This weekend saw the long-awaited return of beloved adventurer Indiana Jones to the big screen in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The film had its official open on Thursday and it has not looked back since. It hit fast, taking in $25 million on its opening day and then crossing $30 million on its second day. The strong opening also made the new adventure the fastest film to reach $100 million this year, not that it has had much competition outside of Iron Man. The film is far from perfect, but still a lot of fun. It will be interesting to see how it holds up next weekend since it will not have any new direct competition.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the only film released wide this weekend, therefore it was the only one posing a threat to last weekend's top film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Unfortunately, its opening weekend, while respectable, was below expectations and really did not stand a chance this weekend. Its May release, sandwiched between the likes of Iron Man and Indiana Jones, did not do it any favors. It probably would have fared a bit better if it had been a Christmas season release like the first film. Then again, I do not think the film was all that great; quality and word of mouth have to count for something, and I do not believe they are working in the movie's favor.
Prince Caspian was not the only film to suffer a steep drop this weekend; both Speed Racer and the Harold & Kumar sequel also fell more than 50% from last week. Both drops were likely anticipated, considering the disastrous release of Speed Racer, and the fast aging Harold & Kumar.
On the other side of the coin, the majority of the returning films fared well over the holiday weekend. Most notably, Iron Man continues its money-making course. This film has to be considered a huge success for the newly formed Marvel Studios, as the film has a definite shot of crossing $300 million. Also, comedies are doing well hanging on to their audience; this includes Baby Mama, Made of Honor, and the excellent Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
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