Weekend Wrap-Up
Hangover Chucks Up From Top Spot (Again)
By John Hamann
June 14, 2009
It was a close battle between the four-weekend old Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and the two-weekend old Land of the Lost. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian managed to take the number four spot after four weekends of play. Museum 2 had a much better weekend than Lost, as The Ben Stiller comedy pulled in another $9.6 million and drops a not bad 34%. Night at the Museum 2 has now grossed $143.4 million – still short of its $150 million production budget, but it has earned over $150 million overseas, so it has a worldwide gross approaching $300 million.
That means that Land of the Lost winds up in fifth place for the weekend. After a poor opening last weekend at only $18.8 million, the Will Ferrell flick gets drubbed again, recording another poor showing of only $9.2 million. That's a horrendous drop of 51% for this effects-filled comedy, the type of film that should have good holds, not bad ones. Land of the Lost, with its bloated $100 million production budget and $200 million negative budget, now has a total of $35 million and will be lucky to bring in $50 million. Land of the Lost is all of the sudden the biggest tank of the summer, outdoing Terminator Salvation and potentially Imagine That.
Speaking of Imagine That, the Eddie Murphy movie finishes an ugly sixth this weekend, and is the actor's second consecutive comedic bomb following last summer's Meet Dave disaster. Imagine That opened to a sad $5.7 million, as audiences are obviously well aware now of Murphy's highly questionable script choices. For some reason, Paramount decided to open this one at 3,008 venues, and ended up with an embarrassing venue average of $1,895. This one actually received better reviews than Meet Dave (20% fresh) as Imagine That managed a not-quite-fresh rating of 43%. Obviously, audiences are feeling 'once bitten twice shy' with Murphy these days. Unfortunately, budget data isn't available, but if Meet Dave cost $60 million, I don't see this one being much different. Even worse news is that Imagine That is following Meet Dave's earning pattern, and Dave dropped a scary 68% in its second frame. I keep saying it, but no one listens. Eddie, stop doing family comedies. Now.
Star Trek finishes seventh, as its long, fantastic run approaches an end. This weekend, its sixth, Star Trek earned $5.6 million, and was off 33%. Star Trek has now earned $232 million, and continues to be the summer's top earner so far. Its also grossed more than $110 million overseas against a production budget of about $150 million.
Eighth goes to Terminator Salvation, the summer's other big flop so far. After drops of 61% and 50%, Terminator does it again, with a gross of $4.7 million and a drop of 43%. This one had a production budget of $200 million, and has now made just over half of that, as its domestic total sits at $113.8 million.
Ninth goes to Angels and Demons, which earned another $4.2 million. It dropped 36% and has a domestic total of $123.3 million, and an overseas haul of just short of $300 million.
Drag Me to Hell finishes tenth, as the Sam Raimi flick has failed to catch on. Hell earned $3.9 million this weekend, and drops a much better 45% after plummeting 55% in the last frame. The well-reviewed horror flick has now earned $35.1 million.
Overall this weekend, this year's box office got spanked by last year's for the third consecutive weekend. Last year, with The Incredible Hulk on top, the top 12 films brought in a massive $175.8 million, recording one of the biggest top 12 grosses of 2008. This year, the news isn't as good. The top 12 films brought in an okay $134.4 million. The news isn't going to get much better next weekend, with The Proposal and Year One being pretty tepid new releases. Will The Hangover rule for three consecutive weekends? Check back next weekend to find out.
1 |
The Hangover |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$33,415,000 |
$32,794,387 |
-27% |
$104,768,489 |
2 |
Up |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$30,515,000 |
$30,762,280 |
- 30.3% |
$187,425,989 |
3 |
The Taking of Pelham 123 |
Sony |
N/A |
$23,373,102 |
New |
$23,373,102 |
4 |
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian |
20th Century Fox |
$9,600,000 |
$9,616,907 |
- 34.3% |
$143,463,712 |
5 |
Land of the Lost |
Universal |
$9,153,060 |
$8,994,030 |
- 52.3% |
$34,820,550 |
6 |
Imagine That |
Paramount Pictures |
$5,700,000 |
$5,503,519 |
New |
$5,503,519 |
7 |
Star Trek |
Paramount |
$5,600,000 |
$5,454,563 |
- 34.4% |
$231,882,965 |
8 |
Terminator: Salvation |
Warner Bros. |
N/A |
$4,787,487 |
-42% |
$113,923,159 |
9 |
Angels & Demons |
Sony/Columbia |
$4,200,000 |
$4,111,457 |
- 37.2% |
$123,211,661 |
10 |
Drag Me to Hell |
Universal Pictures |
$3,864,100 |
$3,932,585 |
- 44.1% |
$35,214,475 |
11 |
My Life in Ruins |
Fox Searchlight |
$1,700,000 |
$1,710,353 |
- 46.9% |
$6,371,636 |
12 |
Wolverine |
Fox |
N/A |
$933,573 |
-52% |
$176,150,506 |
|
Also Opening/Notables |
|
Food, Inc. |
Magnolia |
N/A |
$60,513 |
New |
$60,513 |
|
Sweet Dreams |
Slowhand |
N/A |
$45,816 |
New |
$45,816 |
|
Tetro |
|
$31,339 |
$32,442 |
New |
$37,334 |
|
War Eagle, Arkansas |
Empire |
N/A |
$16,467 |
New |
$16,467 |
|
Call of the Wild 3d |
Vivendi |
N/A |
$10,713 |
New |
$11,245 |
|
Le Combat Dans L'ile |
Film Movement |
N/A |
$10,217 |
New |
$10,217 |
|
Away We Go |
Focus Features |
$554,383 |
$560,815 |
+330.0% |
$757,635 |
Click here for all weekend data
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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