Universal's "Fast Five" is racing toward what could be the strongest opening weekend for any movie so far this year.
But will it be enough to keep Ron Meyer running the studio?
If the tracking is correct, "Fast Five" could open to more than $70 million on April 29. That start would almost double the $38.1 million that Paramount's "Rango" grossed in its March 4 opening weekend, which, so far, is the biggest domestic movie debut for 2011.
A strong opening could mark the end of this ho-hum box office year for the industry in general and the beginning of better days for Universal Studios and its president and COO, Meyer, in particular: After "Fast Five," the studio will release "Bridesmaids," "Cowboys & Aliens" and "The Change Up," which are generating a strong early buzz.
Still, although Brian Roberts, chief executive of Universal's new owner, Comcast Corp., has called Meyer one of Universal's "great assets," it's no secret that the studio's president is in a precarious situation.
The company's operating income fell by a half-billion dollars from 2007 to 2009 -- from more than $700 million to $200 million. Last year was better, with operating income coming in at $350 million.
The studio's new owner is not inclined to mess with studio leadership -- at least not for the moment. According to an individual close to the studio, Meyer was told he had six months before Comcast would judge his results, and the latest signals are that NBCU CEO Steve Burke is not looking to make a change leadership, valuing the stable culture that Meyer has led for more than a decade.
Studio executives quietly point out that Universal has been consistently profitable, even if the profits last year were not as high as Wall Street demands.
For Meyer's part, he is planning to stick with the 
executives he chose to pick movies and lead the studio, Adam Fogelson and Donna Langley, according to an individual with knowledge of his thinking.
Neither Universal Pictures nor Comcast would comment for this story.
The Comcast officials have shown they're willing to make changes. NBCUniversal President and CEO Jeff Zucker didn't survive the transition, and neither did NBCUniversal Television Chairman Jeff Gaspin.
Like pretty much every other studio, Universal had a slow start at the box office this year. Its first movie of 2011, Ron Howard film "The Dilemma," grossed $67 million worldwide on an estimated budget of $70 million.
There have been some modest successes -- the Matt Damon movie "The Adjustment Bureau" has grossed $108.7 million worldwide on a $50.2 million negative cost, and Christopher Meledandri family film "Hop" has taken in $84.3 globally on a $63 million production cost and is still going strong.
But bombs continue to hamper the studio. Last weekend, $50 million James Franco/Natalie Portman period comedy "Your Highness" performed dismally, opening in sixth place with just $9.4
