New Movies Mar. 14-16: 'Need for Speed' Roars into Theaters

This week's new movies add a noisy action flick and an ensemble comedy to the box-office mix, providing a full menu of genres for audiences to choose from this weekend.

The front-runner this week is "Need for Speed," the street-racing story based on the popular Electronic Arts video game. The biggest thing the movie has going for it is the presence of "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul in the lead role, but it can probably count on support from gamers and those who can't wait for "Fast and Furious 7," too. Analyst predictions have "Need for Speed" in a close race with "300: Rise of an Empire" for the week's top spot.

The other wide release this week is "The Single Mom's Club," a comedy from writer/director/producer/actor Tyler Perry. These days, it seems like a week without a new movie from Perry is a rarity, and he's by no means a sure bet—"A Madea Christmas" met an underwhelming reception at the end of last year—but audiences haven't had a straight-forward, non-rom-com comedy option since "Ride Along" debuted in January. This one isn't exactly a rom-com, but it's definitely aimed at a female audience, so it might not appeal to young men; forecasts say that it's unlikely to crack the top three this weekend.

The new releases join last week's "Mr. Peabody & Sherman," which is still unchallenged in the family-movie category. Also still around are fading hold-overs "Non-Stop" and "The Lego Movie."