For those who overlooked the record-breaking success of The Hunger Games one year ago, it was a great weekend at the US box office. Two of the three new releases exceeded expectations, with Olympus Has Fallen nearly doubling studio projections. Only the Tina Fey comedy Admission stumbled – barely topping what Spring Breakers brought in from half as many locations.

The nationwide expansion of Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers meant that I had the opportunity to catch the film last night at my local theater. We’ll talk a more specifically about our coverage of the film after the jump. For now, I’d like to make a futile attempt at encapsulating my feelings on the pic in the next few sentences. There’s a lot to like about Breakers whether it be the performances (James Franco‘s especially), the music, the slick editing and use of foreshadowing, etc. Nevertheless, for me this isn’t a movie that I “liked” as much as it’s one I respect. It’s beautiful, surreal, challenging, abhorrent, and vapid all at the same time. In other words, it’s art.

I could go on for days about the pic but that’s not why we’re here. In this week’s Top 5 we’ll take a look at our Breakers coverage, some Transformers 4 plot details, Olympus Has Fallen interviews with Gerard Butler and Antoine Fuqua just to name a few, a new trailer and poster for Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Croods interviews with Nicolas Cage and more. As is standard, a brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

Although the top ten films combined won’t match the debut of last year’s The Hunger Games, overall it looks like a good weekend at the domestic box office. Things look especially promising for DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods, which is on track for the second-highest debut of 2013 with over $40 million. In its first day in 4,046 locations, The Croods earned an estimated $11.6 million: just under the opening of DWA’s How to Train Your Dragon in March of 2010. In second place, FilmDistrict’s Olympus Has Fallen also looks strong. The R-rated thriller exceeded expectations on Friday with an estimated take of $10 million from 3,098 locations, and is now on track to top $25 million through Sunday. After setting records in just three theatres last weekend, Spring Breakers expanded into 1,104 venues yesterday and earned an estimated $2.1 million for fifth place. The only new release headed for trouble, in fact, is Admission. The comedy opened in sixth place and will fall short of $7 million from its 2,160 dates this weekend. We’ll have full details tomorrow.

Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers opens nationwide this weekend.  The movie centers on a group of girls (played by Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine) who go to disturbing lengths to keep their spring break going, and their journey becomes even stranger when they encounter unhinged drug dealer, Alien (James Franco).  For more on the film, watch the red band trailer or read Matt’s review.

At the recent Los Angeles press day, I got to speak with Korine.  We talked about what it was like making a movie with so many people watching them work, how the indie flick is is being covered like a 200 million Hollywood blockbuster, his reaction to James Franco’s character, deleted scenes, the craziest stuff he observed watching kids on Spring Break, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Now playing in limited release and expanding nationwide this weekend is director Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers.  The movie centers on a group of girls (played by Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine) who go to disturbing lengths to keep their spring break going, and their journey becomes even stranger when they encounter unhinged drug dealer, Alien (James Franco).  For more on the film, watch the red band trailer or read Matt’s review.

At the recent Los Angeles press day, I got to speak with Hudgens, Gomez, Benson, and  Korine.  We talked about what it was like making a movie with so many people watching them work, how the majority of the film was improvised, how even though it’s an independent movie, it’s being covered like a 200 million Hollywood blockbuster, and what it was like working with James Franco.  Hit the jump to watch.

Some new posters have made their way online.  Briefly:

• Now You See Me – The debut poster for Louis Letterier’s magic-centered crime thriller puts the impressive ensemble cast front and center.  The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Woody Harrelson and opens on May 31st.
• The East – Director Zal Batmanglij’s eco-terrorist thriller went over well with Sundance audiences, and this poster does a nice job of teasing the pic’s sinister undertones.  The film stars Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgard, and Ellen Page and opens on May 31st.  Read Matt’s review here, and check out my interview with Batmanglij and Marling for the film here.
• Spring Breakers – Though the film is already out in limited release, a few UK character posters have landed online for Harmony Korine’s latest film.  The pic stars James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, and Selena Gomez and expands into wide release on March 22nd.  Read Matt’s review here.

Hit the jump to check out the posters and synopses.

From writer/director Harmony Korine, Spring Breakers shows another, even seedier side of the seasonal American ritual known as spring break, which draws hordes of college students to the Florida coast and elsewhere, each year.  When best friends Brit (Ashley Benson), Faith (Selena Gomez), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) decide to go on their own spring break adventure, their lack of funds leads them down a path straight to local rapper/drug pusher/arms dealer Alien (James Franco), who lures them away from the party of a lifetime into the criminal underbelly that they may never escape from.

At the film’s press day, actress Selena Gomez spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about why this script intrigued her and made her want to sign on, what she learned from the experience that she wishes she could go back and tell herself on the first day of filming, how nervous she was about Harmony Korine’s more improvisational style, how much they rehearsed and talked about scenes ahead of time versus being in the moment, what it was like to work with so many non-actors in the film, seeing the film for the first time at the Venice Film Festival, and how this experience has influenced where she’d like to go next, with her career.  She also talked about whether she’d like to do a big comic book movie, who she plays in Behaving Badly, working with Ethan Hawke on Getaway, and why she wants to share a mutual respect with her fans.  Check out what she had to say after the jump. 

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.  Spring Breakers opens today in limited release.]

Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers is a wild, aggressive, mildly disturbing, darkly comic, and surprisingly thoughtful film about hedonism so thick you’ll about to choke on it. For college kids who feel entitled to a good time and never want the party to stop, Spring Breakers takes their debauched desires, and plays them out to a grotesque degree where the characters are tested in how far they’ll go to keep the passion of spring break burning forever (the other burning will require penicillin). Complimented by the glorious stunt casting of James Franco as a goofy drug dealer, Spring Breakers defies simple explanation, and sends the audience spinning as we grasp for some kind of anchor in this sweaty mosh pit of a movie.

Check out the latest clips from the following movies:

• Spring Breakers – Recently premiering at SXSW, this new clip from Harmony Korine’s film features the introduction of James Franco’s character, Alien.  There’s also some bonus behind-the-scenes footage.  Also starring Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine, Spring Breakers opens in limited release on March 15th and expands March 22nd.
• The Place Beyond the Pines – A new clip from Derek Cianfrance’s crime drama stars Ryan Gosling and Ben Mendelsohn planning a heist.  Also starring Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes, The Place Beyond the Pines opens in limited release March 29th.
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation – The new clip from Jon M. Chu’s sequel pits Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) against Snake Eyes (Ray Park).  Also starring Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, Adrianne Palicki, Elodie Yung and D.J. Cotrona, G.I. Joe: Retaliation opens March 28th.

Hit the jump to watch the clips.

A bounty of new material from director Harmony Korine’s upcoming film Spring Breakers has made its way online, with a new red-band trailer, two TV spots, and a featurette awaiting your eager eyeballs.  The movie centers on a group of girls (played by Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine) who go to disturbing lengths to keep their spring break going, and their journey becomes even stranger when they encounter unhinged drug dealer, Alien (James Franco).  There’s plenty of new footage to thumb through in these materials, and the featurette provides an interesting look behind the scenes of the film.

Hit the jump to check out the new red-band trailer, TV spots, and featurette.  Spring Breakers opens on March 15th.

We’ve got a few exciting new posters to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Monsters University – This new one-sheet for Pixar’s upcoming prequel teases the film’s fantastically colorful ensemble cast as we’re treated to a rather amusing class portrait.  The film opens in 3D on June 21st.
• Olympus Has Fallen – Following a barrage of character posters, the official poster for this White House actioner has arrived.  The film stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman and opens on March 22nd.
• The Place Beyond the Pines – A couple of French character posters for director Derek Cianfrance’s much-lauded crime drama have made their way online.  The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, and Eva Mendes and opens on March 29th.
• Spring Breakers – A new poster for director Harmony Korine’s insane-looking crime pic teases the multitude of supplies used by stars Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, and James Franco.  The film opens on March 15th.

Hit the jump to check out the posters and synopses.

A new red-band trailer has been released for Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers.  The movie centers on a group of co-eds (played by Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine) who go to disturbing lengths to keep their spring break going, and their journey becomes even stranger when they encounter unhinged drug dealer, Alien (James Franco).  The fun thing about these trailers is that they can’t really spoil the film, because so much of what defines Spring Breakers is the tone.  And as strange as these trailers make the movie look, they’re somewhat misleading, because the flick is not constant, poppy intensity as much as it’s something that absolutely overwhelms the audience.  I caught the film at TIFF, and I can’t wait to see what the widespread reaction will be when the film opens next month.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Spring Breakers opens in New York and L.A. on March 15th, and opens nationwide on March 22nd.

We’ve got some new French posters to share with you today from Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers.  As you can see, the hook of this particular feature is “young attractive women in bikinis.”  Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine star as the titular Breakers who encounter the rapper Alien (James Franco) and experience a Spring Break they will never forget.  You can check out Matt’s review of the film here, along with a green and red-band trailer.  Spring Breakers opens stateside on March 22nd.  Hit the jump to see the new posters. 

An international red band trailer for director Harmony Korine’s new film Spring Breakers has made its way online.  The movie centers on a group of girls (played by Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine) who go to disturbing lengths to keep their spring break going, and their journey becomes even stranger when they encounter unhinged drug dealer, Alien (James Franco).  Like the first domestic trailer, this clip highlights the film’s overall nuttiness and Franco’s sublime work as Alien (a nugget of Alien wisdom: “Titties and big booties, y’all, that’s what life is about”).  It also happens to involve more cursing and Britney Spears sing-alongs.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, and click here to read Matt’s positive review of the film.  Also, if you missed them, click here to check out 24 images from the movie.  Spring Breakers opens on March 22nd. 

Earlier this month, we reported on the first wave of SXSW 2013 films, which includes The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Evil Dead.  Today, the full line-up has been announced, and it feels like Sundance all over again when it comes to plenty of unknown films.  The chance of discovering a gem is high, and I look forward to hearing the buzz that arises from some these movies.  There’s also a second chance at festival films I missed like The Act of Killing (from TIFF) and Pit Stop (from Sundance).  I thought Toy’s House would make it in to SXSW, but I’ll see it eventually since it picked up distribution.

Hit the jump for the full line-up.  The 2013 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 8 – 17th.