By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Elm Oakay
May 2 , 2010
The resurrection of Mr. Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street scared up an estimated $32.1 million to claim weekend bragging rights in an otherwise soft movie viewing session. The frame’s other national debut, the unintentionally horrifying Furry Vengeance, ranked fifth in the lineup with $6.5 million.
Niche freshmen including Bollywood entry House Full, which grossed $480,000 at 82 venues, displayed some potency. In Canada the wide release of the Northern western Gunless was a disappointment with $254,000 at 155 showdowns, while the third installment of Millennium — The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest — scored in Quebec with a $233,000 gross from 45 theaters. The 3D concert film from Phish saw the band’s appeal sag with a box office of $410,000 at 217 locations.
Limited and exclusive newcomers saw an upbeat $23,550 per engagement for U.S. indie Please Give at five sites and a $9,340 average in 19 exposures for Brit import Harry Brown with Michael Caine. Also encouraging among the glut of exclusive bows were the baseball drama Touching Home and the Kafkaesque chiller The Human Centipede.
Overall revenues crept to about $103 million for a modest 2% bump from last weekend but couldn’t keep pace with the $85.1 million 2009 launch of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and $15.4 million debut of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and sank by 37%.
The plundering of the New Line library continued with A Nightmare on Elm Street and results were respectable enough for consideration of a sequel. Conversely one could only scratch one’s head about the decision to green light the mirthless animal revenge comedy Furry Vengeance. Box office response clearly showed that the audience didn’t get the joke.
But the big question of the weekend related to absence. In light of what’s perceived as an imminent crunch for 3D screens, a shrewd distributor might have turned up the heat to push up the release of upcoming stereoscopic entries The Last Airbender, the Cats & Dogs sequel or Despicable Me. Obviously the industry was asleep when the Latin class took up carpe diem.
Meanwhile, the impact of 3D concert films as alternative programming remains the marketplace stealth bomber. While Phish in 3D appeared to be just OK in off peak slots, the results for similar efforts last week for Kenny Chesney and The Black Eyed Peas were being kept for eyes only.
Weekend Estimates: April 30 – May 2, 2010
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
Nightmare on Elm Street | WB | 32.1 (9,630) | – | 3332 | 32.1 |
How to Train Your Dragon | Par | 10.8 (3,150) | -30% | 3426 | 192.4 |
Date Night | Fox | 7.6 (2,460) | -27% | 3093 | 73.6 |
The Back-Up Plan | CBS | 6.9 (2,090) | -44% | 3280 | 22.6 |
Furry Vengeance | Summit | 6.5 (2,160) | – | 2997 | 6.5 |
Clash of the Titans | WB | 6.0 (2,180) | -33% | 2737 | 154 |
The Losers | WB | 5.9 (2,020) | -37% | 2936 | 18.1 |
Kick-Ass | Lions Gate | 4.4 (1,740) | -53% | 2542 | 42.1 |
Death at a Funeral | Sony | 4.0 (1,770) | -50% | 2271 | 34.8 |
Oceans | BV | 2.5 (2,090) | -58% | 1210 | 13.4 |
The Last Song | BV | 2.3 (1,020) | -38% | 2276 | 58.7 |
Alice in Wonderland | BV | 1.5 (1,450) | -33% | 1050 | 329.7 |
Hot Tub Time Machine | MGM | 1.1 (1,000) | -45% | 1112 | 47.6 |
Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Fox | 1.0 (840) | -48% | 1166 | 60.9 |
The Bounty Hunter | Sony | .85 (950) | -46% | 891 | 64.1 |
Why Did I Get Married Too? | Lions Gate | .81 (1,110) | -53% | 727 | 58.7 |
City Island | Anchor Bay | .76 (2,820) | 142% | 269 | 2.1 |
Avatar | Fox | .62 (1,600) | -33% | 387 | 747.3 |
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Music Box/Alliance | .56 (2,650) | -25% | 211 | 5.1 |
House Full | Eros | .48 (5,900) | – | 82 | 0.48 |
Phish 3D | Cinedigm | .41 (1,890) | – | 217 | 0.41 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $96.20 | – | – | – | |
% Change (Last Year) | – | -37% | – | – | – |
% Change (Last Week) | – | 2% | – | – | – |
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
The Secret in Their Eyes | Sony Classics | .32 (7,340) | -10% | 44 | 1.05 |
Gunless | Alliance | .25 (1,640) | – | 155 | 0.25 |
Millennium III | Alliance | .23 (5,190) | – | 45 | 0.23 |
Exit Through the Gift Shop | Abramorama | .18 (9,050) | 23% | 20 | 0.65 |
Harry Brown | IDP | .18 (9,340) | – | 19 | 0.18 |
Please Give | Sony Classics | .14 (23,550) | – | 6 | 0.14 |
The Square | Apparition | 41,200 (1,720) | 2% | 24 | 0.17 |
Touching Home | CFI | 27,600 (13,800) | – | 2 | 0.03 |
The Human Centipede | IFC | 12,100 (12,100) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Acts of Violence | I.L. Films | 7,700 (1,540) | – | 5 | 0.01 |
Anton Chekhov’s The Duel | Highline | 5,800 (5,800) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Passenger Side | KinoSmith | 5,650 (1,880) | – | 3 | 0.01 |
The Good Heart | Magnolia | 5,500 (1,100) | – | 5 | 0.01 |
Mercy | IFC | 1,450 (1,450) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – April 29, 2010
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
Fox (7) | 837.2 | 24.70% |
Warner Bros. (13) | 638.8 | 18.90% |
Buena Vista (8) | 460.6 | 13.60% |
Paramount (6) | 432.8 | 12.80% |
Sony (12) | 227.5 | 6.70% |
Universal (7) | 210.8 | 6.20% |
Lions Gate (7) | 183.5 | 5.40% |
Overture (4) | 66.8 | 2.00% |
Fox Searchlight (3) | 62.6 | 1.90% |
Summit (5) | 49.9 | 1.50% |
MGM (1) | 46.5 | 1.40% |
Weinstein Co. (4) | 34.7 | 1.00% |
CBS (2) | 28.2 | 0.80% |
Sony Classics (9) | 27.6 | 0.80% |
Other * (121) | 78 | 2.30% |
* none greater than 0.4% | 3385.5 | 100.00% |
Top 2010 Limited Releases: To April 29, 2010
Title | Distributor | Gross |
The Ghost Writer | Summit | 14,162,462 |
The Young Victoria * | Apparition/Alliance | 11,130,143 |
A Single Man * | Weinstein Co. | 7,935,872 |
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | E1/Sony Classics | 7,382,072 |
The Last Station | Sony Classics | 6,517,037 |
An Education * | Sony Classics | 4,962,771 |
The Hurt Locker * | Summit | 4,531,548 |
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Music Box/Alliance | 4,516,395 |
Hubble 3D | WB | 4,196,117 |
My Name is Khan | Fox Searchlight | 4,018,204 |
Greenberg | Focus | 3,784,695 |
To Save a Life | IDP | 3,777,210 |
The Runaways | Apparition/E1 | 3,332,424 |
Broken Embraces * | Sony Classics | 3,316,910 |
3 Idiots * | Big Pictures | 2,279,902 |
Chloe | Sony Classics/E1 | 2,800,621 |
Under the Sea 3D * | WB | 2,316,463 |
The White Ribbon | Sony Classics | 2,197,888 |
A Prophet | Sony Classics | 1,926,344 |
Celine: Through the Eyes of the World | Sony | 1,897,831 |
* does not include 2009 box office |