Box Office Actuals: May 20-22, 2011

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

Estimates were spot on with the fourth entry in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series as "...On Stranger Tides" kickstarted its run with $90.1 million, helped with also having the widest opening of 2011 at 4,155 locations. Aided by higher 3-D prices, a little more investigation learns why this biggest opening of 2011 was viewed as "soft" and a "disappointment" in North America.

When calculating numbers, Box Office Mojo reports that this "Pirates" suffered the lightest attended opening since the first film launched in 2003. That first offering drew repeat business again and again and grossed $305.4 million domestically and $654 million worldwide. As reported here yesterday, the "Pirates" films have generated ticket sales of more than $2.2 billion thus far and if excitement was muted in North America, Disney and Buena Vista were downright giddy with the worldwide reception of "...On Stranger Tides".

Audiences were galvanized by the return of Captain Jack Sparrow to the tune of more than $256 million in foreign receipts counted. Already, "POTC:OST" has grossed $346 million worldwide. In looking at the 50 biggest grossing films of all time worldwide, the three previous "Pirates" films all rank on the list. Moral of the story? Stay skeptical if you hear that "Pirates" is a disappointment.

The Top 40 Films of the Weekend and a luminous "Midnight" after the cut!

Box Office Actuals: March 25-27, 2011

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

With actual receipts tabulated, it appears that the sequel "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" did take the weekend with a slightly underestimated $23.8 million haul. Besting the first film's $22.1 opening weekend, "...Rodrick Rules" has already turned a profit for 20th Century Fox. Undoubtedly the studio will be optioning another edition of Jeff Kinney's popular series, as this appears to be an appealing and growing film franchise.

"Sucker Punch" saw a minuscule uptick in actuals to $19.1 million for its opening frame. At best, the film looks to finish in the mid-$50 million range when all is said and done. Although comparisons can be made to 2010's "Kick-Ass", which opened with slightly more money but ended up short of $50 million, "Sucker Punch" appears to be all hype and no payoff for Warner Bros., who aggressively marketed the film as THE first must-see movie of the Spring. This is a major disappointment for Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder, who seemingly could not withstand the vitriolic critical response and increasingly bad word-of-mouth which grew and grew through the weekend.

THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN

#1 Film - "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules:, earned $23.8 million

Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "How To Train Your Dragon", earned $43.7 million

Biggest Per Screen Average: "Win Win", $20,192 at 23 locations ($464,420)

Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "Drive Angry", $383 at 72 locations $27,549,
$10.6 cumulative)

Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "From Prada To Nada", +412.3%

Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Take Me Home Tonight", -68.4%

Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 15

Films Which Surpassed $100m: Rango, Just Go With It

Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend: Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick
Rules, Limitless, Battle: Los Angeles, The Adjustment Bureau.


The Top 40, with other notables, after the cut!
Bold signifies new openings or gains in audience from previous week:

Box Office Bulletin: "Limitless" Takes The Weekend!

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

"Limitless" surprised many experts by taking a comfortable win at the weekend box office, outlasting the persistent "Rango", and leading a slate of tepid and underwhelming offerings.




NEW OPENINGS:

"Limitless", a suspense/thriller for Relativity Media and Rogue Pictures, featuring Bradley Cooper as a depressed writer who finds a wonder drug that changes his life's fortunes, earned an estimated $19.0 million from 2,756 sites. Neil Burger's first wide release since 2006's "The Illusionist", "Limitless" was modestly budgeted at $27 million and should turn profitable within the week. While one can point to "The Hangover" and "The A-Team" as being Cooper-featured films, "Limitless" is arguably the first film Cooper has "opened" with his name above-the-title.