Most expected depressed box office numbers this weekend, but even negative nellies probably didn't expect to see this. With Hurricane Irene battering the eastern seaboard, all three new releases stumbled badly on Friday, with opening days ranging from $2.3 million (Our Idiot Brother) to $4 million (Colombiana). Said one industry insider to Deadline: "Any way you slice it business is getting creamed this weekend." Thanks, Mother Nature! Your Friday box office is here.
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Last weekend was an especially brutal one for new releases, with Fright Night, Conan the Barbarian and Spy Kids: All the Time in the World all performing well below expectations. But numerous indies and other limited releases had it even worse: Renny Harlin's 5 Days of War grossed less than $7,000 on two screens. The Patrick Dempsey/Ashley Judd heist romcom Flypaper barely broke $1,000 in a pair of theaters. But something called The Worst Movie Ever! had arguably the worst movie opening ever: $11.
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On a weekend congested with reboots, remakes, prequels and sequels, it was a book adaptation that stirred Americans to visit the movie theater. Indeed, week two of The Help sent a message that we might have a sleeper hit in the making, while week three of Rise of the Planet of the Apes suggested we might have a new blockbuster franchise in our midst. The new-release class, meanwhile? Enh. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Hoo boy. The late-summer movie bottleneck has caught up with Hollywood, relegating this weekend's trio of new wide releases to the bottom of the top five at the box office. Above them, a pair of leggy holdovers scrap for the top spot, with the ladies of The Help putting some distance between themselves and James Franco's tenacious Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Your clinically lethargic Friday box office is here.
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Hail Caesar! Again! Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the top choice for ticket buyers at the multiplex, becoming only third film this summer to lead the box office for two weekends in a row (Thor and Transformers: Dark of the Moon were the other two). Outside of the strong runner-up showing for The Help, the frame wasn't as kind to newcomers: Final Destination 5 disappointed, 30 Minutes or Less lived up to diminished expectations and Glee: The 3D Concert Movie couldn't even crack the top-ten. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Consider this the big screen version of gridlock. The simians from Rise of the Planet of the Apes headed a crowded box office on Friday night earning $7.8 million in ticket sales, though both The Help ($7.5 million) and Final Destination 5 ($7.3 million) stayed within striking distance of the No. 1 spot. As for the other newcomers, 30 Minutes or Less earned enough to land in fourth place, while Glee: The 3D Concert Movie took a slushie to the face in sixth. Your Friday Box Office is here.
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Well, that settles it -- America loves monkeys! Well, much more than they love Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman and poop jokes. So let's welcome our new simian masters and celebrate what this weekend's box office numbers mean: A) Apes > everything, B) R-rated comedies have to try harder, and C) so do Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig if they want to take back the crown from those damn, dirty Smurfs. Your weekend box office is here!
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It looks like all the release date shuffling that Twentieth Century Fox did with Rise of the Planet of the Apes paid off. The critically loved summer entry (with some notable exceptions) exceeded expectations throughout the day on Friday and wound up grossing $19.75 million during its opening day. That puts Apes on track for a three-day weekend tally of over $50 million, making it one of summer's biggest box office surprises. Perhaps not as surprising was that audiences rejected The Change-Up like it was baby poop; the Ryan Reynolds-Jason Bateman body switch comedy earned just $4.5 million on Friday night, bad enough for fourth place. Your Friday Box Office is here.
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Before Captain America: First Avenger was released in July, much was made about how the title -- and title character in his red, white and blue -- would play in foreign markets. In fact, three countries (Russia, Ukraine and South Korea) even decided to release the film with the Marvel-approved shortened title The First Avenger. Following a successful showing stateside, good ol' Cap made his worldwide debut in many big foreign markets over the weekend; as the numbers trickle in, it looks he's got some pretty enthusiastic allies.
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Another day, another billion dollar smash out of Hollywood. On the heels of the worldwide success of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Paramount announced that Transformers: Dark of the Moon has crossed the billion dollar threshold as well. Not only is Dark of the Moon the first film in the franchise to hit that mark, it's also the first film in the history of Paramount to reach such lofty financial heights. Congratulations, Michael Bay! Blow something up in celebration. [Deadline]
A vexed, infuriated populace stood by helplessly this weekend as one of the ugliest economic stand-offs in American history threatened to destabilize our nation and the global market at large. Finally, however, an accord has been reached, and we can rebuild our shattered system with the knowledge that Cowboys & Aliens indeed knocked off The Smurfs for the top box-office spot.
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One of the most congested weekends of the summer delivered no shortage of shock and awe to Hollywood, with expensive flops-in-the-making facing off against surprisingly formidable blue forest creatures recycled from the '80s. Their fierce battle is too close to call as weekend numbers emerge, but that doesn't mean the real winner isn't clear. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Time for some positive box office news! By the end of this weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will pass the $1 billion mark in worldwide gross. Domestically, the film is already over $300 million, and will race ahead of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in both North American and worldwide returns by Sunday or Monday to become the franchise's biggest hit -- 3-D bump, higher ticket prices and IMAX surcharges excepting. Still, well done, Harry! [THR]
Green Lantern, you're off the hook. With just $12.9 in ticket sales on Friday night, Cowboys & Aliens lived up to its diminished projections, may lose the weekend crown to The Smurfs, and could be labeled one of the biggest busts of the summer thanks to its hefty price tag (reportedly north of $165 million). Stick that in your smurf and smurf it, James Bond and Han Solo! Relatively speaking, fellow newcomer Crazy, Stupid, Love. fared better than Cowboys, landing in a solid fourth place on Friday, and -- from experience -- selling out New York City theaters from 19th street to the Lower East Side. Hipsters love them some Steve Carell! Your Friday box office is here.
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Not unexpected, but slightly disappointing nonetheless: according to final box office numbers released on Monday, Captain America: First Avenger did not have the biggest opening weekend of any superhero film released in 2011. That title still belongs to Thor -- the Norse god earned almost $700,000 more than Captain America did during his initial frame. On the bright side, here's guessing plucky underdog Steve Rogers wouldn't have it any other way. [LAT/Company Town]
