poor reviews, the movie has brought a total of $117 million so far, proving that the audience can be won only with a good trailer filled with car chases, funny moments and silly conversations.
With $5.35 million of sales during its first weekend in the theaters, Niels Arden Oplev’s thriller Dead Man Down is for everyone who doesn’t like the clichéd action movies. This is a more different, clever revenge story with well-developed characters (the amazing Naomi Rapace), a lot of tension and a difficult romance.
Ranked fifth in the box office chart for top 5 movies of the week is the action thriller Snitch with a weekend revenue worth of $5.1 million. Fans of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson already love his new film, Snitch which tells the story of father who has to go undercover for the DEA in order to free his son imprisoned for drugs. The lovely thing about the movie, is that here we can see The Rock turning from an action into a dramatic actor who displays very well the individual struggles of his character. Other stars are Benjamin Bratt, Susan Sarandon and Barry Pepper who also provide excellent performances.
