1999’s American Pie spawned an unlikely trilogy that concluded in 2003 as the film’s popularity seemed to peak and the story had few places left to go. Cut to nearly ten years later, and it feels like the studio said “it’s still a viable franchise, right? Let’s find out.” Franchise filmmaking is the meat and potatoes of studios these days, and American Reunion also goes the Fast Five route by bringing back the entire cast from the first movie. The film fizzled at the box office for a number of reasons, foremost would be that characters are thirty now, and there’s no innocence left to lose and there’s way less hope. Which means sex-hijinks are not as much fun. Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein and many more return for the film, and our review of American Reunion on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The Hunger Games cannot be stopped.  Director Gary Ross’s adaptation of the popular Suzanne Collins book took the top spot at the box office for the fourth weekend in a row with $21.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $337 million with a worldwide haul over $479 million.  Though Lionsgate is presumably extremely happy with The Hunger Games’ performance, they’re currently on the lookout for a director replacement for the sequel Catching Fire after Ross declined to return due to the tight schedule.  They have to start filming the follow-up this August in order for star Jennifer Lawrence to be wrapped in time to move on to the X-Men: First Class sequel in January, and to make Catching Fire’s November 2013 release date.  Hit the jump for details and analysis of the full top 10.

Despite three new wide releases this weekend, The Hunger Games is back at the top of the box office for the fourth (and not necessarily final) Friday in a row, adding another $6.5 million to its terrific $322 million domestic total.  The Three Stooges came in second with a $5.6 million opening day, which may be just enough to relaunch the franchise if the movie has legs.  The Cabin in the Woods trailed in third, premiering to $5.5 million.  That’s not a great total for a movie we love so much, but it could be much worse.  Look no further than Lockout, which landed outside the top five to a paltry $2.2 million, beat by last week’s offerings American Reunion and Titanic 3D.  Look for details and analysis on the full weekend tomorrow.

After a week-off due to personal reasons on my part, The Collision podcast has returned.  In our second episode, Adam Chitwood, Dave Trumbore, and I talk about Gary Ross‘ potential return to direct The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire.  We also give our thoughts on the first looks at Len Wiseman‘s remake of Total Recall, take a detour to Mirror Mirror, and come around to Aaron Sorkin‘s upcoming HBO TV series, The Newsroom.  Finally, we discuss American Reunion, and provide our weekly recommendations.  Once again, we encourage you to give us your thoughts on the podcast by either sounding off in the comments section or shooting a tweet @CollisionCast.  We’re still figuring out this podcast, and your feedback is invaluable in helping us shape the program.

Click here to listen to our latest episode, click here to listen to our previous episode, and click here to add The Collision to your RSS feed.  An iTunes link will be available soon.

May the box office be ever in your favor! The Hunger Games outlasted competition from newcomers American Reunion and not-so-new Titanic 3D to top the box office for the third weekend in a row.  Hunger Games pulled in an estimated $33.5 million, a drop of about 43% from last week’s numbers, but still managed to cross a $400 million worldwide mark.   Second-week showings of Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror rounded out the top five respectively. Hit the jump for the analysis, including a big mover who almost cracked the top ten.

In the raunchy comedy American Reunion, East Great Falls High’s Class of 1999 is back, more than a decade later. Husband and wife duo Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) have come home to reminisce with Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Vicky (Tara Reid), Oz (Chris Klein), Heather (Mena Suvari), Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) and Stifler (Seann William Scott), who out of all of them remains the same as he ever was, while Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) gets to know Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) a little better. In one long-overdue weekend, they will learn that time and distance cannot break the bonds of friendship.

At the film’s press day, co-stars Thomas Ian Nicholas and Tara Reid talked about how easy it was to reunite with the American Pie ensemble for a fourth film, feeling like this time they really pick back up from the original and stay true to the characters, how they had wondered where there characters might be now, and how they’ve grown and changed as people, in their own lives. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

I feel compelled this week to use the Top 5 opening paragraph to ask our readers a moderately sized favor: if you have any interest whatsoever in the American horror genre and its future, please do your best to find a way to catch The Cabin in the Woods in theaters when it officially opens next weekend. I’m not asking this as a way of manufacturing some hyperbolic scenario in which the success or failure of said film will literally make or break the genre as we know it. Rather, I’m hoping to use it as a reminder that opening weekend box office dollars are one of the best ways that a moviegoer can have his/her voice heard by the film industry’s powers that be. If you’re tired of remakes of remakes and reboots of those remakes, then do your best to financially support something that isn’t afraid to turn genre conventions on their respective heads. Now, all favors aside…

Waiting on the other side of the Top 5 jump this week is a recap of our visit to the set of The Avengers, the first Total Recall trailer, video interviews with the cast of American Reunion, the first trailer/images from Seth MacFarlane‘s Ted, and a batch of new images from Prometheus. You know the drill, a brief recap and link to each of the above awaits…

It looks like The Hunger Games will be named the victor yet again on this fine Easter weekend, as the film brought in an estimated $12.9 million on Friday for a potential weekend haul of around $40 million.  The film has now crossed the $400 million mark worldwide against a budget of around $80 million, solidifying its status as a bona fide hit.  Lionsgate is working fast to get the sequel, Catching Fire, before cameras this fall (which Gary Ross may or may not be directing).  Elsewhere in the box office landscape, American Reunion opened to $9.2 million for a weekend total around $22 million, and Paramount’s Titanic 3D took in $7.1 million on Friday.  The re-release opened on Wednesday, so its cumulative is at $15.5 million and should fall short of the projected $30 million weekend, though James Cameron‘s original had famously strong legs in its initial run, so don’t count the disaster love story out just yet.  Additionally, 21 Jump Street has reason to celebrate as the ridiculously funny film has now hit $100 million cumulatively.  Check back tomorrow for details and analysis.

American Reunion, the nostalgia dripping thirteen-plus year sequel to American Pie (nine years since American Wedding, three since the DTV American Pie: Book of Love), leans heavily not only on the past iterations/bonds/adventures of its many characters but more-so on the audience’s own relationship to the original film.  Numerous references to American Pie abound: hey remember the time when Jim failed to seal the deal with Nadia over a webcam or Milf #2 or ‘That Time at Band Camp’?… – because American Reunion sure does and it pulls at every heartstring to make sure you do too.  In the sequel – Jim and Michelle’s marriage has hit a sexual lull, Stifler is now stuck working a dead end job, Oz is a C-level celebrity, Finch has disappeared without a trace and Kevin is just beginning to settle into boring normal adulthood. Of course their high-school reunion tests these status quos – upending some, reaffirming others…

At the recent press day in conjunction with our partners Omelete, I was able to speak with the entirety of the American Reunion cast.  Today’s interview: Sean William Scott & Eddie Kaye Thomas (Stifler & Finch).  In the interview, the duo discuss the rivalry of their characters, the difficulties (or lack thereof) in returning to characters previously played and surprises in how their characters have turned out.  Hit the jump to watch.

Six new posters for our Friday round-up. Here they are at a glance:

• American Reunion – In this fourth installment in the American Pie franchise, Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein and more meet up for their characters’ high school reunion.
• Cabin in the Woods – Written by Joss Whedon and written/directed by David Goddard, this movie, starring Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford, follows five friends camping at a remote cabin; bad things happen.
• Lockout – From Luc Besson, this sci-fi actioner follows Guy Pearce as he attempts to rescue Maggie Grace from an outer space, maximum security prison.
• Safe – Jason Statham must rescue a young Chinese girl from Mafia thugs, coax a secret safe combination out of her and use it to outsmart the Russian mob, the Chinese Triad and corrupt NYC officials.
• Bel Ami – Robert Pattinson stars in this 1890s period piece in which he uses his powers of seduction to rise from rags to riches; also stars Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Colm Meaney.
• What to Expect When You’re Expecting – A look at five connected couples expecting a child and the twists of fate that life delivers each of them.  Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jennifer Lopez, Rodrigo Santoro and more star.

Hit the jump to view the posters and synopses.

American Reunion, the nostalgia dripping thirteen-plus year sequel to American Pie (nine years since American Wedding, three since the DTV American Pie: Book of Love), leans heavily not only on the past iterations/bonds/adventures of its many characters but more-so on the audience’s own relationship to the original film. Numerous references to American Pie abound: hey remember the time when Jim failed to seal the deal with Nadia over a webcam or Milf #2 or ‘That Time at Band Camp’?… – because American Reunion sure does and it pulls at every heartstring to make sure you do too. In the sequel – Jim and Michelle’s marriage has hit a sexual lull, Stifler is now stuck working a dead end job, Oz is a C-level celebrity, Finch has disappeared without a trace and Kevin is just beginning to settle into boring normal adulthood. Of course their high-school reunion tests these status quos – upending some, reaffirming others…

At the recent press day in conjunction with our partners Omelete, I was able to speak with the entirety of the American Reunion cast. Today’s interview: Mena Suvari & Chris Klein (Heather & Oz). In the interview the duo reminisce about the first American Pie, discuss aging with the characters and preview where they see Heather and Oz ten/twenty years from now. For the full interview, hit the jump.

American Reunion, the nostalgia dripping thirteen-plus year sequel to American Pie (nine years since American Wedding, three since the DTV American Pie: Book of Love), leans heavily not only on the past iterations/bonds/adventures of its many characters but more-so on the audience’s own relationship to the original film.  Numerous references to American Pie abound: hey remember the time when Jim failed to seal the deal with Nadia over a webcam or Milf #2 or ‘That Time at Band Camp’?… – because American Reunion sure does and it pulls at every heartstring to make sure you do too.  In the sequel – Jim and Michelle’s marriage has hit a sexual lull, Stifler is now stuck working a dead end job, Oz is a C-level celebrity, Finch has disappeared without a trace and Kevin is just beginning to settle into boring normal adulthood. Of course their high-school reunion tests these status quos – upending some, reaffirming others…

At the recent press day in conjunction with our partners Omelete, I was able to speak with the entirety of the American Reunion cast.  Today’s interview: Jason Biggs & Alyson Hannigan (Jim & Michelle).  In the interview, the duo reminisce about the first American Pie, discuss the art of humiliation and preview where they see Jim and Michelle ten/twenty years from now.  Hit the jump to watch.

American Reunion, the nostalgia dripping thirteen-plus year sequel to American Pie (nine years since American Wedding, three since the DTV American Pie: Book of Love), leans heavily not only on the past iterations/bonds/adventures of its many characters but more-so on the audience’s own relationship to the original film. Numerous references to American Pie abound: hey remember the time when Jim failed to seal the deal with Nadia over a webcam or Milf #2 or ‘That Time at Band Camp’?… – because American Reunion sure does and it pulls at every heartstring to make sure you do too. In the sequel – Jim and Michelle’s marriage has hit a sexual lull, Stifler is now stuck working a dead end job, Oz is a C-level celebrity, Finch has disappeared without a trace and Kevin is just beginning to settle into boring normal adulthood. Of course their high-school reunion tests these status quos – upending some, reaffirming others…

At the recent press day in conjunction with our partners Omelete, I was able to speak with the entirety of the American Reunion cast.  Today’s interview: Thomas Ian Nicholas & Tara Reid (Kevin & Vicky).  In the interview the duo reminisce about the first American Pie, lament the frustrations in playing the ‘straight woman’ of the series and preview where they see Kevin and Vicky ten/twenty years from now.  Hit the jump to watch.

American Reunion, the nostalgia dripping thirteen-plus year sequel to American Pie (nine years since American Wedding, three since the DTV American Pie: Book of Love), leans heavily not only on the past iterations/bonds/adventures of its many characters but more-so on the audience’s own relationship to the original film.  Numerous references to American Pie abound: hey remember the time when Jim failed to seal the deal with Nadia over a webcam or Milf #2 or ‘That Time at Band Camp’?… – because American Reunion sure does and it pulls at every heartstring to make sure you do too.  In the sequel – Jim and Michelle’s marriage has hit a sexual lull, Stifler is now stuck working a dead end job, Oz is a C-level celebrity, Finch has disappeared without a trace and Kevin is just beginning to settle into boring normal adulthood.  Of course their high-school reunion tests these status quos – upending some, reaffirming others…

At the recent press day in conjunction with our partners Omelete, I was able to speak with the entirety of the American Reunion cast.  Today’s interview: Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge (Jim’s Dad & Stifler’s Mom).  In the interview, the duo discuss how the film was pitched to them, improvisation and deleted scenes.  Hit the jump to watch.

In the raunchy comedy American Reunion, East Great Falls High’s Class of 1999 is back, more than a decade later. Husband and wife duo Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) have come home to reminisce with Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Vicky (Tara Reid), Oz (Chris Klein), Heather (Mena Suvari), Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) and Stifler (Seann William Scott), who out of all of them remains the same as he ever was, while Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) gets to know Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) a little better. In one long-overdue weekend, they will learn that time and distance cannot break the bonds of friendship.

At the film’s press day, co-stars Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan talked about the ways they most related to this story and their characters now, how it was about time for Biggs to be showing his penis, and what they thought of their dominatrix scene. Check out what they had to say after the jump.