Monday, May 2, 2011

Box Office Actuals: April 29 - May 1, 2011

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, and other sources:

Box office estimates are typically overreaching, so it becomes rather noteworthy when a film as big as "Fast Five" comes in underreported. Missing the mark by roughly $3 million, "Fast Five" raised its opening haul to $86.2 million over the 3-day weekend, further shattering the all-time opening record for April releases. This staggering opening places the film as a strong contender to perhaps challenge "Thor" for the top spot next weekend, even with a steep dropoff anticipated.

The remaining new wide openings failed to register a blip with audiences. The public's disinterest in "Prom" ($4.7 million, #5) and "Hoodwinked Too!" ($4.1 million, #6) left "Rio" to settle in for the #2 slot and breeze past the $100 million plateau. "Rio" declined a fair 43.8% in its third weekend, earning another $14.8 million. "Rio" joined "Rango" and "Hop" as the third animated feature to hit the $100 million high mark in 2011.

Steady business during the weeknights allowed "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" to cushion the nearly 61% slide in its second weekend. Banking nearly $41 million in 10 days is an acceptable success for Perry and Lionsgate and the film should finish in the $50-$55 million range by the time its run is completed.

Holding, with a respectable 44% decline for a period-piece romantic drama, "Water For Elephants" added $9.3 million to its total, coming to rest at $32.5 million thus far. Budgeted at $38 million, the film will be profitable by the weekend.

If response was weak for Disney/Buena Vista's "Prom", the news was even worse for The Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil", which delivered the worst 3-D opening for a wide release ever. The surprise success of 2005's "Hoodwinked" has no chance of being replicated here, as this sequel, which came in at a reportedly light $30 million budget, may only generate a final tally of $12-$15 million when all is said and done.

A "Cave" nets some wonderful discoveries, not every "Dog" has its day, and more analysis after the cut:


Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", one of the first 3-D releases since "Avatar" to have critics praising the 3-D imagery, scored an impressive $139k opening at just 6 screens. Averaging a lofty $27,820 per screen average, "Cave" not only was the weekend's most attended film per showing, but became earned some early Oscar buzz, including a mention by Awards Circuit's own Robert Hamer. "Cave" provided Herzog with his second biggest opening, next to "Grizzly Man", his highly acclaimed 2005 documentary.

I temper these comments because I really do want the little guy to succeed, but OMNI Lab/Freestyle Releasing's "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night" was a larger disappointment than initially estimated. The confounding project starring former Superman Brandon Routh, adapted from an Italian comic book series, shifted for a more comedic approach than the horror elements found in the source material. Italian audiences and fans of the series were angry, the PG-13 rating was a headscratcher, and the film, also not pre-screened for critics, never found an audience. Opening on more theaters (875) than your per screen average ($863) is never good news. "Dylan Dog..." hauled in $755k for a #18 opening.

Other notable openings included the directorial debut of Mark Ruffalo's "Sympathy For Delicious", which had a nice per screen attendance of $4,724 at its 2 New York locations.

Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins" drew an impressive $45,854 at a mere 4 locations. Miike's ultra-violent film had critics and attendees raving and the film has earned Miike the finest reviews of his career.

THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN

#1 Film - "Fast Five", earned $86.2 million

Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "Nightmare On Elm Street", earned $32.9 million

Biggest Per Screen Average: "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams", $27,820 at 5 locations ($139k cumulative)

Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "Mars Needs Moms", $428 at 52 locations ($22,227,
$20.9 million cumulative)


Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "The Adjustment Bureau", +86.0%

Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Sucker Punch", -79.8%

Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 16

Films Which Surpassed $100m: "Rio"

Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend: "Rio"

The Top 40, with other notables!


TW

LW

DAY

FILM (STUDIO)

WKD

TOTAL

% CHG

1

N

3

Fast Five (Universal)

$86.2m

$86.2m

New

2

1

17

Rio (20th Century Fox)

$14.8m

$104.0m

-43.8

3

2

10

Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family (Lionsgate)

$9.9m

$40.9m

-60.7

4

3

10

Water For Elephants (20th Century Fox)

$9.3m

$32.5m

-44.5

5

N

3

Prom (Buena Vista)

$4.7m

$4.7m

New

6

N

3

Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil (Weinstein Co.)

$4.1m

$4.1m

New

7

7

24

Soul Surfer (TriStar/FilmDistrict)

$3.4m

$33.8m

-38.1

8

9

31

Insidious (FilmDistrict)

$2.7m

$48.3m

-48.4

9

4

31

Hop (Universal)

$2.7m

$105.4m

-78.0

10

10

31

Source Code (Summit)

$2.5m

$48.9m

-50.7

11

6

10

African Cats (Buena Vista)

$2.4m

$10.7m

-60.0

12

8

24

Hanna (Focus)

$2.3m

$36.0m

-57.5

13

5

17

Scream 4 (Weinstein Co./Dimension)

$2.2m

$35.5m

-69.0

14

13

17

The Conspirator (Roadside Attractions)

$1.1m

$8.8m

-49.4

15

12

45

Limitless (Relativity)

$1.1m

$76.1m

-58.8

16

11

24

Arthur (Warner Bros.)

$1.0m

$31.7m

-75.2

17

14

45

The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate)

$789k

$55.0m

-55.9

18

N

3

Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night (Omni Lab/Freestyle)

$755k

$755k

New

19

16

45

Win Win (Fox Searchlight)

$666k

$7.6m

-39.9

20

15

24

Your Highness (Universal)

$629k

$21.1m

-63.1

21

19

52

Jane Eyre (Focus)

$512k

$8.7m

-30.6

22

25

59

The Adjustment Bureau (Universal)

$460k

$61.7m

+86.0

23

18

17

Atlas Shrugged Part I (Rocky Mountain)

$403k

$3.9m

-54.3

24

17

38

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (20th Century Fox)

$383k

$51.0m

-59.0

25

26

45

Paul (Universal)

$299k

$36.9m

+23.3

26

22

80

Gnomeo And Juliet (Buena Vista)

$294k

$98.8m

-12.4

27

20

24

Born To Be Wild IMAX (Warner Bros.)

$290k

$3.7m

-55.8

28

21

59

Rango (Paramount)

$253k

$119.9m

-34.5

29

N

3

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (IFC)

$139k

$139k

New

30

31

73

I Am Number Four (Buena Vista)

$138k

$54.5m

-25.2

31

30

52

Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros.)

$132k

$37.4m

-29.3

32

36

73

I Am (Paladin)

$129k

$733k

-1.3

33

28

80

Just Go With It (Sony)

$128k

$102.8m

-35.7

34

32

38

Potiche (Music Box)

$119k

$1.0m

-20.7

35

29

31

The King's Speech PG-13 (The Weinstein Co.)

$117k

$3.1m

-40.5

36

34

66

Of Gods And Men (Sony Classics)

$106k

$3.4m

-27.7

37

33

409

Hubble 3D (Warner Bros.)

$94k

$24.4m

-36.2

38

23

10

Dum Maaro Dum (Fox Searchlight)

$92k

$484k

-71.8

39

40

59

Beastly (CBS)

$90k

$27.7m

-0.3

40

37

10

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Sony Classics)

$90k

$241k

-24.3

BUBBLING UNDER INCREASES AND OPENINGS:

44. “Incendies” (Sony Classics), $65k, $134k total, +27.5%

47. “Double Hour” (Samuel Goldwyn), $57k, $145k total, +91.3%

48. “13 Assassins” (Magnolia), $46k, NEW

50. “Kill The Irishman” (Anchor Bay), $41k, $1.1m total, +9.9%

51. "Winter In Wartime" (Sony Classics), $37k, $272k total, +21.5%

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