Screen Junkies » Weekend Box Office

Weekend Box Office Report: Still Good To Be The ‘King’

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:19:25 +0000

Apparently my theory that people will pay a theoretically infinite amount of money to see The Lion King is one step closer to being proven true: The 3D re-release of a nearly 20-year-old movie (holy god, is The Lion King really 17 years old? Man oh man) is the number one film at the box office for a second-straight weekend. Does this mean Disney is going to extend its originally two-week limited engagement? It’s not known for sure, but when have you known Disney to turn down a buck?

Taylor Lautner Still Running, Hiding In Second 'Abduction' Trailer

Anyway, The Lion King managed to hold onto the top spot even though it had the much-buzzed-about Moneyball and Abduction as competition. Of those two, Moneyball did the best, riding an all-star cast to a $20.6 million opening weekend for 2nd place. Abduction didn’t do quite so well, with an $11.2 million opening weekend, putting it in 4th place, right behind Dolphin Tale. The other big movie to open this week, The Killer Elite, made an expendable $9.5 million for fifth place. (The Playlist)

Weekend Box Office Report: It’s Good To Be The King

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:27:06 +0000

Conventional wisdom is that audiences are always craving something new. Cynical wisdom is that “new” is that absolute last thing most audience members want, and the 3D rerelease of The Lion King would seem to affirm the latter wisdom more than the former. The 3D version of the movie every kid in America already owns on DVD made a very generous $29 million in its opening weekend (of a two-week “limited engagement”).

'Drive' Trailer Has Fast Cars And Albert Brooks

Holding the number 2 spot was last week’s big opener Contagion with a respectable $14.5 million weekend gross. The critically stratospheric (but unfortunately unseen by me this weekend) Drive had a nice, indie-friendly 3rd place opening of $11 million. Maybe it’ll do better when it gets rereleased in 3D. (The Playlist)

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Bucky Larson’ Has A Sucky Opening

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:43:29 +0000

It’s truly rare that a movie earns the scorn of both critics and audiences, but Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star has managed to do just that, with a rare 0% rating on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes and a laughably tiny box office opening of $1.45 million. This puts it behind other Adam Sandler-produced comedy’s like Grandma’s Boy.

EXCLUSIVE: Nick Swardson Does Porn In 'Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star' Trailer

Shockingly, this didn’t put Bucky Larson in last place for new releases over the weekend. That honor goes to the scifi/horror/whatever Creature, which grossed, and this is not a typo, $331,000. For you record-hounds out there, this is the worst-ever opening gross for a movie premiering on 1500 or more screens. Yes, even worse than Bucky Larson.

In less unprecedented news, Steven Soderbergh‘s epidemic thriller Contagion is the number one movie this weekend, finally ending The Help‘s reign of terror by way of an opening weekend gross of $23.1 million. Thanks, infectious disease! (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Help’ Is At It Again!

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 20:00:05 +0000

Never underestimate the help, people. Or The Help, for that matter, which braved Hurricane Irene and a bunch of weak openers (again) for another week at the top spot at the box office, earning a $14.3 million gross this weekend. At the number 2 spot is Columbiana, the latest action movie from the Luc Besson conveyor belt, which throat-chopped its way to a $10.3 million opening.

Don't Be Afraid Of This 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark' Trailer

The other two openers to make anything resembling a “splash” this weekend were Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Our Idiot Brother. The former, a horror remake from producer Guillermo Del Toro, was in third place with an $8.7 million opening. The latter, which had lots on Paul Rudd to offer if we’d only just accept it, made it to 5th place with an opening gross of $6.6 million. (The Playlist)

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Help’ Could Have Done Worse

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:51:13 +0000

It appears that America has survived another summer blockbuster season, with the last of the summer blockbusters gently fading into the sunset. In the number one spot this weekend, we have The Help, which capitalized on weak openings for some other movies and nabbed a healthy $20.5 million despite pretty bad reviews.

'Fright Night' International Trailer Delivers More Scares

What are some of those “weak openings”? For one, we have Spy Kids: All The Time in the World, which somehow managed to only gross $12 million in its opening weekend, despite audiences’ well-documented love for being assaulted by various strange smells. The other “big” movie to open this weekend was Conan the Barbarian, which only managed a $10 million opening, putting it one spot behind Spy Kids at number4. Somehow, Jay Leno must be responsible for this. The other big movie to open this weekend was the well-reviewed-but-not-well-attended Fright Night, which landed at number 6 with $7.9 million. (The Playlist)

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Apes’ Rise, ‘Change-Up’ Sinks

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:38:45 +0000

In the deadly world of Hollywood, you either have to adapt or die. And looking at the weekend performance of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it would be reasonable to expect movies with all-ape casts by the end of the year. It managed to surprise analysts with a very healthy $54 million opening. For you stat-hounds, that places it as the 5th best August opening weekend of all time (if you don’t adjust for inflation). The fact that it’s actually a pretty good movie means that humans might be completely irrelevant soon. I can’t wait for Rise of the Planet of the Humans in a few years.

6 photosLeslie Mann

The other big movie opening this weekend also managed to surprise, but not in a good way. It’s The Change-Up, which somehow managed to not wow moviegoers with its sparkling-new premise of two people (Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds) with different lives changing bodies. For its trouble, it has a $13.5 million opening weekend. Maybe the body-switching movie next year will do better. (Box Office Mojo)

Harry Potter Beats Up Batman (At The Box Office)

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:46:08 +0000

11 photosNew ‘Harry Potter’ Posters: Wizards Sticking Their Wands In Your Face

That itchy feeling in the pit of your stomach is either a tumor or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 shatterin the box office record for highest-grossing opening weekend ever, with an estimated $168.55 million. This beats the previous record holder, The Dark Knight, which made $158.4 million in its opening weekend.

In case you’re a little slow on the uptake, this also puts Deathly Hallows 2 in front of every other Harry Potter movie in the opening-weekend-gross department. Second place is, fittingly, Deathly Hallows Part 1, which in its opening weekend earned about $125 million.

Interestingly, the latest Harry Potter movie is ranked only 6th in terms of actual attendance numbers. An explanation for this discrepancy is a combination of inflation and the extra money that audience members pay to see the movie in 3D and/or in IMAX. Alternatively, it might be due to magic. Yeah, magic sounds right. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: America Loves ‘Transformers’*

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:28:13 +0000

Independence Day Weekend is a great time for barbecue, fireworks, and going to the movies. And this year, enough people worldwide went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon to make it the third-best worldwide opening of all time, grossing a transformative (sorry) $372 million.

Did Michael Bay Use The Same Incomprehensible Footage In Two Movies?

Now, for the bad news: Here in the US of A, Transformers: Dark of the Moon actually grossed less than its predecessor, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – it fell short of the earlier film’s $108 million gross by more than $10 million. Still, don’t feel too bad for Michael Bay and company – the third Transformers is still expected to break the Independence Day weekend record held by Spider-Man 2 by the time all the numbers for today roll in, recycled footage be damned. God bless America.

Uh, apparently there was another movie that opened this weekend too. It’s called Larry Crowne, a romantic comedy directed by up-and-comer Tom Hanks, who’s probably going to have a little trouble getting work after its paltry $14 million-dollar opening weekend. Maybe next time, kid. (The Playlist)

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Hangover II’ Swimming In Gold Coins

Joseph Gibson — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:26:35 +0000

6 photosSasha Barrese

As predicted, The Hangover Part II has made more money in its opening weekend than any other live-action comedy ever, with an $137.4 million gross over the long Memorial Day weekend. In case you’re wondering, that also makes it the first live-action comedy to break the $100 million dollar mark in one weekend, although it needed the extra Monday a lot of people had off for Memorial Day to do it.

Coming in number 2 is the only other new release of the weekend, Kung Fu Panda 2, which fell short of expectations with a Memorial Day weekend gross of $53.6 million. The rest of the top ten are familiar names like Fast Five and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Summer has begun, ladies and gentlemen. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: Avast, Ye Mateys

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:01:44 +0000

It appears we still don’t have a genuine blockbuster on our hands. No, that’s not some kind of weird sexual euphemism – I’m referring to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which fell $10 million short of cracking the $100 million-dollar-mark over the weekend. Looks like Disney should have followed my advice and made an action-adventure film based on The Hall of Presidents instead. Maybe not, though, since it should be noted that the movie scored “biggest-grossing offshore debut of all time” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

6 photosDaphne Joy

The rest of the top ten is filled with old titles. In order to see another new release, you have to go all the way down to number 12, where Woody Allen‘s Midnight in Paris opened on six screens to a gross of $579,000. You know, if the studios want Woody’s movies to make money, they should offer him a big-screen superhero franchise. Nothing major, of course – how about Woody Allen’s Luke Cage, Hero for Hire? I would definitely watch that. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: Pretty Good, For A Girl

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:00:30 +0000

Box office analysts are shocked at the news that Bridesmaids, a Judd Apatow comedy starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and a bunch of other females, managed to gross a very respectable $24.5 million, putting it at number two for the weekend, right behind feminist icon Thor, with $34.5 million. Who says women can’t be funny? No, seriously, who is saying that? I’ve never heard anyone say that.

The other new release to crack the top five was Priest, the Paul Bettany-hunts vampires-in-3D movie, which snagged the number four spot with a weekend gross of $14.5 million.Fast Five continued its triumph with a number 3 $19.5 million gross, and Rio continued its reign of terror at number 5, with $8 million. Who says CGI parrots can’t be funny? (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: Feeling A Little ‘Thor’?

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:28:30 +0000

The latest entry in the Great Marvel Avengers Experiment, Thor, got pretty good reviews for a movie about a Norse god superhero. Coincidentally, “pretty good” would also be a, um, somewhat adequate descriptor of the movie’s box office performance. Despite opening at number one, it didn’t even come close to cracking the $100 million dollar mark, with a total gross of $66 million, the gross of the beast.

Elsewhere in the top five are two new releases at spots three and four. At number 3 is Jumping the Broom with $13.7 million, and Something Borrowed with $13.1 million. I don’t have anything to say about these movies, other than they probably don’t have any giant magic hammers. (Box Office Mojo)

Today’s Big News: ‘Fast Five’ Number 1 At The Box Office!

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:05:23 +0000

Over the weekend, America was buzzing about one thing, and one thing only: The fifth entry in the popular Fast and Furious series Fast Five. And that buzz translated to mad cash, with a very impressive $83.6 million opening, more than twice of what any movie has opened with so far in 2011.

'Fast Five' Macho Quiz

After the impressive number one showing of Fast Five, you have to go all the way down to spots five and six to see any other new releases – Prom with $5 million even and Hoodwinked 2 with $4.1 million. And Rio will apparently continue its reign of terror until it in taken down in a mansion in Pakistan by Navy SEALS. I can’t wait. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: Back In ‘Rio’

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:03:46 +0000

As many of you sinners may or may not be aware, last weekend was Easter weekend, commemorating the day in history when the Easter bunny rose from the dead on the third chocolate, or something. And it’s traditionally a good weekend for movies – a rule which held true this particular Easter weekend.

The number one movie for the second week in a row is Rio, with a weekend gross of $26.8 million. I already used up all my Rio jokes last week, so write your own! This ain’t the joke train, mister. In second, third, and sixth place are three new releases: The overly possessive Tyler Perry’s Madea‘s Big Happy Family, Water for Elephants, and African Cats, proving that America loves cats, elephants, and large sassy black women played by men. This bodes well for my screenplay Madea Saves Cats and Elephants, coming to a theater near you. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: Another Damn CGI Bird Movie

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:50:29 +0000

American parents are desperate for something, anything, to shut their kids up for a couple hours. And Fox’s animation studio Blue Sky Studios, knows just the thing – talking CGI animals! So it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that their latest soon-to-be-forgotten product, Rio, easily cinched the first place spot over the weekend with $40 million. For those not keeping track, that makes it the highest-grossing movie so far this year. I guess this means a sequel, Rio 2: Lost in Rio is inevitable.

The rest of the weekend slate didn’t do as well, with Scream 4, the 4th entry in the increasingly-pointless Scream series, making just under $20 million for second place. The rest of the top spots were filled by old favorites like Hop and Arthur, with the exception of The Conspirator in 9th place with a $3.9 million gross. Perhaps if Robert Redford had made The Conspirator a CGI kids’ comedy about Abraham Toucan getting shot in the head by John Wilkes Orangutan, it would be a different story. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office: Russell Brand Is Supernova Hot

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:00:25 +0000

That’s right, America – the demigod from the UK known as Russell Brand has finally “hit it big,” with both the number one and number two movies in America featuring his tricky-to-spell name on the poster. Of course, he picked a couple of pretty mediocre earners with which to earn this badge of honor, with the badly-reviewed comedy remake Arthur and the badly-reviewed comedy Easter CGI rabbit movie Hop. And I don’t just mean the reviews are mediocre: the films earned only $12.6 million and $21.6 million, respectively. No, you’re not misreading that. Plus,Hop has been the number one movie for two weekends in a row. Maybe it will keep plugging along until Easter.

Rounding out the weekend was the pretty excellent Hanna, which managed third place with $12.3 million, and Soul Surfer, the inspirational sports version of Jaws, in fourth place with $11.1 million. I’ve said it for years: If you want to make bank at the box office, you’ve got to have more than one person getting eaten by a shark. (Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: It’s ‘Hop’ Time In America

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:53:20 +0000

If you want to make bank in the movie industry, remember: Seasonally appropriate blends of computer animation and idiotic live action almost never fail. Even if it’s a relatively restrained holiday like Easter, there’s no reason you can’t capitalize and prosper, like the makers of this weekend’s number one earner, Hop, did. And it wasn’t even close – Hop made $38.1 million to put it strongly ahead of the 2nd place film, the $15 million dollar earner Source Code. Taking up 3rd is Insidious, with a weekend gross of $13.5 million.

Kind of depressing that a tossed-off future “did that really exist?” movie like Hop, starring a candy-shitting rabbit voiced by Russell Brand, would do so well in a weekend with two decently reviewed genre movies like the scifi thriller Source Code and the haunted house movie Insidious, but oh well. Now, to begin working on the next draft of my screenplay, April’s Fool, about a CGI wacky fish who teaches an absentee father played by Ashton Kutcher the true meaning of April Fool’s Day. (via Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office Report: Poor Zack Snyder

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:46:39 +0000

Zack Snyder spent the weekend playing in his sandbox, with all the robot samurais, ninjas, and hot chicks that entails. And only a few of you had the decency to join him! His sandbox fun-time movie Sucker Punch made less than $20 million dollars its opening weekend, which placed it in second place behind the $24.4 million-dollar-grossing Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, and well under its Snyderian high budget.

The rest of the top five for this weekend is filled with holdovers from previous weeks like The Lincoln Lawyer and Limitless, which proves that the American taste for titles with L-sounds is great enough to sustain at least two separate L-filled movies at a time. (via Box Office Mojo)

Weekend Box Office – Cooper Bests McConaughey In Duel To Death

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:14:15 +0000

Limitless managed to gross $19 million compared to McConaughey’s The Lincoln Lawyer, which made $13.4 million to just barely edge out Paul for second place. It wasn’t a distant third for Paul, though. The extra-terrestrial comedy only missed the mark by a very small margin, grossing $13.2 million to The Lincoln Lawyer’s $13.4.

It’s not known how or even if McConaughey will retaliate against Cooper. I’m guessing some kind of a bro-off, or maybe a shirtless arm-wrestling match. (via The AV Club)

Weekend Box Office Report: America Does Battle With Los Angeles

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:03:46 +0000

Sometimes, an underdog beats all the odds and leaves all the naysayers scratching their heads, and can be an inspiration to us all. Battle: Los Angeles, for instance, conquered the obstacle of not being a very good movie and rocketed to the top spot at the box office this weekend. I’m certainly going to remember this the next time I do a mediocre job. Thank you, Battle: Los Angeles, for the sterling example you’ve provided – just because a movie sucks, doesn’t mean it can’t succeed where it counts.

Elsewhere on the new release schedule, the news was not as inspiring. Red Riding Hood, with its apparently insufficiently sexy Big Bad Wolf, came in a distant 3rd behind golden oldie Rango. And, excitingly enough, we had a genuine flop this weekend in Mars Needs Moms, which cost 150 million dollars to make, and only grossed 6.8 million dollars over the weekend. Maybe this means Robert Zemeckis will make a movie with real people in it again. (via The AV Club)

Weekend Box Office Report: Oscar Weekend Blues

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:50:02 +0000

You might have had a pretty busy weekend, what with getting ready for the Oscars, making a guest appearance on “General Hospital,” and whatever else you have going on. What you probably DIDN’T do this weekend was actually go to the movies, since the numbers this weekend were low enough to be in “kind of feel sorry for the people in the movie” territory.

The first place slot was mercilessly seized in its third week by the “holy shit that’s a real movie” movie Gnomeo and Juliet with $14.2 million (that’s 728.4 million in gnome dollars). Second place went to Hall Pass, which opened this weekend to a total of $13.4 million. The weekend’s REAL disappointment, though, was Drive Angry 3D, which, despite being a batshit crazy movie starring Nicolas Cage, only managed to collect $5.1 million. Sorry, Nicolas Cage. Maybe next time.

You can get a more complete run-down of the weekend’s disappointment over at Box Office Mojo.

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Unknown’ Pleasures

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:56:03 +0000

This weekend, it was all about the Neeson. Some analysts are expressing amusement as the notion of Liam Neeson as an action hero, thanks to the number 1 box office success of Unknown, a thriller in the same general Neeson arena as Taken. But not me, because my favorite Liam Neeson character of all time is Dr. Peyton Westlake, otherwise known as the vigilante Darkman in Darkman. All of these people laughing at Liam Neeson kicking ass are just late to the party, in my opinion.

The other two big openers this week were I Am Number Four and that Big Mommas movie, opening at 2nd and 5th place, respectively. That sound you hear is a collective sigh of relief that it wasn’t Big Mommas at number 2, since we probably would have seen a movie with Liam Neeson kicking ass in drag if that had happened. Or is that a sigh of disappointment? (The AV Club)

Weekend Box Office Report: Show Me The Bieber (No, Says America)!

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:46:40 +0000

This weekend was a chance for messianic pop star Justin Bieber to show he reigns supreme not just on Twitter, but where it counts: A the box office. But, alas, it looks like Bieber will need to get cast as Robin in order to get a number 1 slot, since his Never Say Never‘s $30.3 million wasn’t enough to overthrow Adam Sandler’s laziness in Just Go With It‘s $31 million. I predict both Adam Sandler and (after the Grammys) Esperanza Spalding to be found gnawed apart by hordes of teenage girls. It happened to Fatty Arbuckle, look it up.

Outside the top 2, we have this week’s “Can that possibly be a real title?” with Gnomeo and Juliet, which grossed $25.5 million for a number 3 spot. After that is something called The Eagle, which I gotta admit I’d never heard of. Apparently I wasn’t alone, since it only grossed $8.6 million. (via boxofficemojo.com)

Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Rite’ Stuff

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:05:46 +0000

No one had very high expectations for the Anthony Hopkins horror movie The Rite. Well, look who’s laughing now! It turns out that The Rite has broken the record for highest opening gross OF ALL TIME* (*for Anthony Hopkins in a top-billed, non-Hannibal Lecter role) with a $15 million opening weekend. Suck it, haters!

2nd place was last week’s “can sex friends be best friends?” romantic comedy No Strings Attached, which got $13.6 million from audiences but didn’t ask for a big commitment or anything. The third place slot being filled by Jason Statham replacing busted carburetors in The Mechanic, with$11.5 million.

More deliriously exciting box office numbers can be found at Box Office Mojo.