Weekend Receipts: Rio Flips Ghostface The Bird From First Place
For the third week in a row, chatty cartoon animals ruled the box office as the birds of Rio took the top spot with a blockbuster $40 million opening. Coming in a distant second place was the 90s nostalgia curio, Scream 4, which netted a horrifying $19 million; you'll recall that Scream 3 had a $34 million opening weekend and that was back when ticket prices were lower and this all used to be orange groves. And speaking of wayback when, Robert Redford's The Conspirator opened in ninth place; sorry James McAvoy! I still love you, boo!. Your weekend receipts are here.
1. Rio
Gross: $40,000,000 (new)
Screens: 3,826 (PSA: $10,455)
Weeks: 1
If there's one thing kids love, it's the smooth dulcet vocal stylings of Jesse Eisenberg. I bet a whole generation of neurotics were birthed just from impressionable kids taking in a matinee of Rio.
2. Scream 4
Gross: $19,279,000 (new)
Screens: 3,305 (PSA: $5,833)
Weeks: 1
I refuse, I absolutely refuse to refer to this as Scre4m. When people queue up to buy tickets, they ask for Scream 4 not Skree Four Um. Do you see what typographical terrors you've unleashed, Seven?
3. Hop
Gross: $11,167,000 ($82,609,000)
Screens: 3,608 (PSA: $3,095)
Weeks: 2 (change: -47.6%)
This will probably make a lil' more than $100 million and will be a minor hit for Universal. So how long before we see the first direct-to-DVD sequel/prequel? I'm gonna guess one calendar year, to tie in for Easter 2012 and milk that revenue stream dry. I'm gonna say it'll be about how E.B. fell in love with the drums originally. And I'll take a "based on an idea by" credit, Universal.
4. Soul Surfer
Gross: $7,400,000 ($19,997,000)
Screens:2,214 (PSA: $3,342)
Weeks: 2 (change: -30.2%)
A very slim decline for this faith-based tragedy flick. I guess America was hungry for a movie that combined Jesus and brutal shark attacks in
5. Hanna
Gross: $7,327,000 ($23,327,000)
Screens: 2,545 (PSA: $2,879)
Weeks: 2 (change: -40.8%)
Let me just say that this prequel to Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters did not unfold in the way that I was expected. I guess in the next one, we'll find how an assassin trained since birth ended up married to Michael Caine on the Upper West Side.
9. The Conspirator
Gross: $3,924,000 (new)
Screens:707 (PSA: $5,550)
Weeks: 1
So, based on the audience turnout, it seems like a 19th century legal drama is just as exciting as one imagines, huh?
[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]
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Comments
What about the remarkable $1.6 million that Atlas Shrugged made? that's gotta be the most impressive take of the week.
Shhhh! If we ignore the Randians and their crappy movie, they might go away...
True, but there's a small part of me that was hoping it was a success so that BioShock could finally get made.
Atlas Shrugged had virtually the same estimated per-theater-average as The Conspirator, so I'm not sure I understand why you're calling it "remarkable". Double Hour, a foreign film that just debuted this weekend, had a PTA nearly three times higher.
It was a sarcastic remark.
Sometimes that doesn't translate in print.
You're playing loose with the numbers there Dixon. "The Conspirator" screen average is just below "Rio" and "Scre4m" (see what I did there?). It deserves some credit. Also worth of better analysis, as much as it pains me: "Atlas Shrugged". Distributor Rocky Mountain is the very rare company fueled by Christian/conservative themed films.
If you really want to play loose with the numbers, you would refer to the theater average as a "screen average", like both you and Dixon do. The averages quoted in the article are per theater. Based on Box Office Mojo estimates of screen counts, Rio had a per screen average of $6,250 ($40 million divided by 6,400 screens in 3,826 theaters). Scream 4 (like Dixon, I'll be damned if I ever refer to it as Scre4m, LOL) had a per screen average of $4,381.
Box Office Mojo does not mention if Conspirator or Atlas Shrugged played on multiple screens in certain theaters, but based on their limited releases, it's reasonable to believe they did not. Therefore, of the new movies, the PSA was actually:
1. Rio: $6,250
2. Atlas Shrugged: $5,590
3. The Conspirator: $5,550
4. Scream 4: $4,381
This is obviously based on the estimates; the actual PSAs will change tomorrow evening.
Numbers can always be manipulated. If Atlas Shrugged had been released on 4,400 screens like Scream 4, would it have averaged $5,590? Let's just say that's extremely doubtful.
Movie gross reporters (Dixon included) always state whether a film's earnings are better or worse than its budget. Rarely do they include the advertising costs in the analysis, and never once does anyone mention the fact that even if a movie makes $40 million, the studio doesn't actually receive that amount. Theater owners aren't part of a non-profit organization. They keep a percentage of the proceeds to stay in business.
What I would love to see is a report of how many people actually paid for tickets to see each movie. Prices, screen averages, all of that stuff is irrelevant. Rio made 58% of its money through 3D prices, which are higher than normal theater charges for the most part. On the other hand, most theaters offer discounts for children under certain ages.
So why don't theaters report attendance instead of gross? Television shows are rated according to the number of viewers, music is tracked by the number of albums and tracks sold, as are books. Why aren't movies? Surely that would be as easy to track as the sale of various Campbell soups at your local Wal-Mart.
Sarcasm rarely, if ever, translates to print without some indication that it is sarcasm. I am, at best, acquainted with Atlas Shrugged in passing. A guy I used to date for a brief time back in the early '90s loved Ayn Rand. He was also a gay guy who wanted to be a (closeted) Republican politician, so I never had any desire to read the book. Thanks for explaining that it was sarcasm. Your original comment really puzzled me.
"So why don't theaters report attendance instead of gross?"
Because thousands isn't as impressive sounding as millions. And Hollywood is about winning big or going home.
The reason RIO has done so well in the box office becuase famlies are still the biggist auiance in the theaters