Weekend Wrap-Up
Valentine's Day Big Over President's Day Frame
By John Hamann
February 14, 2010
Fourth spot goes to the always game Avatar. With the long weekend and Valentine's Day, the James Cameron epic had a stellar weekend, earning another $22 million and dropping only 4%. After getting creamed by the despicable Dear John last weekend, its good to see audiences haven't abandoned one of the very few good films in the top ten. Avatar now has a running total of $659.6 million as it moves toward a final tally around the $700 million mark.
Fifth goes to Dear John, as last weekend's surprise winner gets hit by direct competition in Valentine's Day in its second frame. Dear John earned $15.3 million this weekend, and was off 50% compared to last weekend when it opened to $30 million. Negative word is obviously already out there, as it should have held better considering the holiday. The $25 million Screen Gems release now has a total of $53.2 million.
Tooth Fairy finishes sixth, as The Rock's kid-friendly flick also benefits from the long weekend. The Tooth Fairy, another truly awful film living in this weekend's top ten, earned $5.6 million in its fourth weekend of release. It was off 16% thanks to the holiday Monday. The $50 million Fox flick now has a tally of $41.5 million so far.
From Paris With Love moves from third spot last weekend to seventh spot this weekend, as many folks hop off the Travolta bus. Paris earned a sad $4.7 million this weekend, and dropped 42% compared to last weekend. Taken this one is not, as it has a running total of $15.8 million versus a production budget of $50 million.
Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness continues its slide this weekend. After opening to a respectable $17.2 million, it dropped a hefty 60% last weekend, though the news does get better in this frame. Edge earned $4.6 million in its third weekend, and dropped another 33%. The $80 million film now has a total of $36.1 million, and isn't going to come close to profitability through domestic grosses alone.
Jeff Bridges and Crazy Heart, the only real beneficiary of Oscar nominations, finishes ninth this weekend, as the Fox Searchlight flick expands to 1,005 venues. Crazy Heart earned $4 million, which means it saw an increase of 12%. The $7 million film has now made $16.5 million, and is going to be a decent win for Fox Searchlight.
When in Rome takes the bottom spot in the top ten. The Kristen Bell rom-com earned $3.4 million this weekend and dropped 38%. The Buena Vista feature has now earned $26 million.
Overall, this year's box office was up against a tough year last year when Friday the 13th opened on, well, Friday the 13th, and Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday. Last year, the top 12 films brought in $162.7 million. This year, with a big top three, the top 12 blew that number away, earning $179.3 million. Next weekend brings only one new release, but it could be big. Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island opens next weekend, so horror fans should finally have something good to look forward to.
| 1 |
Valentine's Day |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$52,410,000 |
$56,260,707 |
+ 7.3% |
$63,135,312 |
| 2 |
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$31,100,000 |
$31,236,067 |
+ 0.4% |
$38,661,634 |
| 3 |
The Wolfman |
Universal |
$30,626,721 |
$31,479,235 |
+ 2.8% |
$35,555,065 |
| 4 |
Avatar |
20th Century Fox |
$22,000,000 |
$23,611,625 |
+ 7.3% |
$666,388,502 |
| 5 |
Dear John |
Screen Gems (Sony) |
$15,300,000 |
$16,071,526 |
+ 5.0% |
$56,077,760 |
| 6 |
Tooth Fairy |
20th Century Fox |
$5,600,000 |
$6,054,257 |
+ 8.1% |
$43,934,502 |
| 7 |
From Paris With Love |
Lionsgate |
$4,740,000 |
$5,495,113 |
+ 15.9% |
$17,465,570 |
| 8 |
Edge of Darkness |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$4,585,000 |
$4,841,295 |
+ 5.6% |
$37,054,157 |
| 9 |
Crazy Heart |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$4,000,000 |
$4,265,989 |
New |
$17,509,037 |
| 10 |
When in Rome |
Touchstone Pictures |
$3,429,000 |
$3,682,881 |
+ 7.4% |
$26,875,654 |
| 11 |
The Book of Eli |
Warner Bros. |
$3,275,000 |
$3,631,838 |
+ 10.9% |
$88,165,452 |
| 12 |
The Blind Side |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$2,210,000 |
$2,261,787 |
+ 2.3% |
$245,133,549 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
My Name Is Khan |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$1,860,000 |
$1,944,027 |
New |
$2,264,983 |
| |
Videocracy |
Lorber Films |
N/A |
$8,324 |
New |
$10,491 |
| |
Terribly Happy |
Oscilloscope |
$22,158 |
$21,911 |
New |
$44,411 |
| |
Legion |
Screen Gems (Sony) |
$1,525,000 |
$1,830,167 |
+ 20.0% |
$38,206,460 |
| |
Sherlock Holmes |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$1,540,000 |
$1,591,601 |
+ 3.4% |
$204,350,996 |
| |
Up in the Air |
Paramount |
$1,700,000 |
$1,773,750 |
+ 4.3% |
$79,501,829 |
|
Click here for all weekend data
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
