Weekend Wrap-Up

Damon-less Bourne Takes The Dark Knight Down

By John Hamann

August 12, 2012

Don't tell Scotty.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
Fourth place goes to our last new arrival, Hope Springs, the new dramedy with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. This title caters to an older audience, who oftentimes don't rush out to see films over opening weekend. Sony's senior sex comedy opened to $15.6 million over the Friday-to-Sunday period, and has earned $20 million since opening Wednesday. While Hope Springs did not have a three-day opening on the same level as other recent Streep comedies like It's Complicated ($22.1 million) or Julia & Julia ($20 million), this has to be considered a success, given that The Campaign is also vying for comedy dollars and the somewhat sensitive subject. Hope Springs should be another leggy hit for the Oscar winning actors, possibly matching the legs of It's Complicated, which had an opening-to-total multiplier of 5.1. Reviews were solid at 77% fresh, scores that are better than both It's Complicated and Julie & Julia. For Tommy Lee Jones, this is his second film of the summer, following Men In Black III, which has earned $620 million at the global box office thus far.

Fifth goes to Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, which is exactly what these days are for this franchise. Despite being a kid flick, Dog Days had its best day of last weekend on Friday, and has been slipping at the polls ever since. After opening to $14.6 million, Diary 3 grossed $8.2 million, which gives it a drop of 44%. Unlike Total Recall, this Wimpy Kid was made on the cheap, costing only $22 million to produce. It has earned that amount and more, as it has a gross so far of $30.6 million.

Finishing in sixth place is Total Recall, the poorly made and poorly executed remake of the 1990 original. After an opening that failed to improve on the 1990 version, Len Wiseman's vision got rocked again this weekend as the Colin Farrell release earned only $8.1 million and falls 68%. Don't forget that this Recall cost Sony $125 million to make and has a gross so far of only $44.2 million.

Seventh is Ice Age: Continental Drift, which is now in its fifth weekend. After an $8.6 million finish last weekend, Ice Age 4 continues to hold well, dropping only 22% and grossing $6.8 million. While the domestic gross is only okay at $144.1 million, Ice Age 4 has earned more than $600 million overseas – and that is not a typo. Sometimes we wonder why so many sequels get made. The explanation is because they are HUGE overseas.




Advertisement



That drops Ted to eighth as the Universal super powered teddy bear continues to earn. Ted took in another $3.3 million in its seventh weekend of release, declining 42% as it lost about 500 screens this weekend. Ted has now grossed an amazing $209.9 million and has to be considered one of the big success stories of the year.

Ninth is Step Up Revolution. Summit's dance movie earned $2.9 million and declined 52%. The dance film cost $33 million to make, and once it gets started overseas you will see why the studio spent that much (Step Up 3D earned $116 million overseas). Tenth is The Watch, which you definitely should not do. The Watch will soon be out of its misery, but earned $2.2 million and dropped 66%. The $70 million release has now earned a sad $31.4 million. Actuals may reveal that The Amazing Spider-Man surpasses The Watch. The Sony film is also claiming a $2.2 million estimate, reflecting a 50% drop from last weekend. Its current domestic box office total is $255.5 million.

Overall, the box office perks up a bit with some better openings than last weekend. This weekend, the top 12 films pulled in $140.8 million, which exceeds last year's $129.3 million. On this weekend in 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was on top for the second straight weekend and The Help debuted. Next weekend, things get even busier. New releases include The Expendables 2, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, the animated ParaNorman, and the Whitney Houston film, Sparkle.


Top Weekend Box Office for 8/10/12-8/12/12 (Estimates)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 The Bourne Legacy Universal Pictures $40,265,000 New $40,265,000
2 The Campaign Warner Bros. Pictures $27,440,000 New $27,440,000
3 The Dark Knight Rises Warner Bros. $19,540,000 - 45% $390,149,000
4 Hope Springs Sony/Columbia $15,600,000 New $20,053,000
5 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Twentieth Century Fox $8,200,000 - 44% $30,554,000
6 Total Recall SONY $8,100,000 - 68% $44,188,000
7 Ice Age: Continental Drift 20th Century Fox $6,750,000 - 22% $144,064,000
8 Ted Universal Pictures $3,290,000 - 42% $209,915,000
9 Step Up: Revolution SUMMIT $2,850,000 - 52% $30,165,000
11 The Watch 20th Century Fox $2,200,000 - 66% $31,374,000
10 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony/Columbia $2,200,000 - 50% $255,543,000
12 Brave Walt Disney Pictures $1,877,000 - 37% $227,320,000
  Also Opening/Notables
13 Nitro Circus the Movie 3d Arc Ent $1,168,000 New $2,151,000
14 Beasts of the Southern Wild FOX SEARCHLIGHT $735,000 - 36% $7,172,000
15 Moonrise Kingdom Focus Features $625,000 - 50% $42,063,000
  2 Days in New York Magnolia Pictures $27,000 New $0
  Max Et Les Ferrailleurs Rialto $13,000 New $0
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
Continued:       1       2       3

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Friday, April 26, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.