Yes, it’s true, a $53.2 million opening weekend is a disappointment in this day and age for big budget films. Add in the fact that Green Lantern was supposed to shepherd in a new age of movies based on DC Comics, and it gets even worse.

Where the issues for Green Lantern really kick in is that revenue dropped 22 percent between Friday and Saturday, a far larger than usual number for a major film.  There is no way the pounding this film took from the critics didn’t play a factor, and the average comments on sites such as Twitter that I saw over the weekend eld me to believe the paid reviewers got it right this time.

The final insult?  Based on attendance instead of dollar amount, Green Lantern fared worse than Daredevil or Ghost Rider … ouch.

Coming in second was Super 8 with $21.2 million, just over a 40 percent decline from last week, but seeing as 50 percent is considered average, this film may have some legs to it.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins opened in third place with $18.2 million.  I think this means we’re officially over Jim Carrey, and I for once couldn’t be happier about this.  He hasn’t been funny in years, and even then it was very touch and go when he actually was good.  Even discounting Carrey, this film did poorly for a summer family film, apparently no one wanted to watch a movie about a guy with penguins in his house.

X-Men: First Class came in third with $11.5 million and a decline of 52.5 percent from last weekend.  This marks the third worst weekend for any X-Men film, so it looks like this one is definitely not living up to expectations.

Rounding out the top 5 was The Hangover: Part II with $9.6 million, off 45.5 percent from last weekend.  It’s still at $233.1 million domestic gross, however, off of an $80 million dollar budget.  Translation?  It’s in the black.  I still would say a third film is on the way.

Other recent films such as Kung-Fu Panda 2 took a major hit, falling to sixth and not performing anywhere near expectations with $8.7 million this weekend. Bridesmaids brought in nearly $7.5 million and just keeps chugging along. This movie just won’t quit.

Next week?  Cars 2 from Pixar … prepare for an astronomical number.

The latest film from J.J. Abrams, Super 8, had a $37 million opening weekend which surpassed last minute predictions, but still fell short of what the studio was hoping for.

On the same weekend last yet, The Karate Kid remake opened to $56 million, far exceeding studio projections, so a low opening for one of the most hyped filks of the summer is sure to have disappointed.  While the $37 million surpassed industry experts projections, the studio was surely hoping for more with Abrams and Spielberg attached, and a huge marketing campaign behind it.

The issue is, I think people are tiring of Abrams’ super cryptic shtick of telling you next to nothing about a film before its opening.  Excitement was huge for Cloverfield, and it ended up just being a horrible film.  Some audience trepidation for a film market in a similar manner is totally understandable.  The good news is that audience satisfaction is high with this project, so odds are it will have some staying power and not suffer the usual 50 percent fall of a second weekend.

Speaking of 50 percent falls, X-Men First Class fell 55 percent this weekend to $25 million, landing it in second place.  As X-Men films go, that actually was the second lowest drop in the series, coming in behind X2: X-Men United.

The Hangover: Part II fell another 41 percent to to $18.5 million, crossing the $200 million mark on its 16th day of release.  It’s falling off much faster than the original film, but due its spectacular start, the third film is still a given.

Kung-Fu Panda 2 only fell 30 percent this week, coming in with $16.6 million.  It seems to finally be leveling out and could hang around for some time now.

Rounding out the top five was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which fell 40 percent from last weekend to bring in $10.8 million. It surpassed $200 million on its 22nd day of release, and looks set to be the worst performing film in the series domestically. However, it’s total worldwide gross is now at $886,774,000. Off a $250 million dollar budget, I wouldn’t write this series off yet.

Normally I stop at the top five, but Bridesmaids brought in another $10.2 million, falling only 16 percent from last weekend. It’s now up to $123.9 million off a $32.5 million budget. Not bad at all.

Green Lantern is up next weekend, lets see how one of the most anticipated films of the summer does.

X-Men: First Class may have won the weekend, but it didn’t perform anywhere close to expectations.

Clocking in at $55 million, the newest film in the X-Men franchise beat the debut of the original film from back in 2000, but just barely.  Adjusted for inflation, the prequel fell short of the original based on attendance numbers, and considering the $160 million dollar budget, that is most definitely not a good thing.

The Hangover Part II brought in $31.4 million for a 63 percent drop from last weekend.  Apparently the bad word of mouth finally caught up with it.  It actually brought in less than the original did on its second weekend, but the damage is already done for this film to be considered a success, and a third film is already in the scripting stage.

Also not fairing well was Kung-Fu Panda 2 which fell 50 percent to $23.9 million this weekend.  The original fell 44 percent in its second weekend, and 50 percent is almost unheard of for an animated film in its second weekend.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides fell another 55 percent from its previous fall last week to bring in $18 million.  It’s domestic total stands at $190.2 million, but it’s raking it in on the foreign markets for a worldwide total of $790.8 million.  Rounding at the top five was Bridesmaids which actually had the best weekend statistically with $12 million.

Apparently people didn’t get enough of The Wolfpack in the first Hangover film as they dropped an estimated $86.5 million over the weekend for The Hangover Part II.

The second outing in this R-rated comedy series took in $31.6 million on Thursday in addition to the weekend take, bring its four day total to $118.1 million, well ahead of the original’s four day gross of $52.6 million.  The original also took ten days to reach $100 million, so obviously it picked up a lot more fans from home video after its theatrical run.

Despite the fact that the film has received horrible reviews, the film has come in as the second biggest opening ever for an R-rated film, the biggest opening ever for a comedy with that rating.

It wasn’t a great weekend for all sequels as Kung Fu Panda 2 came in at $48 million, down from the $60.3 million opening of the original three years ago.  Translation: People were not that excited about a second helping of Jack Black as a panda with kung fu skills.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides dipped 56 percent from last weekend to bring in $39.3 million, bringing its ten day total to $152.9 million.  While in line with the percentages the previous films saw in their second weekends, considering the film started off with a lower number, it’s not a good sign that it dropped that much.

Overall it was the best Memorial Day weekend since 2007, brining in $270 million.  Factor in the higher ticket prices for 3D films, however, and attendance was down.  No matter how Hollywood sugar coats it, not as many people are heading to the theaters, and as opposed to trying to placate people with a special effect, they could always try writing better movies.

I know, I must be nuts.