By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Diary of a Wimpy Weekend
March 21 , 2010
There was good response for national freshmen releases Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Bounty Hunter but the third weekend of Alice in Wonderland prevailed at the top of the box office with an estimated $34.6 million. Diary, based on the teen lit favorite, ranked second with $22.1 million; followed by a $20.9 million Bounty bounty.
Repo Men, the third national opener, pretty much flamed out with a $6.1 million debut.
The floodgates opened for limited, regional and exclusive entries. The bygone rock opus The Runaways garnered fair results of $770,000 from 244 gigs. In Canada, The comic culinary Cooking with Stella simmered to $31,600 at 13 kitchens while the concert musical Neil Young Trunk Show was far from S.R.O. with $22,400 from 12 bandstands.
The weekend standout in the niches was Swedish import Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, the first of a thriller trilogy. The film engraved a screen average of $10,370 from 32 locations. A global phenomenon, the first entry grossed more than $2 million in Quebec last year and an additional $85 million internationally to date.
Other exclusives with heat included the offbeat Greenberg with $118,000 from three screens and the warmity City Island that generated $32,700 at two venues. There was also momentum for a pair of Italian imports — Vincere with $18,800 on two screens and a $9,300 Manhattan solo for Mid-August Lunch.
The Imax doc Hubble 3D bowed on 39 institutional sites with excellent returns of $440,000.
Overall ticket sales pushed to roughly $127 million that amounted to a 15% decline from seven days past. It was 22% stronger than the 2009 comparable when the incoming trio of Knowing, I Love You Man and Duplicity entered with respective grosses of $24.6 million, $17.8 million and $14 million.
Both Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Bounty Hunter debuted roughly to industry expectation though the latter was believed to have a slight edge. In the end audiences perceived Bounty as more rom-com than actioner and lost a chunk of the young male crowd. However, that attrition appeared to provide little benefit to Repo Men, which was predicted to gross about $10 million.
Last weekend’s freshmen quartet generally experienced 50% plus casualties and that was particularly battering for Green Zone. Slightly sturdier was She’s Out of My League, though it hardly shapes up as a breakout comedy.
And the vestiges of Oscar are disappearing fast. Avatar admittedly was taking its biggest loss from the loss of 3D venues while the likes of The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side and Crazy Heart received an immediate boost (not that The Blind Side required a second wind) that has rapidly dissipated.
Weekend Estimates: March 19-21, 2010
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| Alice in Wonderland | BV | 34.6 (9,250) | -45% | 3739 | 265.9 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Fox | 22.1 (7,170) | New | 3077 | 22.1 |
| The Bounty Hunter | Sony | 20.9 (6,810) | New | 3074 | 20.9 |
| Repo Men | Uni | 6.1 (2,420) | New | 2521 | 6.1 |
| Green Zone | Uni | 5.9 (1,980) | -58% | 3004 | 24.7 |
| She’s Out of My League | Par | 5.9 (1,980) | -40% | 2958 | 19.8 |
| Shutter Island | Par | 4.8 (1,760) | -42% | 2704 | 115.8 |
| Avatar | Fox | 3.9 (3,180) | -40% | 1236 | 736.8 |
| Our Family Wedding | Fox Searchlight | 3.8 (2,340) | -51% | 1609 | 13.6 |
| Remember Me | Summit | 3.3 (1,500) | -59% | 2212 | 14 |
| The Ghost Writer | Summit | 2.0 (2,470) | 39% | 819 | 6.7 |
| Brooklyn’s Finest | Overture | 1.6 (1,230) | -54% | 1311 | 24.8 |
| The Crazies | Overture | 1.5 (1,010) | -59% | 1495 | 36.4 |
| Cop Out | WB | 1.4 (910) | -67% | 1563 | 42.6 |
| Crazy Heart | Fox Searchlight | 1.3 (1,150) | -56% | 1154 | 36.4 |
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians | Fox | 1.3 (970) | -57% | 1348 | 85 |
| The Blind Side | WB | .83 (1,380) | -48% | 602 | 254.3 |
| The Runaways | Apparition | .77 (3,160) | New | 244 | 0.77 |
| Hubble 3D | WB | .44 (11,330) | New | 39 | 0.44 |
| Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel | Fox | .41 (1,080) | -11% | 380 | 218.7 |
| The Hurt Locker | Summit | .39 (1,440) | -58% | 273 | 16.6 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $122.00 | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 22% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -15% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Music Box | .33 (10,370) | New | 32 | 0.33 |
| A Prophet | Sony Classics | .16 (2,550) | -30% | 62 | 1.04 |
| Greenberg | Focus | .18 (39,270) | New | 3 | 0.18 |
| Mother | Magnolia | 50,300 (2,960) | 40% | 17 | 0.1 |
| City Island | Anchor Bay | 32,700 (16,350) | New | 2 | 0.03 |
| Cooking with Stella | Mongrel | 31,600 (2,430) | New | 13 | 0.03 |
| Neil Young Trunk Show | Shakey | 22,400 (1,870) | New | 12 | 0.02 |
| Vincere | IFC | 18,800 (9,400) | New | 2 | 0.02 |
| The Red Baron | Monterey | 12,900 (1,080) |
|
12 | 0.01 |
| Mid-August Lunch | Zeitgeist | 9,300 (9,300) | New | 1 | 0.01 |
| See What I’m Saying | Worldplay | 5,100 (5,100) | New | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – March 18, 2010
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
| Fox (5) | 690.1 | 29.70% |
| Warner Bros. (10) | 464.1 | 20.00% |
| Buena Vista (5) | 295.3 | 12.70% |
| Paramount (5) | 218.7 | 9.40% |
| Universal (6) | 179.8 | 7.70% |
| Sony (10) | 132.2 | 5.70% |
| Lionsgate (5) | 86.9 | 3.70% |
| Overture (5) | 59.2 | 2.60% |
| Fox Searchlight (3) | 48.4 | 2.10% |
| Weinstein Co. (4) | 34.4 | 1.50% |
| Summit (5) | 30.9 | 1.30% |
| Sony Classics (7) | 22.1 | 1.00% |
| CBS Films (1) | 12.5 | 0.50% |
| Other * (81) | 49.8 | 2.10% |
| – | 2324.4 | 100.00% |
Top Domestic Releases – January 1 – March 14, 2010
| Title | Distributor | Gross |
| Avatar * | Fox | 448,956,762 |
| Alice in Wonderland | BV | 231,243,668 |
| Shutter Island | Par | 111,014,632 |
| Valentine’s Day | WB | 109,476,616 |
| Sherlock Holmes * | WB | 105,360,425 |
| Alvin & the Chipmunks: Squeakquel * | Fox | 97,535,916 |
| The Book of Eli | WB | 93,875,054 |
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians | Fox | 83,670,296 |
| Dear John | Sony/Alliance | 79,005,278 |
| It’s Complicated * | Uni | 72,105,040 |
| The Wolfman | Uni | 61,623,250 |
| The Tooth Fairy | Fox | 57,697,442 |
| The Blind Side * | WB | 56,932,927 |
| Up in the Air * | Par | 49,912,345 |
| The Lovely Bones * | Par | 43,709,823 |
| Edge of Darkness | WB | 43,052,908 |
| Cop Out | WB | 41,154,113 |
| Legion | Sony | 40,112,294 |
| The Crazies | Overture | 34,907,940 |
| Crazy Heart * | Fox Searchlight | 34,556,286 |
* does not include 2009 box office
