Weekend Wrap-Up
Prisoners Escape the Competition
By John Hamann
September 22, 2013
Lee Daniels’ The Butler, another film that’s been with us for over a month, finishes in seventh. The drama pulled in another $4.3 million over the weekend, falling 22%. The $30 million release starring Forest Whittaker and Oprah Winfrey has now pulled in $106.5 million stateside for The Weinstein Company, and is just starting to go into overseas release.
Dropping from third last weekend to eighth this weekend is Riddick, Vin Diesel’s passion project that didn’t quite go the way he expected. After opening to $19 million, Riddick dropped 64% in weekend two, and sees a similar drop this weekend. Riddick earned only $3.7 million this time around, and declined a somewhat better 46% again this weekend. Made for $38 million, Riddick has a domestic gross of $37.2 million, but will be bailed out by the overseas take, which has surpassed the $35 million mark.
The Wizard of Oz surprises with a ninth place finish. The classic film was given the 3D treatment and released to the big screen (and bigger IMAX screens) and the result was terrific. The Wizard of Oz took in $3 million from only 318 screens, giving it a venue average of $9,503. What a great way to introduce kids to this iconic entry.
Finally in tenth is Planes, the Disney Cars knock-off. Poorly made cash grab or not, Planes has stayed in the top ten for seven weekends, and picks up another $2.9 million this frame. It just drops 8%, but will thankfully be gone next weekend as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 debuts. So far, Planes has earned $86.5 million on the domestic front.
In limited release this weekend, two potentially big films opened. Ron Howard’s Rush debuted on five screens and took in $200,000, giving it a venue average of $40,000. Starring Liam Hemsworth and propped up by fantastic reviews, Rush will be with us for a while, if American audiences turn out for a movie about Formula One car racing. The other limited release this weekend is Enough Said, starring the late James Gandolfini and Seinfeld’s Julia Louis Dreyfuss. Enough Said debuted on four screens, and pulled in $240,000. It had a venue average of $60,000.
Overall this weekend, the box office looks almost exactly like what you'd expect from late September. The top 12 films earned $75.5 million this weekend, virtually identical to the $75 million the top 12 found last year, when three films debuted between $12 and $13 million. Next weekend is packed full of new product, as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 captures a ton of screens. Also in theaters is Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Don John and Baggage Claim, a romantic comedy from Fox Searchlight. On top of those releases, Universal will expand Rush into over 2,000 theaters, so the next frame should be a busy and interesting weekend at the box office.
| 1 |
Prisoners |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$21,430,000 |
New |
$21,430,000 |
| 2 |
Insidious: Chapter 2 |
Filmdistrict |
$14,500,000 |
- 64% |
$60,855,000 |
| 3 |
The Family |
Relativity |
$7,000,000 |
- 50% |
$25,640,522 |
| 4 |
Instructions Not Included |
Lionsgate |
$5,700,000 |
+ 17% |
$34,261,725 |
| 5 |
Battle of the Year |
SONY |
$5,000,000 |
New |
$5,000,000 |
| 6 |
We're the Millers |
New Line Cinema |
$4,670,000 |
- 14% |
$138,176,000 |
| 7 |
Lee Daniels' the Butler |
Weinstein Co. |
$4,304,000 |
- 22% |
$106,452,114 |
| 8 |
Riddick |
UNIVERSAL |
$3,671,730 |
- 46% |
$37,180,020 |
| 9 |
The Wizard of Oz (imax) |
WARNER BROS. |
$3,022,000 |
New |
$3,022,000 |
| 10 |
Planes |
DISNEY |
$2,861,000 |
- 8% |
$86,543,000 |
| 11 |
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters |
Fox |
$1,800,000 |
- 4% |
$64,271,800 |
| 12 |
Elysium |
Sony/Columbia |
$1,500,000 |
- 29% |
$90,824,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Enough Said |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$240,000 |
New |
$240,000 |
| |
Rush |
UNIVERSAL |
$199,956 |
New |
$199,956 |
| |
The Short Game |
Samuel Goldwyn |
$30,600 |
New |
$30,600 |
| |
Haute Cuisine |
Weinstein Co. |
$15,319 |
New |
$15,319 |
| |
After Tiller |
Oscilloscope |
$15,500 |
New |
$15,500 |
| |
I Spit On Your Grave 2 |
Anchor Bay |
$346 |
New |
$346 |
| |
Wadjda |
Sony Classics |
$72,702 |
+ 76% |
$210,530 |
| |
Mother of George |
Oscilloscope |
$30,000 |
+ 34% |
$57,237 |
| |
Salinger |
Weinstein Co. |
$182,000 |
+ 314% |
$357,889 |
| |
Populaire |
Weinstein Co. |
$28,600 |
- 25% |
$108,965 |
| |
One Direction: This Is Us |
SONY |
$1,115,000 |
- 55% |
$28,470,000 |
| |
The World's End |
Focus Features |
$739,969 |
- 43% |
$25,309,337 |
| |
Blue Jasmine |
Sony Classics |
$1,380,107 |
- 15% |
$29,773,602 |
| |
Despicable Me 2 |
UNIVERSAL |
$1,375,480 |
+ 7% |
$360,745,880 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
