Weekend Wrap-Up
Even 'Dump Weekend' Busy in 2009
By John Hamann
April 26, 2009
Monsters vs. Aliens slips to sixth, earning $8.5 million. MvA, despite no kid competition except Disney's Earth, still dropped 36% compared to last weekend, as this one has racked up some fairly serious dips since opening five weekends ago. Still, Monsters vs. Aliens has picked up $174.8 million, and looks to finish with about $190 million.
Seventh goes to State of Play which opened last weekend to $14.1 million. This weekend, the Russell Crowe/Ben Affleck flick earned $6.9 million, dropping an alarming 51%. There was an LA Times article on Thursday that said poor openings for Duplicity, State of Play and The Soloist were "nails in the coffin of adult cinema." This is something I absolutely do not believe, and would impress on the Times that good ideas still bring adults out to the movies – see Taken ($142 million domestic), Gran Torino ($147 million), Slumdog Millionaire ($327 million worldwide) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ($127.5 million). The LA Times needs to remember that State of Play stars a phone-throwing child who doesn't have a lot of push with American audiences, and should consider itself lucky to have earned $25.1 million so far considering the casting choices.
After finishing third last weekend with a $13.4 million gross and a 59% plunge, Hannah Montana: The Movie moves all the way down to eighth this weekend. The Miley Cyrus flick earned $6.4 million and has another woeful drop of 53%. Now the $32 million opener has a total of $65.6 million, barely double the opening weekend after three weekends of release.
Fast & Furious finishes ninth and sees another fairly steep drop since opening above $70 million. F&F earned $6.1 million and drops 49%. Budgeted at $85 million, Fast and Furious has now earned a remarkable $145.2 million domestically and an equal amount overseas.
Crank: High Voltage slides to tenth after opening in the last frame at a disappointing sixth position. Crank 2 earned $2.4 million in its second frame and drops a nasty 66%. The Jason Statham actioner now has a sad total of $11.5 million.
Overall this weekend, like every other weekend in April 2009, is a good news story, thanks to the breakout success of Obsessed this weekend. The top 12 films earned $104 million this weekend, which is just another $100 million weekend to throw in the pile for 2009. A year ago this weekend, Baby Mama and Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay opened, leading the box office top 12 to a soft $80 million. Over the month of April, box office is ahead of last year by about $150 million when comparing top 12 grosses. Next weekend, though, things will get much tougher, as a year ago on May 2nd, Iron Man opened to $98.6 million. Next weekend we get cheesy animation in Lionsgate's Battle for Terra, and two big hitters: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey.
| 1 |
Obsessed |
Screen Gems |
$28,500,000 |
$28,612,730 |
New |
$28,612,730 |
| 2 |
17 Again |
New Line Cinema |
$11,665,000 |
$11,518,495 |
- 51.4% |
$39,823,333 |
| 3 |
Fighting |
Rogue Pictures |
$11,441,095 |
$11,024,370 |
New |
$11,024,370 |
| 4 |
The Soloist |
DreamWorks Pictures |
$9,715,000 |
$9,716,458 |
New |
$9,716,458 |
| 5 |
Earth |
Disneynature |
$8,554,000 |
$8,825,760 |
New |
$14,472,792 |
| 6 |
Monsters vs. Aliens |
DreamWorks |
$8,524,000 |
$8,520,826 |
- 35.6% |
$174,813,830 |
| 7 |
State of Play |
Universal |
$6,891,185 |
$6,848,885 |
- 51.3% |
$25,081,890 |
| 8 |
Hannah Montana: The Movie |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$6,372,000 |
$6,437,141 |
- 52.0% |
$65,655,057 |
| 9 |
Fast & Furious |
Universal Pictures |
$6,062,200 |
$6,204,940 |
- 47.3% |
$145,367,040 |
| 10 |
Crank: High Voltage |
Lionsgate |
$2,400,000 |
$2,618,379 |
- 62.4% |
$11,735,952 |
| 11 |
I Love You, Man |
DreamWorks Pictures |
$1,936,000 |
$1,952,921 |
- 41.3% |
$67,809,860 |
| 12 |
Knowing |
Summit Entertainment |
$1,935,000 |
$1,943,154 |
- 45.6% |
$76,780,504 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Il Divo |
Music Box |
N/A |
$13,867 |
New |
$13,867 |
| |
Nursery University |
Variance |
$13,100 |
$11,307 |
New |
$11,307 |
| |
The Bride And the Grooms |
Sumbadhat |
N/A |
$5,483 |
New |
$5,483 |
| |
Jazz In the Diamond District |
Truly Indie |
N/A |
$5,107 |
New |
$5,107 |
| |
Treeless Mountain |
Oscilloscope |
$6,000 |
$5,014 |
New |
$7,577 |
| |
Mutant Chronicles |
Magnolia |
N/A |
$4,724 |
New |
$4,724 |
| |
The Garden |
Oscilloscope |
$5,000 |
$4,114 |
New |
$4,114 |
| |
Is Anybody There? |
Story Island |
$120,889 |
$116,479 |
New |
$178,676 |
| |
Observe and Report |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$1,715,000 |
$1,746,102 |
- 58.2% |
$22,171,543 |
| |
Adventureland |
Miramax Films |
$538,000 |
$532,270 |
- 60.0% |
$15,124,996 |
| |
The Haunting in Connecticut |
Lionsgate |
$1,500,000 |
$1,497,120 |
- 51.9% |
$54,207,345 |
| |
Sin Nombre |
Focus Features |
$205,092 |
$206,935 |
- 19.9% |
$1,496,373 |
|
Click here for all weekend data
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
