Green Lantern’s mighty ring of power can do many wondrous things. But it couldn’t generate much excitement at the ol’ movieplex this weekend.
Oh sure, Ryan Reynolds’ alter-ego Hal Jordan flew to the top of the box office, zapping his way to a very green $52.7 million. But considering that Warner Brothers spent an estimated $200 million to make the thing, the haul doesn’t seem so, um, super. Both Thor and X-Men: First Class grabbed more cash ($65.7 million and $55.1 million, respectively) in their opening weekends, which leaves some box office prognosticators wondering whether we’ve finally hit a superhero saturation point. Captain America, which opens July 22, could let us know whether the high-flying genre is being pulled back down to earth.
Super 8, fresh off its own box office win, slipped to second place with a still-solid $21.3 million, while Jim Carrey’s reasonably fam-friendly Mr. Popper’s Penguins debuted in third with a disappointing $18.2 million. Two very different sequels, X-Men: First Class and The Hangover Part II snagged the fourth and fifth slots, respectively, with the foul, R-rated Hangover cementing itself as (gulp) the biggest hit thus far of 2011.
It looks as if the box office could use a real hero this summer.
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