Although I came off as a cheeky bastard in my comment on your previous post Scott, I will say this... ANYthing that brings 'em converging back into theaters, I'm all for. We've been bumping around the notion that the hardtop theaters are dying here at the GITS watercooler of late and that saddens me greatly. I didn't get into this racket to write STREAMING movies, I got into it to write images which get projected, dammit. And even if that never happens in my lifetime, it's always nice to have that glowing silver screen in the distance, ever beckoning...

I'm sure a number of factors play into why this movie could be considered a 'hit'. I think, as is often the case, nothing appealing to the blockbuster crowd is out right now besides 'Fast Five'. It's pretty much leading the Summer 2011 charge with content that will almost always be popular (and that this franchise is pretty much known for) - fast cars, hot girls, and explosions. Not to take away from the movie's substance - haven't seen it - but the trailer is promising in the sense that it'll quench that blockbuster need right around the time people are starting to get thirsty for it.

Scott,

I actually just wrote a review/analysis on the success of fast five that I've had people say good things about. Granted, it's extremely biased and self-aware, but I would love your opinion. It's essentially my attempt to answer your question.
Enjoy.

Five reasons why fast five is better than you

Just got back from Danny's blog.

Yes, you all should take a gander. Some fine writing going on over there. Very smart and funny overview of Fast Five and "film as entertainment" in general.

Well done!

Do you happen to know if whoever tallies the numbers about highest grossing films takes inflation and the rising price of the average movie ticket into account? I've wondered if it wouldn't be more accurate to measure the box office success of a picture in the number of tickets sold rather than in dollars and cents.

@obvisu: BoxOfficeMojo is a great site and they have this chart with adjusted dollars. GWTW is #1.