By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The B Team …
April 25, 2010
The entry of some short timers did little to energize the movie going bug and through the rubble How to Train Your Dragon emerged as the weekend favorite with an estimated $15.1 million. Top among newcomers was J-Lo’s rom-com The Back-Up Plan that slotted second with $11.7 million. The other national debs also proved soft boiled with the action-packed The Losers posting $9.2 million and the eco-friendly doc Oceans ebbing to $5.9 million following an Earth Day (Thursday) bow of $2.5 million.
In niche and regional arenas the sole picture of note was the Quebec bow of Le Journal d’Aurelia La Flamme that was the local chart topper with $327,000 from 71 locales.
Weekend revenues experienced downturns as the industry girded for box office hosannas from the imminent release of Iron Man 2. Que la fait commence.
There certainly wasn’t a great deal of anticipation for the new crop of pictures entering the current session and at least in that regard there was scant mention of disappointment. Following several unreleased or marginally exposed ventures, few expected a dramatic turnaround for Jennifer Lopez in The Back-Up Plan. Critical response was dire and her core fan base of young women turned out … just not in sufficient numbers.
Similarly it was young men that attended The Losers, a beat ’em to the gate comic book adaptation with more than a couple of similarities to the forthcoming The A Team. It proved to be a fleeting distraction until the arrival of the heavy hitters.
Ticket sales for the frame fell short of $100 million by about $3 million and fell by 20% from seven days earlier. It was 15% reduced from 2009 when the debut of Obsessed topped the charts with $28.6 million. Last year’s bows also included the singularly titled Fighting, Soloist and Earth with respective box office of $11 million, $9.7 million and $8.8 million.
National holdover titles generally experienced declines of 40% to 50% and that allowed for some expansion for niche players including the recent slow builders The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and City Island. New to the fold is recent foreign-language Oscar winner The Secret in Their Eyes that tripled its initial compliment and maintained an energetic $9,450 average at 31 venues.
Weekend Estimates: April 23-25, 2010
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| How to Train Your Dragon | Par | 15.1 (4,110) | -23% | 3665 | 178.1 |
| The Back-Up Plan | CBS | 11.7 (3,580) | – | 3280 | 11.7 |
| Date Night | Fox | 10.2 (3,090) | -39% | 3294 | 63.1 |
| Kick-Ass | Lions Gate | 9.3 (3,040) | -53% | 3065 | 34.7 |
| The Losers | WB | 9.2 (3,140) | – | 2936 | 9.2 |
| Clash of the Titans | WB | 8.9 (2,730) | -42% | 3271 | 145.6 |
| Death at a Funeral | Sony | 7.7 (3,140) | -52% | 2459 | 28.2 |
| Oceans | BV | 5.9 (4,920) | – | 1206 | 8.4 |
| The Last Song | BV | 3.7 (1,330) | -38% | 2794 | 55.4 |
| Alice in Wonderland | BV | 2.2 (1,620) | -39% | 1385 | 327.5 |
| Hot Tub Time Machine | MGM | 1.9 (1,070) | -45% | 1787 | 45.6 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Fox | 1.7 (1,070) | -38% | 1605 | 59.5 |
| Why Did I Get Married Too? | Lions Gate | 1.7 (1,370) | -58% | 1251 | 57.5 |
| The Bounty Hunter | Sony | 1.5 (960) | -51% | 1581 | 62.7 |
| Avatar | Fox | .93 (2,210) | -7% | 421 | 746.4 |
| Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Music Box/Alliance | .67 (3,380) | 6% | 198 | 4.1 |
| The Ghost Writer | Summit | .47 (1,060) | -31% | 445 | 14 |
| Hubble 3D | WB | .42 (8,940) | 36% | 47 | 3.9 |
| Le Journal d’Aurelia LaFlamme | TVA | .33 (4,630) | – | 71 | 0.33 |
| The Secret in Their Eyes | Sony Classics | .29 (9,450) | 74% | 31 | 0.51 |
| City Island | Anchor Bay | .28 (3,600) | 6% | 77 | 1.2 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $92.30 | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | -15% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -20% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Exit Through the Gift Shop | Abramorama | .13 (13,200) | -23% | 10 | 0.37 |
| The Square | Apparition | 39,200 (2,180) | 4% | 18 | 0.11 |
| Dark Crossing | Amadeus | 5,900 (1,970) | – | 3 | 0.01 |
| Paper Man | Vitagraph | 5,800 (1,930) | – | 3 | 0.01 |
| Behind the Burly Q | First Run | 4,300 (4,300) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
| Boogie Woogie | IFC | 1,600 (1,600) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – April 22, 2010
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
| Fox (7) | 820.4 | 25.20% |
| Warner Bros. (12) | 614.1 | 18.90% |
| Buena Vista (8) | 444.5 | 13.60% |
| Paramount (6) | 413.7 | 12.70% |
| Sony (12) | 215.1 | 6.60% |
| Universal (7) | 210.5 | 6.50% |
| Lions Gate (7) | 168.8 | 5.20% |
| Overture (4) | 66.6 | 2.00% |
| Fox Searchlight (3) | 62.4 | 1.90% |
| Summit (5) | 49.2 | 1.50% |
| MGM (1) | 43.7 | 1.30% |
| Weinstein Co. (4) | 34.7 | 1.10% |
| Sony Classics (9) | 26.8 | 0.80% |
| Other * (117) | 86.3 | 2.70% |
| * none greater than 0.4% | 3256.8 | 100.00% |
Top 2010 Domestic Grossers: To April 22, 2010
| Title | Distributor | Gross |
| Avatar * | Fox | 461,820,723 |
| Alice in Wonderland | BV | 325,272,926 |
| How to Train Your Dragon | Par | 162,995,714 |
| Clash of the Titans | WB | 136,639,377 |
| Shutter Island | Par | 125,976,678 |
| Valentine’s Day | WB | 110,377,598 |
| Sherlock Holmes * | WB | 106,858,873 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel | Fox | 98,916,096 |
| The Book of Eli | WB | 94,652,399 |
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians | Fox | 87,514,717 |
| Dear John | Sony/Alliance | 79,951,246 |
| It’s Complicated * | Uni | 72,506,473 |
| The Wolfman | Uni | 62,136,741 |
| The Bounty Hunter | Sony | 61,171,328 |
| The Blind Side * | WB | 59,403,995 |
| The Tooth Fairy | Fox | 59,176,700 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Fox | 57,741,944 |
| Why Did I Get Married Too? | Lions Gate | 55,756,916 |
| Date Night | Fox | 52,871,596 |
| The Last Song | BV | 51,698,671 |
| * does not include 2009 box office | ||
