Weekend Wrap-Up

Immortals Send Jack and Jill Tumbling

By John Hamann

November 13, 2011

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Fifth spot goes to the new Clint Eastwood film, J. Edgar, which to me looks like more of a Martin Scorsese flick (or Oliver Stone) than a Clint pic. Regardless, J. Edgar, which stars Leo DiCaprio as a scene chewer, got off to an okay start this weekend, bringing in $11.5 million from only 1,910 venues. It had an average of $6,005. For Clint Eastwood, this opening is somewhat worse than his last film, Hereafter, which opened to $12 million in October of last year. Hereafter ended up with a domestic total of only $32.7 million, which showed the lack of traction the Matt Damon film had. It did, however, have an international take of $71 million.

Previously for Eastwood, Invictus finished with more than four times its $8.6 million opening at domestic theatres, and earned almost $100 million from foreign shores. Changeling, with Angelina Jolie, had a similar result, opening to $9.4 million from 1,850 venues. It finished with $35 million, but like Invictus, cleaned up overseas with $80 million.

International box office may be the problem that J. Edgar may run into, as it may not appeal to many outside of the United States. DiCaprio will help, and films like Charlie Wilson's War did earn a few bucks away from home, so one never knows. It doesn't look like this one will be around for too long, as reviews just aren't where they should be for an Eastwood flick that smacks of Oscar bait. At RottenTomatoes, only 53 reviews out of a possible 129 were positive, leaving J. Edgar with a fresh rating of only 41% - pretty similar to last year's Hereafter.

Speaking of potential Oscar nominees, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas did the expected this weekend (one of the few that did) and lost about half the audience it had over its opening frame last weekend (stoners forgot to tell their friends, or couldn't remember if they liked it or not, or if they went). In its sophomore frame, Harold and Kumar 3D took in $5.9 million and dropped an expected 54%. Do not cry for Harold or Kumar. That $19 million budget was eclipsed on Friday, so whatever this one makes following this weekend will pay for marketing costs, making overseas and home video (where the money really is for this franchise – it's easier to spark up at home than in the theatre) pure profit. Can't wait for the fourth one!




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In Time is seventh this weekend. The Andrew Niccol film earned $4.1 million and drops 45%. The $40 million Fox sci-fi now has a total of $30.7 million on the domestic front, but already has a wild $38 million from overseas. Fox is going to end up with a tidy profit on this one, and Andrew Niccol now gets a Stephenie Meyer novel for his next film - The Host (no vamps or shirtless werewolves this time).

Paranormal Activity 3 hangs on to a top ten spot, but wow did it get hammered. The cheaply made, wisely marketed phenom took in another $3.6 million, but plummets in terms of hold, dropping 57%. Made for $5 million, PA3 now has a domestic total of $100.8 million, and an overseas total approaching $80 million.

Ninth is Footloose. The remake earned $2.7 million in its fifth weekend, and dropped 39%, following a weekend where it dropped 19%. Paramount has managed to turn this one into a small hit, as it has earned $49 million against a budget of $24 million.

Real Steel spends its last weekend in the top ten, as it earned $2 million and dropped 42%. The Hugh Jackman starrer has earned over $200 million internationally - and it's about punching robots.

Overall this weekend, the box office is healthier than it has been in MONTHS, and actually improves on last year's totals. The top 12 films at the box office earned $128.7 million, which compares favorably with last year's tally of $111.7 million. Next weekend is the frame to avoid going to the movies. Opening films include Part 1 of Twilight: Breaking Dawn and Happy Feet 2, which means your children will be hanging out with hormonal vampire and werewolf wannabes.


Top Weekend Box Office for 11/11/11-11/13/11 (Estimates)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Immortals Relativity Media $32,000,000 New $32,000,000
2 Jack and Jill Sony/Columbia $26,000,000 New $26,000,000
3 Puss in Boots DreamWorks $25,500,000 - 23% $108,809,000
4 Tower Heist Universal $13,176,700 - 45% $43,868,550
5 J. Edgar Warner Bros. $11,470,000 New $11,569,000
6 A Very Harold And Kumar 3d Christmas WARNER BROS. $5,900,000 - 54% $23,222,000
7 In Time Twentieth Century Fox $4,150,000 - 45% $30,666,737
8 Paranormal Activity 3 Paramount $3,625,000 - 57% $100,823,000
9 Footloose Paramount Pictures $2,735,000 - 39% $48,876,000
10 Real Steel DreamWorks $2,000,000 - 42% $81,748,000
11 Moneyball SONY $1,100,000 - 38% $71,892,000
12 Courageous SONY $1,000,000 - 35% $31,554,000
  Also Opening/Notables
  Melancholia Magnolia Pictures $265,000 New $265,000
  Into the Abyss IFC Films $50,000 New $50,000
  Elite Squad: the Enemy Within Variance $9,500 New $9,500
  The Rum Diary $789,951 - 73% $12,357,935
  Anonymous Sony/Columbia $600,000 - 51% $3,771,000
  Like Crazy Paramount Vantage $525,000 + 97% $1,076,000
  Margin Call Roadside Attractions $550,000 - 23% $3,325,000
  Martha Marcy May Marlene Fox Searchlight $490,000 + 8% $1,690,046
  The Skin I Live In Sony Pictures Classics $312,289 - 3% $43,868,550
  The Ides of March Sony/Columbia $975,000 - 50% $38,389,000
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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