A month ago I wouldn’t have predicted that the romantic drama, “The Fault in Our Stars”, would not only win, but dominate, the first weekend of June at the Box Office. Based on a 2012 novel about two teenagers who form an unlikely friendship and end-up falling in love, “Fault” easily beat competitors “Maleficent” and the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt sci-fi action film “Edge of Tomorrow”.
So how did “TFIOS” do it? The book was a #1 New York Times Bestseller and has had a massive following since released. The tween/teen audience is huge and come out in droves when a popular book hits the screen. In March, the first film installment of the franchise book series, “Divergent”, opened to $54.6 million.
But the biggest reason could be the major thing that both films have in common: star Shailene Woodley. The world first discovered her on ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”, which just wrapped-up last year. In 2011, Woodley received a Golden Globe nomination (and deserved an Oscar nod) for her performance alongside George Clooney in “The Descendants”. And last August, she received rave reviews for her work in the indie dramedy, “The Spectacular Now”.
Now Woodley has opened two big #1 movies in less than three months. She has a very likeable and believable on-screen presence and appears to be destined for a great film career. In fact, she’s already receiving Best Actress buzz for her performance in “Stars”. Currently, only “Divergent” sequels are in her pipeline (though that should change very soon). The true test will be if Woodley can open a film that doesn’t have the built-in audience that comes with a popular book, and I think she can.