Weekend Wrap-Up
Green Zone No Match for Alice at the Box Office
By John Hamann
March 14, 2010
Our last new opener, Our Family Wedding, takes sixth spot. The Fox Searchlight release earned $7.6 million over its opening frame from only 1,605 venues. While this looks like an art film and is from an art film distributor, critics say there is no "art" involved. Our Family Wedding was the low earner in the review department this weekend as well, scoring only a 17% fresh rating at RottenTomatoes. It's too bad, as this one sports a strong cast that includes a much slimmed down Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Regina King and Taye Diggs.
Back to holding strong this weekend is Avatar, after having to re-adjust last weekend against Alice, and seeing a 41% drop, by far the biggest of its run. Now in its 13th frame, Avatar earned $6.6 million from its 1,718 venues, and sees a much better drop of only 19%. As an aside, when talking about potential sequels to Avatar, James Cameron said he thought they had left "hundreds of millions" on the table due to the amount of 3D screens and having to make way for Alice in Wonderland (if you believe that, I have some oceanfront property to sell you in Iowa). This weekend's tally gives Avatar a total so far of $730.3 million.
Eighth goes to last weekend's "other" opener, Brooklyn's Finest, which managed to finish second last weekend (!). Brooklyn's Finest earned $4.3 million and fell a staggering 68%. The $17 million crime drama now has a running total of $21.4 million.
Ninth goes to Cop Out, the Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan comedy from Kevin Smith. Cop Out slides five spots from fourth last weekend, earning only $4.2 million. The $30 million Warner Bros. "effort" dropped 54%, and has earned $39.4 million so far.
Tenth goes to Overture's horror remake The Crazies, which is actually one of the better reviewed films in the top ten at 72% fresh. The Crazies earned $3.7 million in its third frame, and dropped 48%. The Crazies was made for $20 million and has brought in $33.4 million so far.
As far as Oscar bumps are concerned, I think we are taking a year off. Avatar may have arguably been the biggest winner, but Crazy Heart managed a weekend gross of $3.1 million, right on par with last weekend, and The Blind Side, now in its 17th weekend, earned $1.5 million, an increase of 24%. The Sandra Bullock flick now has an amazing total of $252.7 million.
Overall, the box office is red hot, thanks in large part to Alice in Wonderland. The top 12 this weekend earned a fantastic $135.2 million, an increase of 54% over last year's total of $87.8 million, when The Race to Witch Mountain opened. Next weekend is a bit of wild card, as The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston could be huge, but it also stars Gerard Butler. Other openers include Repo Men with Jude Law, and Diary of Wimpy Kid from Fox.
| 1 |
Alice in Wonderland |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$62,000,000 |
$62,714,076 |
- 46.0% |
$209,339,432 |
| 2 |
Green Zone |
Universal Pictures |
N/A |
$14,309,295 |
New |
$14,309,295 |
| 3 |
She's Out of My League |
Paramount |
$9,600,000 |
$9,775,278 |
New |
$9,775,278 |
| 4 |
Shutter Island |
Paramount |
$8,140,000 |
$8,144,133 |
- 38.4% |
$108,011,645 |
| 5 |
Remember Me |
Summit Entertainment |
$8,281,000 |
$8,089,139 |
New |
$8,089,139 |
| 6 |
Our Family Wedding |
|
N/A |
$7,629,862 |
New |
$7,629,862 |
| 7 |
Avatar |
20th Century Fox |
$6,600,000 |
$6,526,421 |
- 19.6% |
$730,270,443 |
| 8 |
Brooklyn's Finest |
Overture Films |
$4,290,000 |
$4,471,932 |
- 66.5% |
$21,533,404 |
| 9 |
Cop Out |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$4,230,000 |
$4,268,068 |
- 54.1% |
$39,480,734 |
| 10 |
The Crazies |
Paramount |
$3,650,000 |
$3,680,940 |
- 48.0% |
$33,389,308 |
| 11 |
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$3,125,000 |
$3,077,631 |
- 39.9% |
$82,270,631 |
| 12 |
Crazy Heart |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$3,125,000 |
$3,005,547 |
New |
$34,083,652 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
The Exploding Girl |
Oscilloscope |
$6,000 |
$5,910 |
New |
$5,910 |
| |
The Secret of Kells |
Gkids |
$10,336 |
$12,537 |
New |
$67,040 |
| |
The Ghost Writer |
SUMMIT |
$1,231,000 |
$1,225,084 |
New |
$4,264,077 |
| |
Valentine's Day |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$1,500,000 |
$1,449,339 |
- 65.1% |
$10,892,926 |
| |
Tooth Fairy |
20th Century Fox |
$700,000 |
$685,294 |
- 59.3% |
$57,246,086 |
|
Click here for all weekend data
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
