Box Office: 'Monsters vs. Aliens' takes No. 1 spot

Weekend of March 27 – 29, 2009

“Monsters vs. Aliens” easily destroyed its competition at the North American box office this weekend with a whopping $58.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

DreamWorks Animation’s latest 3D-animated family adventure follows a group of monsters assisting the U.S. government in trying to destroy a ruthless alien leader. The film’s voice cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie.

Debuting at No. 2 this weekend with $23 million was Peter Cornwell’s horror thriller “The Haunting in Connecticut.” Starring Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner and Amanda Crew, the film follows a family experiencing supernatural events in their new home.

Last week’s winner “Knowing” dropped to third place, collecting $14.7 million and reaching a cumulative gross of $46.2 million after two weeks in release. The Alex Proyas-directed apocalyptic thriller stars Nicholas Cage as a professor struggling to prevent a series of global disasters.

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'Monsters vs. Aliens' delivers monstrous b.o. start

DreamWorks Animation's 3D-animated adventure "Monsters vs. Aliens" stormed the North American box office Friday with an estimated $16.7 million in ticket sales.

Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon, the film follows a group of monsters trying to prevent a ruthless alien leader from destroying humanity. The voice cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Hugh Laurie.

Debuting in second place Friday with $9.5 million was Peter Cornwell's "The Haunting in Connecticut." Starring Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner and Amanda Crew, the horror thriller follows a family experiencing supernatural events in their new home.

Last week's winner "Knowing" dropped to No. 3, earning $4.6 million and lifting its cumulative gross to $36.1 million after two weeks in release. Directed by Alex Proyas, the film follows Nicholas Cage as a father trying to prevent a series of global disasters.

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Movie Review: “12 Rounds”

Seen on: March 27, 2009

The players: Director: Renny Harlin, Writer: Daniel Kunka, Cast: John Cena, Steve Harris, Aidan Gillen, Brian J. White, Gonzalo Menendez

Facts of interest: Harlin also directed "Die Hard 2," "Cliffhanger" and "Mindhunters."

The plot: Cena plays a cop who must obey a ruthless killer and participate in a deadly game if he ever wants to see his kidnapped wife again.

Our quick thoughts: In Renny Harlin’s latest action flick “12 Rounds,” WWE superstar John Cena plays a heroic New Orleans detective who’s forced to successfully complete 12 perilous challenges in order to save his kidnapped girlfriend.

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This week's new movie releases - March 27, 2009

This week, we're looking at three wide releases: DreamWorks Animation's 3-D adventure "Monsters vs. Aliens," WWE's action flick "12 Rounds" with John Cena, and Peter Cornwell's horror movie "The Haunting in Connecticut" with Virginia Madsen:

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT

Synopsis: When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover.

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What to expect at the movies in March '09

January was a disappointing month as far as new movie releases were concerned, and to be honest, February hasn't been that great of a month either. But what about March? Will we finally be able to see more than just one or two solid films in one month?

I have to admit my expectations are pretty high. The movie month of March kicks off with Zack Snyder's anticipated "Watchmen," a film many folks out there are just dying to see. Some early reviews I read are pretty mixed, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I'm really excited to see this flick, and I hope it will deliver the goods.

The following weekend, however, doesn't look that exciting. One of the three releases set for March 13 is "Race to Witch Mountain," in which Dwayne Johnson helps two alien kids return to their crashed spaceship. Judging by the previews, the film looks rather crappy, but maybe it's the Rock's bad acting that just scares me too much.

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John Cena kicks butt in '12 Rounds' trailer

WWE Studios returns to the big screen with "12 Rounds," a new action spectacle starring wrestling superstar John Cena as a badass detective kicking butt.

Here's what the flick is about:

Detective Danny Baxter (Cena) discovers his girlfriend (Ashley Scott) has been kidnapped by a ex-con tied to Baxter's past, and he'll have to successfully complete 12 challenges in order to secure her safe release.

If you like the stuff the WWE has been producing over the past years, you'll probably enjoy "12 Rounds" as well. In other words, if you like watching brainless action flicks about a wrestler battling bad boys, this one's for you.

That said, "12 Rounds" sounds almost EXACTLY like Cena's previous acting effort "The Marine." In the latter, he played a recently discharged marine who goes on a chase through the South Carolinian wilderness to retrieve his kidnapped wife.

"12 Rounds" will open everywhere March 27, 2009. The film is directed by Renny Harlin, whose credits include "Cliffhanger," "Die Hard 2," and the crappy "Mindhunters." Oh yeah, he also helmed "Deep Blue Sea."

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