Oz The Great and Powerful was positioned as the first major blockbuster of 2013, and its opening weekend didn’t disappoint. 

The fantasy prequel scored an estimated $80.28 million, which is by-far the highest debut so far in 2013. Meanwhile, Dead Man Down became the latest violent R-rated movie to die a quick death.

...

Oz‘s $80.28 million from 3,912 locations is over twice as high as Identity Thief‘s $34.6 million, and is the strongest debut since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey started off with $84.6 million in December. It’s also the third-highest opening ever for March, and…

It looks like we’re not going to have a dearth of Sci-Fi films this year. We’re going to see films like Oblivion, Star Trek Into Darkness, Pacific Rim, and Elysium. And of course, as the title of this entry indicates, After Earth. I’m still not quite sure what this film is going to be all about even after seeing the trailer, and what’s with the weird accent? Also, it’s a Shyamalan film so it will either be really good, or really bad (and if his recent films are an indication, we’ll go with really bad). But still, Will smith and son Jaden star so maybe it will be decent. I usually like Will…

In this episode, TJ talks bout ‘Hobbit 3’ getting its release date pushed back, Emma Watson in a live action Cinderella, ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’s’ dismal opening weekend, rumors of Christopher Nolan taking on Justice League with Christian Bale returning as Batman, a DreamWorks version of ‘Robin Hood’ which TJ doesn’t think will be all that great, the upcoming ‘Tomb Raider’ reboot with a younger Lara Croft, the newest trailer for the upcoming ‘Iron Man 3’, why Sam Raimi didn’t do a ‘Spider-Man 4’, soundtrack from the upcoming ‘Oblivion’ which is sounding good, Episode #34 of ‘The MovieByte Podcast’, Joe’s article on the star rating system and how he ranks films, a big ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ spoiler scoop from Anthony Pascale at TrekMovie.com, and what you might want to see this weekend at the box office.

Things are picking up a little at the cinema, there are actually a couple of things worth seeing this weekend. Let’s dive in.

New This Weekend

Oz The Great and Powerful - PG
I saw this film last night and it’s worth seeing, if not quite as good as I might have hoped. Still, it’s loads better than that other Oz film I can’t stand (oh Judy Garland…). Of course this is technically a prequel to that part of the story. And it gets just a tad cheesy from time to time, but it was always enjoyable.

When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled…

Anthony has the scoop for us.

Another press screening (this time in Brazil) has revealed more secrets for Star Trek Into Darkness. This time there are many new spoiler details revealed including the identity of Peter Weller’s character and much more. You can read a summary of the report below but beware there are major spoilers.

Seriously, only click through if you want the super spoilery details. I kind of wish I had not read it. But I do it for you, dear readers!

SPOILER TALK BELOW

SERIOUSLY, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The business of Kirk getting demoted may help address criticism…

Sitting down with Robert Downey Jr. is as cool as you think it would be. The guy is smart, funny and comes off as incredibly open about, well, everything. So when a bunch of journalists got a chance to chat with the actor to discuss Iron Man 3, he gave us loads of information. How is Tony feeling post Avengers? Will there be an Iron Man 4 and how is Downey feeling at the end of his Marvel contract? Does he prefer being part of an ensemble or the lead? What kind of impact has Joss Whedon had on Phase 2? How is Iron Man 3director Shane Black versus Iron Man 1 and 2 director Jon…