Weekend Wrap-Up

Paranormal Activity 3 is the scariest of them all

By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower

October 23, 2011

Aw, look at the sweet little demon possessed things.

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Our eighth place performer, Johnny English Reborn, is eerily similar to our fourth place finisher. BOP fave Rowan Atkinson proved his global popularity with the original Johnny English, a title that earned $160 million against a $40 million budget. The first Johnny English film opened to $9.1 million in 2,236 locations in North America. Johnny English Reborn was not given the same theatrical respect, with only 1,552 venues. That decision looks appropriate in hindsight. The sequel to the 2003 spy spoof had an opening weekend total of $3.8 million, with a per location average of only $2,450. Clearly, Johnny English is an acquired taste, and North Americans have yet to adjust to it. The good news for Atkinson is that Johnny English Reborn has already earned over $100 million internationally. With a production budget of $45 million, it looks like a disaster on this side of the pond. In reality, it’s a huge winner overall. The Three Musketeers and Johnny English Reborn are blueprint examples of the evolving nature of box office behavior. North American receipts are devalued more with each passing year.

Rounding out the top ten are Universal’s The Thing and Summit’s 50/50. The prequel to the John Carpenter classic falls of the table with a 63% decline to $3.1 million. The title has earned only $14.1 million to date, and with a per location average of $1,040, it’s already done. 50/50 continues to hold well due to its positive word-of-mouth. The melancholy comedy dropped 34% to $2.8 million, giving it a running total of $28.8 million.




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The other new entry that we mentioned is Quaker Media’s The Mighty Macs. This G-rated sports story describes the events where Cathy Rush led Immaculata University to three straight national championships from 1972 to 1974. Think Glory Road but with “less dunking and better fundamentals. That more fun to watch.” Apologies to non-Futurama fans. The film made $1.1 million in its 975 locations. While the three day average of $1,090 is ordinarily poor, we give bonus points since Quaker Media was a complete unknown previously.

Overall, the top 12 movies this weekend grossed $112.1 million, down 6% from last year’s $119.5 million when Paranormal Activity 2 debuted and Jackass 3D was in its second weekend. Next weekend, new openers include In Time, The Rum Diary and Puss in Boots. So, the bad stretch of box office is now in the rearview mirror.


Top Weekend Box Office for 10/21/11-10/23/11 (Estimates)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Paranormal Activity 3 Paramount $54,020,000 New $54,020,000
2 Real Steel DreamWorks $11,300,000 - 31% $67,200,000
3 Footloose Paramount Pictures $10,850,000 - 30% $30,863,000
4 The Three Musketeers SUMMIT $8,800,000 New $8,800,000
5 The Ides of March Sony/Columbia $4,900,000 - 31% $29,159,000
6 Dolphin Tale Warner Bros. $4,200,000 - 33% $64,391,000
7 Moneyball SONY $4,050,000 - 26% $63,709,000
8 Johnny English Reborn Universal $3,802,400 New $3,802,400
9 The Thing Universal $3,114,800 - 63% $14,094,145
10 50/50 Summit Entertainment $2,830,000 - 34% $28,815,540
11 Courageous SONY $2,500,000 - 24% $24,981,000
12 The Big Year DreamWorks $1,685,000 - 48% $6,004,378
  Also Opening/Notables
  The Mighty Macs $1,062,750 New $1,062,750
  Being Elmo Submarine Deluxe $25,158 New $25,158
  Balls To the Wall Rocky Mountain $3,140 New $3,140
  Paul Goodman Changed My Life Zeitgeist $6,000 New $6,000
  The Skin I Live In Sony Pictures Classics $261,154 + 17% $569,335
  Dream House Universal $1,199,520 - 51% $20,247,200
  Take Shelter Sony Pictures Classics $200,619 + 72% $522,798
  The Lion King 3d WALT DISNEY $1,200,000 - 57% $92,600,000
  Contagion Warner Bros. $885,000 - 51% $73,508,000
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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