There are so many romantic comedies, with so many obvious conclusions, that it is midly interesting to watch Something Borrowed – though not because it reinvents the formula. No, it’s fascinating because it seems that the further this formula mutates, the less pleasant it makes its leads to somehow gin up a reason why two people who love each other aren’t having sex. Ginnfer Goodwin and Kate Hudson play old friends, with Hudson on the verge of marrying Colin Egglesfield – only for Goodwin to finally reveal her feelings for Egglesfield. Uh oh. Our review of Something Borrowed on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The summer movie season is only two weeks old and, here it is, napping on the job. The respite did give Thor another opportunity to flex his muscles before the blockbusters of May get back to work next weekend, however.  The Marvel hero easily conquered his competition to take first place for the second week in a row with an estimated $34.5 million.

The mighty, mighty Thor brought his blondeness to a theatre near you this weekend: earning an estimated $66 million from 3,955 locations.  That might seem kind of low for a superhero movie destined to lead off the summer season but, actually, it was right about where the God of Thunder was expected to land… being a “lesser superhero” and all.

OK, so we all know that “summer” started early this year with the $86.2 million launch of Fast Five.  The only question was how last weekend’s massive debut would impact Thor – the superhero flick that, according to the calendar, should have been this year’s first blockbuster.  Thor earned an estimated $25.7 million from its 3,995 locations on Friday including the $3.25 million he took in from midnight screenings.  That puts the Marvel hero on track for a $60 million first weekend or, right about where the big guy was expected to land after Vin Diesel’s crew drove off with his start-of-summer thunder seven days ago.  That same crew came in second on Friday, falling off by 70% for an estimated $10.5 million.  With its new domestic total of $117.8 million, Fast Five should be passing Rango to become the highest-grossing release of 2011 right about… now!  This week’s two romantic-comedy counter-programmers – Something Borrowed and Jumping the Broom – brought in $4.8 and $4.1 million respectively.  Full details and analysis tomorrow.

When I first spoke to Hilary Swank, it was at the premiere of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, in 1992. I spoke to her again in 1999, at the press day for Boys Don’t Cry, for which she went on to win her first Academy Award. A few press junkets and another Oscar later, I got to sit down with her and her producing partner, Molly Mickler Smith, on behalf of Something Borrowed, the first production under their company 2S Films, and was happy to learn that she was as friendly, genuine and gracious as she has always been.

During an exclusive interview with Collider at the film’s press day, Hilary Swank and Molly Mickler Smith, who have known each other for 13 years, talked about why they chose Something Borrowed for their first 2S Films production, the agonizing process of coming up with the perfect name for your company, assembling the right ensemble of actors to bring these characters to life, and showing how friendship can be complex and messy. They also talked about their current slate of projects in development. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Romantic comedies aren’t designed to challenge their audience.  They’re meant as the most disposable of mainstream movies where a couple or an aspiring couple can go on a date, look at the love they want to have, and then leave for a night of necking and heavy petting.  If it were a more mature film and not the cinematic equivalent of a tissue, Something Borrowed would trust its audience to understand that the lead characters are good people who have done a bad thing but not an unforgivable thing.  Instead, the movie twists itself into knots trying to clear our consciences, get us to root for male and female lead, and hate Kate Hudson with every fiber of our being.  John Krasinski does his best to save the film, but it’s not enough to overcome the conceit of watching two people do their best to keep their love alive while sparing the feelings of their obnoxious friend/fiancée.

In the romantic dramedy Something Borrowed, actress Ginnifer Goodwin plays Rachel, a talented attorney at a top New York law firm. She is a loyal friend who is generous, much to her own detriment, when it comes to her best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson). When Rachel unexpectedly reveals to Darcy’s fiancé, Dex (Colin Egglesfield), that she’s had a crush on him since their time in law school, one thing leads to another and Rachel finds herself caught between her life-long friendship with Darcy, and the love of her life.

At the press day, Ginnifer Goodwin and her co-star John Krasinski, who often is the voice of reason in the film, talked about the challenge of finding sympathy for characters doing very unlikeable things, why some friendships just aren’t meant to be, what songs they danced to in front of the mirror when they were kids, and the difference between exploring a character for film and for television. John also talked about his role in The Muppets, and Ginnifer talked about her ABC pilot Once Upon a Time, in which she plays Snow White. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

In the romantic drama Something Borrowed, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, actress Kate Hudson goes against type by playing the Darcy, the best friend of Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin), a woman who realizes her true love is the man that Darcy is about to marry. Best friends since childhood, Darcy and Rachel have a relationship that has become somewhat toxic, with Darcy always getting what she wants and Rachel never speaking up for her own desires. So, when Rachel finally tells Dex (Colin Egglesfield) her true feelings, all hell breaks loose, and the one person that Darcy could always count on does something that very well may be unforgivable.

At the film’s press day, Kate Hudson talked about how fun it was to play such a hilariously self-centered character, the challenge of making a very unlikeable character someone that audiences want to root for, her personal feelings on infidelity, and why the role of Linda Lovelace was appealing enough to make Lovelace her next project. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

I love a good romantic comedy, and so harbored high hopes for Something Borrowed since the early stages of development.  I have heard good things about the Emily Giffin novel/source material, and generally believe Ginnifer Goodwin can do no wrong.  But Kate Hudson in a rom-com is enough to caution anyone familiar with her work over the last decade.

The good news: Hudson is meant to play an awful person, and even gets the biggest laughs in the new trailer despite the presence of John Krasinski.  (Well played, casting director Mandy Sherman.)  See for yourself after the jump.

We have new posters for a pair of films I’m really rooting for in 2011.  The first is Something Borrowed, an adaptation of the first in a series of novels from Emily Giffin.  Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, and John Krasinski star.  Hudson’s name is a big red flag, but there are hints that Something Borrowed could be more than your average romantic comedy.

The second is A Better Life (formerly titled The Gardener), the latest from Chris Weitz.  For a brief minute, Weitz was the promising co-director behind the charming About a Boy before he was swallowed up by the big budget filmmaking of The Golden Compass and New Moon.  A Better Life scales things back down to the indie level: a gardener (Demian Bichir) and his son (Jose Julian) scour Los Angeles for a stolen truck vital to their livelihood in this tale inspired by The Bicycle Thief.  Hit the jump to view both posters.

Warner Bros. has set new release dates for four of the films on its 2011 slate.

• On April 8th, the Russell Brand-led remake of Arthur faces the wide releases Hanna, Rio, Your Highness, plus Ceremony and Meek’s Cutoff in limited release
• Crazy, Stupid, Love. has been pushed from April 22nd to July 29th, where stars Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone must battle both Cowboys & Aliens
• Something Borrowed, a promising entry in the romantic comedy genre starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Colin Egglesfield, John Krasinski, and Kate Hudson, will open on June 10th against Super 8, a month after its originally scheduled May 6th release
• Horrible Bosses was once set to bow July 29th; Box Office Mojo has changed its release listing to a more general “Summer 2011″

Hit the jump for more detail on each film.

Warner Bros. has released their preview kit for 2011 and along with it they’re providing the first look at Sherlock Holmes II, The Hangover Part II, and Horrible Bosses. There’s also images for The Rite, Unknown, Hall Pass, Red Riding Hood, Sucker Punch, Born to Be Wild, Something Borrowed, Apparition, Final Destination 5, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.  Hit the jump to check out the high-resolution synopses and images from these films plus synopses  for Crazy Stupid Love, Green Lantern, Dolphin Tale, Contagion, Happy Feet 2, and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

With the American Film Market (AFM) starting today in Los Angeles, we’ve been posting an enormous amount of promo posters and first synopses from a wide assortment of movies. Due to the amount that we’ve been posting, we think there is a good chance you might have missed some of the posters and info over the course of the day. So to make sure you’re all caught up, here’s links to all our AFM coverage. Look for more tomorrow:

• Posters and Synopses for STEP UP 4EVER 3D, BROTHER’S JUSTICE, HYBRID, and SOMETHING BORROWED
• First Poster and Tons of New Images from Sarah Polley’s TAKE THIS WALTZ Starring Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams and Sarah Silverman
• Posters and Synopses for THE THREE MUSKETEERS, SOURCE CODE, and MAN ON A LEDGE
• First Posters and Synopses for Keanu Reeves’s GENERATION UM… and Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz’s A WARRIOR’S HEART
• First Poster for Aardman’s ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
• First Posters and Plot Synopses for THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY and THE GARDENER
• THE BEAVER Poster and Synopsis Starring Mel Gibson
• Updated THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PARTS 1 & 2 Synopsis Released at AFM
• FilmDistrict Acquires DRIVE Starring Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, and Carey Mulligan
• First Poster and Synopsis for THE IMPOSSIBLE Starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor
• First Image and Synopsis for Tom Hanks’ LARRY CROWNE
• First Poster and Synopsis for Terrence Malick’s THE TREE OF LIFE
• Posters for THE KING’S SPEECH, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, and THE ILLUSIONIST
• Scarlett Johansson to Play Sexy Alien in Jonathan Glazer’s UNDER THE SKIN

Continuing our intense coverage of the American Film Market this week, we’ve got posters and synopses for Step Up 4Ever 3D, Brother’s Justice, Hybrid, and Something Borrowed. In what has to be one of the hardest titles to type in the history of film, Step Up 4Ever 3D lacks a director and hasn’t even started production yet but Summit Entertiainment has released a promo poster and brief synopsis. Underrated actor Dax Shepard (Parenthood) makes his feature screenwriting and directorial debut with the comedy Brother’s Justice, starring Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, and Jon Favreau. We’ve also got the Kate Hudson-starred Something Borrowed, directed by Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door), and One Missed Call director Eric Valette’s Hybrid which is about a murderous, serial killer car (seriously). Hit the jump for the posters and fairly thorough synopses.

We have two quick cuts of casting news for you today.  First up, Olivia Wilde (House) has joined the cast of the political satire Butter.  She takes the role that was originally offered to Kate Hudson so the film has definitely traded up (Hudson decided to do the Ginnifer Goodwin romcom Something Borrowed instead). According to Movieline, Wilde will play “a tattooed stripper with a Betty Page hairdo who’s also the mistress to a term-limited butter-carving champion (played by Modern Family‘s Ty Burrell).  The film is a satirical take on the 2008 Democratic Primary.  Jennifer Garner will play Burrell’s wife who wants the title of Butter-Carving Champion for herself but has to compete with a young African-American child (Yara Shahidi). Alicia Silverstone has also joined the cast and will play Shahidi’s adoptive mother.

Wilde has also signed on to star alongside Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford in Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens.  She’ll next be seen in theaters this December in Tron Legacy.  As for Silverstone, she recently re-teamed with her Clueless director Amy Heckerling for the vampire film, Vamps.

Hit the jump for news regarding Kevin Bacon’s casting in the untitled Steve Carell-Ryan Gosling comedy.