Kid's Corner

Wow! Not only did the Karate Kid remake knock Shrek out of the top spot but it also kept The A-Team at bay with a pretty impressive chunk o'change


Carl DiOrio of 'THR

Sony's remake of "The Karate Kid" kicked some life into a previously listless domestic boxoffice with a surprisingly powerful opening weekend estimated at $56 million.

Completing a notable one-two combo, Fox's bigscreen adaptation of "The A-Team" debuted in second place with $26 million -- even if "Kid" did seem to pocket some of the rival actioner's coin. And displaying how a hit movie can spread boxoffice wealth to others, three holdovers marked solid sophomore sessions:

Universal's Russell Brand comedy "Get Him to the Greek" dipped just 43% to ring up $10.1 million in fourth place for $36.5 million in cumulative coin.

Lionsgate's action comedy "Killers" fell a relatively modest 48% to $8.2 million in fifth place, with cume of $30.7 million.

Fox's family laugher "Marmaduke" dropped 48% to $6 million in seventh with a $22.3 million cume.

Only Warner Bros.-distributed "Splice" failed to find second-week traction. The scifi thriller tumbled a big 61% in piecing together just $2.9 million in 10th place for a $13.1 million cume.

Collectively, the weekend top 10 fetched $141.6 million, or 10% more than top performers in the same frame last year, Rentrak said.

...Starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, "Kid" was directed by Harald Zwart ("Pink Panther 2") and remakes a 1984 original that paired Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in well-known roles of an undisciplined-but-gifted karate student and his insistent teacher. Production costs totaled just $40 million.

"It played so broadly," Sony distribution president Rory Bruer enthused. "We took a beloved title and made it fresh and relevant."

PG-rated "Kid" drew audiences comprised 53% of females, with 45% of patrons family moviegoers. The movie's opening exceeded prerelease projections by at least $20 million, underscoring the difficulty of forecasting family films.

Joe Carnahan ("Smokin' Aces") directed "A-Team" cast including Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper, with production costs totaling at least $95 million. Like its small-screen predecessor from the 1980s, the movie follows special-ops exploits of a team of military vets seeking to clear their tarnished records.

Rated PG-13, "A-Team" audiences skewed 59% male, with 61% of patrons aged 25 or older...

Nicole Sperling of EW:

'80s reboot opens strong at box office, on track for $200M summer; ''A-Team'' is solid, but not explosive...

Next Up: Woody, Buzz and all their pals are back in Toy Story 3! While
Josh Brolin and Megan Fox try to make the best outta troubled comic book pic Jonah Hex