Box Office Actuals: Memorial Day 2011

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

Delivering the 4th largest Memorial Day weekend opening of all time (without accounting for inflation), "The Hangover Part II" eclipsed $100 million in its 4-day weekend and has already moved well past $130 million in 5 short days. The film delivered the second largest 5-day count for an R-rated film, trailing just 2003's "The Matrix: Reloaded" ($139.4 million in 5 days) and sliding in just ahead of "The Passion of the Christ" ($125.5 million in 5 days).

Bulletproof to poor reviews, the Wolfpack drew a huge number, far exceeding optimistic expectations within the industry. With an estimated $59 million in foreign box office counts, "The Hangover Part II" has nearly grossed $200 million worldwide in approximately 120 hours! This is an extraordinary haul for the most eagerly anticipated film of the first half of 2011. The only remaining question comes with the second weekend, as the film will be seriously challenged by "X-Men: First Class" (June 3) and "Super 8" (June 10). The same audience will be tapped into for those films and we will see if this "Hangover" lasts a lot longer than one weekend.

Oh by the way...another sequel landed at the box office Memorial Day weekend and while these particular numbers would look good for many other films, Paramount and DreamWorks are reportedly disappointed in the $67 million domestic take for "Kung Fu Panda 2"'s first 5 days. Well received by critics and CinemaScore polling, "KFP2" performed well internationally, almost matching "The Hangover Part II"'s take and earning $124 million worldwide. Budgeted at $150 million, profit will not be an issue ultimately, but the all-important domestic figures hinge on a strong second weekend, which could happen depending on the demos who turn out for "X-Men", the only major opening next weekend. All of this taken into account however does not spell well for this "Panda" scoring the same $215 domestic/$631 worldwide bank of its predecessor.

Other notables, including a glorious "Midnight" and a sprouting "Tree", along with the Top 40 for the Memorial Day Weekend after the cut!

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: April 15-17, 2011

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

Despite a slight overestimation, "Rio" still delivered the biggest opening weekend of 2011 with $39.2 million in box office receipts. "Rio" was just the latest in a steady stream of popular animated features for the year, following in the footsteps of "Hop", "Rango", and "Gnomeo and Juliet". "Rio" has already amassed $170 million in worldwide box office, as the film was released overseas a week ahead of its North American release.

"Rio"'s success was supposed to be in concert with comparable numbers for the much anticipated "Scream 4", a rekindling of the 90's franchise that earned $300 million domestically from its initial trio of films. 11 years went by, the stars of the franchise traveled up and down the A-list, but back together once more, excitement was there. Some terrific reviews, with most of them average-to-good, did not translate to audience. An opening Friday led to a diminished interest as the weekend went on and the film opened to a disappointing $18.7 million. The hopes of a comparable final gross are seemingly dashed as this muted "Scream" should earn approximately $50-$55 million by the end of its run.

Although initially reported as a Top 10 debut for Robert Redford and Roadside Attractions, "The Conspirator" opened at #11 with actual receipts counted. Top 10 debut or not, the film still delivered a comparable number to its estimate with $3.5 million earned at 707 locations. "The Conspirator" has become the largest opening gross for a Roadside Attractions film and could move past the Oscar-nominated "Winter's Bone" ($6.5 million) and "Bella" ($8.1 million) as the upstart's biggest success to date.

The Tea Party-endorsed "Atlas Shrugged Part I" amassed an intriguing $1.7 million at a mere 299 locations. The film, an adaptation from the writings of Ayn Rand, drew miserable reviews from critics but supporters of the film used those dismissals as a galvanizing effort in getting out to see the film. Rocky Mountain Films released the film strategically around the country and received a large amount of promotion for Right-wing and Republican-themed talk shows. This attention allowed Rocky Mountain to save on buying TV ad spots and other expensive marketing vehicles. Time will tell if this is going to sustain a second weekend and Rocky Mountain had not yet announced whether they would be expanding the film this coming weekend.

"Win Win" continues to grow and more analysis after the cut:

Box Office Bulletin: "Rio" mutes a "Scream"

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

Branded as the comeback weekend for the middling North American box office, 20th Century Fox's "Rio" dominated the weekend, presaged by a huge international opening the weekend prior to its domestic release. "Rio", if numbers hold, will have the largest opening of 2011. With its approximate $40 million North American haul, coupled with $127 million already taken in across the water, "Rio" is the international breakout film of the year and could settle in for a long run at the top of the rankings. "Rio" looks to have virtually no competition for its dollar for the foreseeable future, as next week's "African Cats", and the following week's"Hoodwinked Too!" and "Prom" have a muted interest and/or limited audience at best.

NEW OPENINGS:

Landing in second place is The Weinstein Company and Dimension's joint release, "Scream 4". Projections were high for this franchise's return, which had earned nearly $300 million domestically and was making a much-hyped return to the big screen for the first time in more than 11 years. Message boards were alive, reviews were good-to-mixed, and interest resurfaced in the 3 previous slasher flicks. And then when it opened...no one came. Or at least to the anticipated levels the studio and analysts were expecting. "Scream 4" opened with an estimated $19.3 million and stands to finish in the mid-$50 million range when the film runs its course theatrically, more than $30 million less than "Scream 3"'s take. Reports show that audiences bailed on Saturday and Sunday and may have opted instead to check out another horror flick playing in another theater down the hall, but more on that in a moment.

On just 770 screens, Robert Redford's "The Conspirator" (Roadside Attractions) scored a Top 10 debut and one of the highest per-screen averages for the weekend. Earning $3.9 million with an older-skewing audience, this re-telling of the Abraham Lincoln assassination delivered an impressive cast and became Roadside's biggest opening weekend of all time. It will be interesting how Roadside handles this better-than-expected result, as "The Conspirator" needs only to earn a little less than $5 million going forward to become the studio's biggest grossing film (2007's "Bella" earned just over $8 million). The film could have legs and attendance grew over the weekend with some matinee showings selling out. Stay tuned...

One other notable opening at #14 is the long-simmering "Atlas Shrugged, Part I", an adaptation based on the writings of Tea Party-favorite Ayn Rand. Hollywood has always been interested in bringing Rand's writings to the big screen but it took indie Rocky Mountain Pictures, a studio known for releasing Christian-themed and inspirational fare, to make it a reality. Critics were less than kind to the film and it holds a 10% from Rotten Tomatoes at press time. The film has been a galvanizing entity within the Tea Party movement and on just 300 screens, the film scored an estimated $1.7 million, providing a slightly higher per-screen average than "The Conspirator" and virtually every other film in platform, medium, or wide release not named "Rio" or "Scream 4". The negative reviews were re-tweeted and shared via Tea Party supporters and were seen by some as a catalyst in drumming up impressive attendance numbers. Budgeted at $10 million, Parts II and III are reportedly ready if the film can draw enough money to support their being made.

ALSO OF NOTE

FilmDistrict's first two releases, the inspirational "Soul Surfer" and intense horror film, "Insidious" were quite impressive in their second and third weekends respectively. "Soul Surfer" dropped a mere 30% in its second weekend, a high retention of audience for an inspirational sports drama. But "Insidious", despite sliding to #7 overall, continues to hold strong, slipping a scant 27% and undoubtedly hampering "Scream 4"'s overall take. "Insidious" has earned nearly $36 million on its $1.5 million budget and remains a much buzzed-about and talked about film.

The twisty-turning romantic mystery/thriller, "The Double Hour", an Italian film released by Samuel Goldwyn Company, scored an impressive $15,400 per screen average in its two-screen opening.

Another highly anticipated foreign release from IFC Films, "The Princess of Montpensier", a historical period French film about a female aristocrat forced into an unwanted marriage while she carries on a passionate affair, scored a $7,800 per screen average on 4 screens.

The documentary, "Armadillo", discussed by our own Robert Hamer in his weekend preview, did not have its estimates reported.

Overall, the weekend box office surged to nearly $120 million grossed by the Top 12 films, a gain of 16.6% from the previous weekend, and earning the highest tally amongst the Top 12 since "Rango" opened on March 4.

THE TOP 10 (Estimates, with Actuals reported on Monday)

1. "Rio" (20th Century Fox), $40.0 million, NEW
2. "Scream 4" (Weinstein/Dimension), $19.3 million, NEW
3. "Hop" (Universal), $11.2 million, $82.6 million, 3 wks
4. "Soul Surfer" (TriStar/FilmDistrict), $7.4 million, $20.0 million, 2 wks
5. "Hanna" (Focus), $7.3 million, $23.3 million, 2 wks
6. "Arthur" (Warner Bros.), $6.9 million, $22.3 million, 2 wks
7. "Insidious" (FilmDistrict), $6.9 million, $36.0 million, 3 wks
8. "Source Code" (Summit), $6.3 million, $37.0 million, 3 wks
9. "The Conspirator" (Roadside), $3.9 million, NEW
10. "Your Highness" (Universal), $3.9 million, $16.0 million, 2 wks