It goes without saying that I’m not a teenage girl, so I had
no idea what the hell “The Fault In Our
Stars” was all about, let alone even heard of it before. It’s a huge bestselling
novel about teenage love and angst, involving two cancer-stricken teenagers, that
evidently struck a chord with millions of teen girls.
Yet even after reading the premise of the book and film, I
can’t believe that so many women would fall for something that is so obviously overly cloying, embarrassingly sentimental balderdash.
But then again, I’m not a teenage girl, so what do I know? A friend of mine knew that it was going to be a big hit, when he walked out of a movie theater Friday
afternoon, and saw a line of teen girls outside the theater, down the street, and around the block. It was such a big hit that it performed even better than what
people expected.
“Stars” this weekend was No. 1, with a stunning $48.2 million million, which is almost $15 million more than what was the general consensus on what the film
would make this weekend. And with a very modest $12 million budget, “Stars” is not only already profitable, but will become one of the most profitable films released this
year, along with “Neighbors.”
Which brings up a question I have just to ask, this being
S & A and all. Is there a similar untapped market out there for films
geared toward young black teenage girls? By that, I mean, sappy, sentimental,
romantic dramedies for young black teenage girls; Essentially, if “Stars” was made with an all black cast, would it do well enough to be a big hit? I don’t see young black women going
for this kind of sappy stuff, but then again, I’m not a young black teenage
girl. You tell me.
Last week’s number one film, “Maleficent,” dropped some 51%, to come in second, with a still very impressive $33.5 million, also proving the box office power of young female moviegoers.
The Tom
Cruise/Doug Liman sci-fi “Edge of
Tomorrow,” which is, without a doubt, one of the best films and best
reviewed films of the summer, came in third with $29 million. With a whopping
reported $175 million budget, that’s
a huge disappointment, and calls into question again, whether Tom Cruise is still a major move star, or if his appeal has faded over the years?
It’s a shame too since “Tomorrow” is easily one of his best films in years, and the best film that Liman
has done. If the film had opened later in the year, instead of going up against
other huge summer blockbusters, maybe it would have had a better chance. The only
hope is that the foreign box-office, where Cruise is still considered a major
movie star, can somewhat offset the lackluster performance of the film in the
States. And it looks like that may be the film’s salvation, in terms of box office. The film
had spectacular openings in Russia,
Australia, Korea and China, with
the biggest opening for any Cruise film in China and Russia. It opened up
last week in 36 foreign territories, with a total, so far, of over $111 million.
As for “Belle,”
it’s in 11th place, with just over $7.5 million in 476 screens:
