Weekend Wrap-Up
John Carter Not Nearly Big Enough For Disney
By John Hamann
March 11, 2012
Sixth is Eddie Murphy's A Thousand Words, a film that has been on the shelf so long, it is literally dusty. A Thousand Words didn't do so well, earning only $6.4 million from an almost laughable 1,980 venues. Made in 2008 (!), the comedy was held until a few weekends after Murphy was supposed to host the Oscars. Ironically, it is 0% fresh so far at RottenTomatoes, and hopefully it will stay that way. A Thousand Words cost Paramount $40 million to make, and this one will struggle to make $15 million.
Safe House is seventh, as it spends its fifth weekend in the top ten. Safe House earned another $4.9 million and dropped 33% compared to last weekend. Now at $115.8 million, Safe House has become Denzel Washington's second biggest picture of his career, behind only American Gangster ($130 million).
Eighth is The Vow, the romantic drama featuring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. It fell 33% this frame, meaning that it had a weekend total of $4 million. Its overall total is $117.6, and has been an incredibly profitable venture for Screen Gems.
This Means War, the Reese Witherspoon miss from Fox, finishes in ninth. The $65 million production earned $3.8 million in its fourth weekend, falling 33% compared to the previous frame. While not a disaster, This Means War had more going for it than its gross so far of $46.9 million would indicate.
Tenth is Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. The sequel starring The Rock earned another $3.7 million and was off 44% compared to the previous frame. The $80 million Warner Bros. release has now earned $90.7 million stateside, and another $185 million overseas.
Overall, the box office was way down versus last weekend, but on ahead of last year. A year ago, the top 12 films were led by Battle: Los Angeles, which opened to $35.6 million, and combined with the other top 12 for a gross of $117.6 million. This year, the top 12 combined for $123.3 million in ticket sales. Next weekend will likely see this weekend's openers go soft, so the field will be wide open for Sony's version of 21 Jump Street, which has earned some surprisingly good reviews so far.
| 1 |
Dr. Seuss' the Lorax |
Universal |
$39,108,240 |
- 44% |
$121,987,070 |
| 2 |
John Carter |
WALT DISNEY |
$30,603,000 |
New |
$30,603,000 |
| 3 |
Project X |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$11,550,000 |
- 45% |
$40,125,000 |
| 4 |
Silent House |
Open Road |
$7,010,024 |
New |
$7,010,024 |
| 5 |
Act of Valor |
Relativity |
$7,000,000 |
- 48% |
$56,100,597 |
| 6 |
A Thousand Words |
Paramount Pictures |
$6,350,000 |
New |
$6,350,000 |
| 7 |
Safe House |
Universal |
$4,952,640 |
- 33% |
$115,756,455 |
| 8 |
The Vow |
SONY |
$4,000,000 |
- 33% |
$117,614,000 |
| 9 |
This Means War |
20th Century Fox |
$3,750,000 |
- 33% |
$46,889,350 |
| 10 |
Journey 2: the Mysterious Island |
WARNER BROS. |
$3,685,000 |
- 44% |
$90,716,000 |
| 11 |
Good Deeds |
Lionsgate |
$3,000,000 |
- 57% |
$30,542,449 |
| 12 |
The Artist |
The Weinstein Company |
$2,304,000 |
- 36% |
$40,459,023 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Salmon Fishing In t He Yemen |
Cbs Films |
$240,000 |
New |
$240,000 |
| |
Footnote |
Sony Classics |
$48,076 |
New |
$48,076 |
| |
Jiro Dreams of Sushi |
Magnolia |
$40,000 |
New |
$40,000 |
| |
Being Flynn |
Focus Features |
$42,662 |
- 3% |
$101,077 |
| |
Boy |
Paladin |
$18,850 |
- 11% |
$45,393 |
| |
The Salt of Life |
Zeitgeist |
$36,000 |
+ 88% |
$63,056 |
| |
Wanderlust |
Universal Pictures |
$1,726,300 |
- 55% |
$115,756,455 |
| |
Gone |
Summit Entertainment |
$906,000 |
- 70% |
$10,737,282 |
| |
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance |
SONY |
$1,965,000 |
- 58% |
$48,065,000 |
| |
We Need to Talk About Kevin |
Oscilloscope |
$157,290 |
+ 19% |
$1,036,156 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
