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:

Box Office Bulletin: "Fast Five" Obliterates the Competition...

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

The Summer Movie Season, which typically kicks off in the first weekend of May, hit early with a staggering and stunning record-setting opening for "Fast Five", the fifth film in "The Fast & The Furious" franchise. Hauling in a likely overestimated but still incredible $83.6 million, "Fast Five" not only had the biggest opening ever for the series, but delivered the largest April opening weekend of all time, breaking its own record-setting $71 million "Fast and Furious" entry in April 2009. People knew the film would deliver the biggest opening weekend of the year, but this debut, even when revised actuals drop the number a bit on Monday, far exceeded most expectations. Speculation turned from the worry of diminished box office returns to a tone of optimism that perhaps "Fast Five" could kickstart a wave of films which will have wide-ranging commercial appeal. We shall see.

While "Rio", "Rango", and "Hop" had delivered the biggest openings so far in 2011, "Fast Five" more than doubled the best of those openings and the film already ranks as the 7th biggest grossing film of 2011. "Fast Five"could reach $100 million in total receipts by next weekend when "Fast Five" lines up next to the eagerly anticipated "Thor". And what if "Fast Five" can hold off and outrun "Thor"? Stay tuned...

NEW OPENINGS:

The brutal reality of the other weekend's openings is that no one truly cared about any of the other offerings. The estimated per screen averages for Disney's "Prom" and The Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" were on par with films that have played for 4 or 5 weeks. Although in Disney's case, the poor performance may not be too disappointing in the long run.

"Prom", which was advertised as a non-musical "High School Musical" style film earned $5 million with a dismal $1,832 per screen average. Dismal that is, unless you are budgeted at $8 million, in which case the film may be profitable by the weekend. Nikki Finke at Deadline reports however that this is still going to be recognized as a major disappointment for Disney and raises questions as to why the film was not just morphed into a 4th "HSM" feature. Whether the film is a bomb or not can be left open to interpretation, but Disney execs are spinning this as a success. With the rush to DVD and probable multiple airings on the Disney Channel by the fall, "Prom" may not be as terrible a performer as many are speculating.

There really is no spin that can be leveraged at The Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" however. Opening to a paltry $4.1 million and $1,653 per screen average at 2,505 locations, "Hoodwinked Too!" delivered the worst 3-D opening of all time for a wide release. Budgeted at $30 million, this ill-conceived sequel will likely lose money and provide a reversal of fortunes when compared to the surprising $51 million haul of 2005's "Hoodwinked". Nikki Finke shared an insider's Email on the film, which stated: "Between Blue Valentine, Company Of Men, Scream 4, and this film, they are starting to give back all the money they made on The King's Speech." Ouch.

Although it opened at a scant 875 locations, the comic book adaptation, "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night" was a non-starter for OmniLab Media and Freestyle Releasing. Not screened for critics ahead of its release, this comedic/horror hybrid starring former "Superman", Brandon Routh, arrived with little in the way of promotion. Grossing $885k, fans of the supernatural horror series were reportedly not pleased at the film being more comedy and less chills and thrills. Italian audiences, where the comic originated from, were also less than thrilled last month when the film opened there.

Other notable trends and happenings after the cut!