Weekend Wrap-Up
Avengers Explodes: Meet the New Box Office Superhero
By John Hamann
May 6, 2012
Third is the previous big box office surprise, The Hunger Games, which is now in its seventh weekend. After a strong charge last weekend that brought in $10.8 million and reduced its drop to only 26%, The Hunger Games got avenged this weekend. The blockbuster could only pull in $5.7 million and dropped 47% (still the best hold in the top 12), as the theater count goes from 3,572 last weekend to 2,794 this weekend. With a gross so far of $380.7 million, it's surprising to say that The Hunger Games will see Marvel's Avengers domestic gross close up in the rear-view mirror really soon.
The Lucky One drops to fourth this weekend. The Zac Efron flick earned another $5.5 million and dropped 49% compared to its $10.8 million gross last weekend. The Nicholas Sparks novel has brought in $47.9 million.
Fifth is The Pirates! Band of Misfits, which drops all the way from second spot where it debuted last weekend. Pirates! earned only $5.4 million and fell a drastic 52%. The domestic cume for the Aardman flick sits at $18.6 million, but it has also earned over $60 million overseas against a production budget of $55 million.
Sixth is the Judd Apatow miss The Five-Year Engagement, with Jason Segel. After getting off to a slow start last weekend with $10.6 million, this one didn't work as counter-programming. It took in only $5.1 million in its second weekend and fell 52%. The $30 million Universal release now has a running total of $19.2 million.
Seventh is The Raven, the Edgar Allen Poe story with John Cusack. After being dumped last weekend with $7.3 million, the thriller took a dive in this frame, taking in only $2.5 million. It fell 66% and now has a cume of $12 million against a production budget of $26 million. The good news for distributor Relativity is that they bought US domestic rights for $5 million, plus marketing.
Eighth is Jason Statham's Safe, which also got pushed to the side this weekend. The action flick took in only $2.5 million and dropped a woeful 69%. The Lionsgate release now has a total so far of $12.9 million.
Chimpanzee and Three Stooges are ninth and tenth. Chimpanzee earned $2.4 million and dropped 54%, while The Three Stooges earned $1.8 million and declined 65%. Respective cumes are now $23 million and $39.6 million.
Overall this weekend, it's a no-brainer that the box office is way up over last year. A year ago, Thor was on top with a $65.7 million gross, leading the weekend to a respectable top-12 total of $155.2 million. This weekend, Marvel's Avengers easily beat last year's top 12 all by itself, leading the top 12 to a $241.8 million total. Next weekend, Warner Bros., Johnny Depp and Tim Burton will try and launch Dark Shadows against the second weekend of Marvel's Avengers, which will make for a very interesting weekend.
| 1 |
The Avengers |
|
$200,329,000 |
New |
$200,329,000 |
| 2 |
Think Like a Man |
Screen Gems (Sony) |
$8,000,000 |
- 55% |
$73,029,000 |
| 3 |
The Hunger Games |
Lionsgate |
$5,700,000 |
- 47% |
$380,726,998 |
| 4 |
The Lucky One |
Warner Bros. |
$5,510,000 |
- 49% |
$47,917,000 |
| 5 |
The Pirates! Band of Misfits |
Columbia Pictures (Sony) |
$5,400,000 |
- 52% |
$18,563,000 |
| 6 |
The Five-year Engagement |
Universal |
$5,087,930 |
- 52% |
$19,191,835 |
| 7 |
The Raven |
Rogue Pictures |
$2,508,000 |
- 66% |
$12,047,345 |
| 8 |
Safe |
Lionsgate |
$2,470,000 |
- 69% |
$12,873,758 |
| 9 |
Chimpanzee |
Disneynature |
$2,395,000 |
- 54% |
$23,012,000 |
| 10 |
The Three Stooges |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$1,800,000 |
- 65% |
$39,636,682 |
| 11 |
The Cabin in the Woods |
MGM |
$1,550,000 |
- 66% |
$38,003,943 |
| 12 |
21 Jump Street |
Columbia Pictures (Sony) |
$1,050,000 |
- 65% |
$133,985,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel |
Fox Searchlight |
$750,301 |
New |
$750,301 |
| |
First Position |
IFC Films |
$45,000 |
New |
$45,000 |
| |
A Little Bit of Heaven |
Millennium |
$9,830 |
New |
$9,830 |
| |
Bernie |
Millennium |
$140,450 |
+ 64% |
$261,749 |
| |
The Sound of My Voice |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$50,000 |
+ 38% |
$100,000 |
| |
Headhunters |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$80,000 |
+86% |
$140,000 |
| |
Darling Companion |
Sony Classics |
$67,673 |
+ 5% |
$211,714 |
| |
American Reunion |
Universal Pictures |
$838,880 |
- 71% |
$55,322,490 |
| |
Bully |
The Weinstein Company |
$168,000 |
- 49% |
$2,534,877 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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