By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
There Goes the Neighbor, Hood
May 16, 2010
Iron Man 2 took a 60% tumble but retained the top spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $51.9 million. A trio of new national releases followed in its wake, most noticeably the new millennium Robin Hood, which was pretty close to the bullseye with $37 million. A pair of distaff targeted movies split the crowd with Letters to Juliet opening with $13.4 million and the more jocular Just Wright just behind on an $8.3 million tally.
Among niche debuts the Tamil Rama Rama Krishna Krishna proved a disappointment with a $33,500 gross at 21 outlets. More encouraging were the historic Princess Kaiulani and Mao’s Last Dancer, which each scored screen averages in the neighborhood of $5,000 in limited exposure. Also bowing in exclusives were a clutch of non-fiction entries that failed to stir up a significant ripple.
Overall ticket sales experienced a significant dip from last weekend’s Iron Man 2 launch but were a hair better than 2009 when the debut of Angels & Demons prevailed with a $46.2 million box office.
Lukewarm reviews and anxiousness about audience interest saw a broader than usual range of pundit predictions for Robin Hood. The more reasoned analysis tagged it at best hitting $40 million. The studio meanwhile anticipated more feverish response internationally and spring boarding from a Cannes Festival opening night, rang up roughly $70 million from openings in 50 nations.
The session’s curiosity was the arrival of two pictures that appeared to have the same sort of audience appeal. Letters to Juliet is a road picture where the destination is true love and Just Wright has a plot that copiously culls from such disparate romantic fare as Georgy Girl, The Prince of Tides and many more. Though the former secured more than 1,000 screens better than the latter, ultimately the films generated virtually the same screen average with not much hope of the onslaught of summer releases; especially Sex and the City 2.
Despite figures to the contrary there’s something inexplicably logy about the 2010 start of the summer season. Perhaps it will identify itself more plainly as early as next weekend.
Weekend Estimates: May 14 – May 16, 2010
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| Iron Man II | Par | 51.9 (11,820) | -60% | 4390 | 211 |
| Robin Hood | Uni | 37.0 (10,570) | New | 3503 | 37 |
| Letters to Juliet | Summit | 13.4 (4,500) | New | 2968 | 13.4 |
| Just Wright | Fox | 8.3 (4,550) | New | 1831 | 8.3 |
| How to Train Your Dragon | Par | 5.1 (1,940) | -24% | 2620 | 207.7 |
| Nightmare on Elm Street | WB | 4.6 (1,490) | -50% | 3075 | 56 |
| Date Night | Fox | 3.9 (1,580) | -28% | 2481 | 86.6 |
| The Back-Up Plan | CBS | 2.3 (920) | -54% | 2497 | 34 |
| Furry Vengeance | Summit | 2.2 (820) | -50% | 2695 | 15.1 |
| Clash of the Titans | WB | 1.2 (930) | -52% | 1300 | 160.1 |
| Death at a Funeral | Sony | 1.1 (1,060) | -51% | 1062 | 40.5 |
| Babies | Focus | 1.0 (1,860) | -53% | 543 | 3.9 |
| Oceans | BV | .75 (770) | -53% | 973 | 17.7 |
| The Last Song | BV | .53 (660) | -55% | 802 | 61.2 |
| Kick-Ass | Lionsgate | .52 (850) | -65% | 609 | 46.6 |
| The Losers | WB | .45 (650) | -75% | 2450 | 22.7 |
| City Island | Anchor Bay | .44 (1,740) | -28% | 253 | 3.6 |
| Alice in Wonderland | BV | .41 (1,020) | -42% | 403 | 331.5 |
| The Secret in Their Eyes | Sony Classics | .39 (3,780) | 2% | 104 | 2.1 |
| Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Music Box/Alliance | .38 (2,020) | -21% | 189 | 6.5 |
| Hubble 3D | WB | .34 (7,170) | 19% | 48 | 5.8 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $133.80 | – | – | – | |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 1% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -23% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Please Give | Sony Classics | .26 (5,260) | 9% | 50 | 0.75 |
| Princess Kaiulani | Roadside | .17 (5,210) | New | 33 | 0.17 |
| Harry Brown | IDP | .14 (2,390) | -2% | 59 | 0.59 |
| Mao’s Last Dancer | Mongrel | 44,200 (4,910) | New | 9 | 0.04 |
| Rama Rama Krishna Krishna | Blue Sky | 33,500 (1,590) | New | 21 | 0.03 |
| Metropolis (reissue) | Kino | 30,600 (7,650) | 53% | 4 | 0.06 |
| Daddy Longlegs | IFC | 9,300 (9,300) |
|
1 | 0.01 |
| A Surprise in Texas | Rosen | 7,700 (1,280) | New | 6 | 0.01 |
| Looking for Eric | IFC | 7,400 (3,700) | New | 2 | 0.01 |
| Here and There | Purgatorio | 6,200 (6,200) | New | 1 | 0.01 |
| Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo | Argot | 5,900 (5,900) | New | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – May 13, 2010
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
| Fox (7) | 858.1 | 22.90% |
| Warner Bros. (14) | 713.2 | 19.00% |
| Paramount (7) | 614.1 | 16.40% |
| Buena Vista (8) | 473.6 | 12.60% |
| Sony (13) | 238.9 | 6.40% |
| Universal (7) | 211.1 | 5.60% |
| Lionsgate (7) | 193.5 | 5.20% |
| Overture (4) | 67.3 | 1.80% |
| Summit (6) | 63.7 | 1.70% |
| Fox Searchlight (3) | 63 | 1.70% |
| MGM (1) | 48.9 | 1.30% |
| CBS (2) | 44.2 | 1.20% |
| Weinstein Co. (4) | 34.7 | 0.90% |
| Sony Classics (11) | 29.4 | 0.80% |
| Other * (138) | 93.7 | 2.50% |
| * none greater than 0.4% | 3747.4 | 100.00% |
