I didn't think Get Smart was going to come in at number one, but that's exactly what happened, according to Boxofficemojo. The film, distributed by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), took in an estimated $39 million at domestic theaters. The film, quite frankly, looks horrible, and I don't get the fascination people have with Steve Carell's supposed "comedic talents." I don't really find him funny. Doesn't matter, though, because moviegoers have crowned Carell king of the box-office weekend whether I like it or not.

I'm actually more concerned with the race for second place between Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) The Incredible Hulk and DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Kung Fu Panda. Both are estimated as of this writing to have booked a little more than $21 million in ticket sales. I'm concerned about this because I own shares of Marvel, and I'm disappointed in the movie's box-office performance. As of now, the new Hulk has about $96 million in terms of total gross. The fact that it hasn't scored over $100 million by now, coupled with it experiencing a 60% drop for this weekend compared to its debut weekend, leaves me less than satisfied.

Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) The Love Guru bombed. Looks like you can't always count on stars to deliver the important opening-weekend audience. Are people getting sick of Mike Myers? (Jonathan Berr wondered the same thing.) He was only able to conjure up about $14 million for Viacom shareholders, bringing his film to a fourth-place debut. That's embarrassing for Myers, but unlike Steve Carell, he is genuinely funny (although maybe not so much in this particular film, it seems). News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) M. Night Shyamalan movie The Happening grossed around $10 million and came in fifth.

Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) movie The Incredible Hulk was incredibly disappointing (to me at least). No, I'm not talking about the quality of the movie. I didn't actually see it. But Boxofficemojo is reporting that it has grossed an estimated $54.5 million at domestic theaters over the weekend. While that was good enough for first place, it wasn't good enough for shareholders. The movie bombed, plain and simple.

Why am I being so hard on a number-one movie? It's not so difficult to understand. The awful Hulk movie that was released back in 2003 grossed $62.1 million in its opening weekend. There's no way to spin this. We've had five years of inflation between that terrible flick and this new iteration. Simply put, it should have grossed at least $65/$70 million, especially on the heels of Iron Man. I'm a shareholder of Marvel, and I don't like the fact that the success of Marvel's first movie of the summer didn't synergize a little better with the angry green guy.

Focusing on the positive, Marvel was able to beat DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) and its Kung Fu Panda project. The cartoon took in about $34 million and came in second. M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, distributed by News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), did okay by coming in third with a gross of around $30 million. Some analysts thought that the horror flick would do a little bit less than that number. Personally, I thought it should have come in second place considering Shyamalan's name, but I guess people aren't as excited as they used to be about his exercises in cinematic twists (the fact that it was rated R also inhibited its blockbuster potential). Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Adam Sandler comedy You Don't Mess with the Zohan did in fact get messed with yet again, dropping two spots to fourth place, grossing about $16 million. I've heard bad reviews on this one. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull were daring enough for fifth place. Everyone's favorite archaeologist has now breached the $275 million level. Great to see a favorite character of mine from the past doing so well.

The weekend domestic box-office results weren't too shocking. I pretty much knew that DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Kung Fu Panda would kick its way to the top (I wonder how many writers will be using that phrase when covering the movie this week). But when I saw that Boxofficemojo estimated a $60 million gross for the cartoon, I actually was disappointed. These days, a $60 million haul in the summertime doesn't seem impressive. I thought Panda might have been worth a little more. But, after checking some of the historical openings for other DreamWorks pictures, I realized that Panda did all right. It actually was one of the bigger debuts for the studio.

Even though the cartoon seemed a lock for first place, I thought Sony's (NYSE: SNE) You Don't Mess with the Zohan project would be a close second. At a $40 million estimated gross, it wasn't. I don't know if you can mess with Zohan or not, but you apparently can mess with Adam Sandler and best his star power. Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still going strong in third place. It has crossed the $250 million level, and it is headed for $300 million. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Sex and the City, however, has lost a great deal of thunder, dropping from first to fourth place in its second weekend at the multiplexes. It is just shy of the $100 million mark. Is Sex nothing more than an opening-weekend phenomenon? It seems that way, but we'll have to see how steep the drops are in subsequent weekends.

The Strangers, from General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Pictures, dropped from third to fifth place in its second weekend, a rather predictable event for a horror movie. At a $37 million total gross so far, The Strangers won't go down as a huge triumph, but you've got to love the profit potential for this low-budget flick that succeeded in counterprogramming its way to summertime glory. Universal obviously thought the film's concept possessed a chance to score a $100 million total haul since it placed the movie against the big guns of this busy period, but that's okay, the try was worth it in this case.

Since last year's summer movie preview featured mostly sequels and adaptations, this year's preview has been expanded to include more than just potential "blockbusters." The following is a chronological list of not only the most hyped film fare of the summer, but other noteworthy smaller entries, and a short commentary on each.



5/2 - Iron Man, Viacom (NYSE: VIA)'s Paramount Pictures
The first of two big Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) adaptations of the summer, the Robert Downey Jr. led Iron Man has been getting a ton of hype and critical acclaim. This is the second year that a comic book adaptation has kicked off the summer, following last year's Spider-Man 3, which grossed over $150M over its opening weekend.

5/9 - Speed Racer, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)'s Warner Bros.
Another big-budget adaptation of a generations-old cartoon. Last year's Transformers was, to my surprise, a huge success, so maybe Speed Racer, in the capable directing hands of the Wachowskis, can be as well.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) issued its Q1 earnings results on Friday. The conglomerate seems to be doing all right with its strategy of leveraging content to drive growth. Revenues were up 15%, and adjusted diluted earnings per share jumped 29% to $0.44. But it can be seen that there's a dichotomy going on if you look into the performance of the two main operating segments: media networks saw its operating income rock up 15% while filmed entertainment tallied up an operating loss for the quarter. Even though that loss was narrowed by over 40%, I always get disappointed when I see a studio in the red -- it reminds me that the movie business is a risky, oftentimes low-return one.

But, should you be down on Viacom's movie business right now? Maybe not, since Paramount is currently distributing Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) Iron Man -- see Sheldon Liber's recent article about the film. That should hopefully improve things going forward, as might Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Viacom also will be distributing Kung Fu Panda for DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA). Sumner Redstone is certainly counting on these projects to be huge. And speaking of huge, the company's Rock Band continues to fuel the media networks segment -- it's sold by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), and it is apparently holding its own against Activision's (NASDAQ: ATVI) Guitar Hero. The synergies between MTV and the music system are obviously pushing this one. Maybe the studio should get in on the video-game action by greenlighting a movie based on Rock Band -- maybe Jack Black could star in it!

Overall, I think Viacom is performing as it should, and I hope the movie division can bring in some profits during the coming months (I think it will). As for the stock, I'd ideally like to see it a bit lower before I'd consider buying it.

Disclosure: I own shares of Activision and Marvel; positions can change at any time.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) reported Q1 earnings Tuesday after the market close, and I have a funny feeling that its shareholders were pretty pleased. Revenues were like a fairy tale (that's a Shrek reference), increasing 67% to $156.6 million. Earnings per share kicked it like a black-belt martial artist (that's a Kung Fu Panda reference), increasing 87% to 28 cents per share on a reported basis; on an adjusted basis, the growth was more like 73%.

Wow; talk about growth rates! Even on an adjusted basis, you've got to like the bottom-line appreciation. And it should be noted that DreamWorks beat the street by three pennies according to Briefing.com. Want more good news? Operational cash flow soared like a bee in flight (that's a Bee Movie reference), expanding 22% to $107.7 million.

The DreamWorks story is very much driven by the company's film slate, as opposed to conglomerate competitors such as Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Disney (NYSE: DIS), and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), which have a lot more in terms of moving parts. Shrek the Third, as well as library titles, helped drive the quarter. Coming up is Kung Fu Panda and a sequel to Madagascar. Those wishing to buy the stock ahead of the company's upcoming titles should look for pullbacks. I really like DreamWorks Animation's prospects, but it bothers me that I haven't heard too much buzz surrounding the Panda project. I'm sure it's coming, though, but I'm also sure that I would really love the stock a lot more if it were closer to the 52-week low. But don't get me wrong, I'm not a growling bear on the company. I think the Q1 earnings and cash flow performance are top notch. Tthe company is building out an enviable library of product, and I think traders and long-term investors alike will get something out of DreamWorks Animation's stock.

Disclosure: I own shares in Disney; positions can change at any time.