By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Box Office Report
Ooops!
The final weekend of the 2010 crawled to roughly $105 million excluding the Monday portion that could add an additional $30 million.
A trio of new national releases did little to bolster the overall picture with The American topping the charts with an estimated $13.1 million (all figures are for the 3-day portion of the holiday). It entered the weekend with an additional $3.1 million from a Wednesday pre-weekend launch. Additionally the actioner Machete hacked away to $11.2 million and the rom-com Going the Distance lacked cheek with $6.8 million.
New niche entries were largely tepid including Bollywood entry We Are Family that garnered $228,000 from 67 venues. There was a small surprise with the exclusive debut of the animated entry My Dog Tulip that grossed $11,500.
Overall the current weekend box office appears to be about 5% improved from last year’s tally.
But the nettlesome issue is the performance of summer 2010 top to bottom. The answer is complicated because what we’ve come to identify as the summer season _ oh, that ever shifting calendar _ works out to be one week less than normal. By that yardstick box office is down from 2009 and the lowest of the past decade.
Even when an additional week’s box office is added to the mix, initial calculations put the current season down about 2% from the prior year’s tally. And it goes without saying that admissions are lagging; likely off by 8% to 10% from one year ago.
Some pundits have pointed to the fact that this year’s schedule has two fewer films that grossed in excess of $100 million and that certainly reflects the tip of the iceberg. That aside, it’s fair to say there were a comparable number of surprises and disappointments. In the former area, one can point to a record number of alternative titles that grossed in excess of $4 million (at least 10 on a quick scan).
The more telling factor in the decline is the medium-range performers that had box office of less than $40 million. The decade-long trend is one of haves and have nots. The chasm between films that work to those that are rejected continues to expand and despite claims that the future will foster fewer films in the marketplace, to date the difference is both infinitesimal and unlikely to shift (based on production starts and announcements) in the upcoming 18 months.
There is no definitive answer, rather a series of developments that include alternative ways of viewing movies and a continuing stasis in the economy that’s made the public both more selective and less avid in their movie going habits. The downturn might best be summed up as a slow, painful death by a million small cuts.
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Weekend Estimates: September 3 – 5, 2010
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change | Theas | Cume |
| The American | Focus | 13.1 (4,810) | New | 2721 | 16.2 |
| Takers | Sony | 11.3 (5,130) | -45% | 2206 | 37.8 |
| Machete | Fox | 11.2 (4,210) | New | 2670 | 11.2 |
| The Last Exorcism | Lions Gate | 7.6 (2,650) | -63% | 2874 | 32.4 |
| Going the Distance | WB | 6.8 (2,250) | New | 3030 | 6.8 |
| The Expendables | Lions Gate | 6.6 (1,950) | -31% | 3398 | 92.2 |
| The Other Guys | Sony | 5.3 (2,020) | -16% | 2607 | 106.7 |
| Eat Drink Pray | Sony | 4.8 (1,700) | -29% | 2663 | 68.9 |
| Inception | WB | 4.6 (2,690) | -6% | 1704 | 277.2 |
| Nanny McPhee Returns | Uni | 3.6 (1,310) | -24% | 2708 | 22.4 |
| The Switch | BV | 3.1 (1,650) | -32% | 1885 | 21.5 |
| Despicable Me | Uni | 2.8 (1,740) | -2% | 1600 | 240.2 |
| Vampires Suck | Fox | 3.0 (1,,220) | -43% | 2434 | 32.3 |
| Avatar (reissue) | Fox | 2.3 (2,800) | -43% | 811 | 757.6 |
| Piranha 3D | Weinstein Co. | 2.3 (1,300) | -46% | 1789 | 22.4 |
| Lottery Ticket | WB | 2.3 (1,740) | -41% | 1310 | 20.6 |
| Toy Story 3 | BV | 1.9 (1,260) | 89% | 1520 | 408.1 |
| Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Uni | 1.6 (1,930) | -38% | 807 | 28.8 |
| Get Low | Sony Classics | 1.2 (2,300) | -26% | 526 | 5.4 |
| Salt | Sony | 1.2 (1,760) | -34% | 705 | 115.2 |
| Dinner for Schmucks | Par | 1.0 (1,220) | -45% | 804 | 70.9 |
| Step Up 3D | BV | .70 (1,600) | -44% | 434 | 40.9 |
| Grown Ups | Sony | .44 (1,321) | 65% | 333 | 159.9 |
| The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | BV | .43 (1,200) | 63% | 357 | 61.6 |
| Twilight: Eclipse | Summit | .42 (1,060) | -18% | 396 | 298.7 |
| The Kids Are All Right | Focus | .41 (1,720) | -22% | 239 | 19.8 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $98.30 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 5% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -10% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| We Are Family | UTV | .23 (3,400) | 67 | 0.23 | |
| Cairo Time | IFC | .16 (2,940) | -11% | 55 | 0.84 |
| Mesrine: Killer Instinct | Alliance/Music Box | .13 (2,480) | -38% | 52 | 0.75 |
| Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 | Alliance/Music Box | .11 (2,080) | 112% | 51 | 0.19 |
| A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop | Sony Classics | 25,200 (5,040) | 5 | 0.03 | |
| My Dog Tulip | New Yorker | 11,500 (11,500) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Prince of Broadway | Elephant | 8,600 (8,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| White Wedding | Mitropoulos | 5,900 (1,480) | 4 | 0.01 | |
| The Winning Season | Roadside At. | 4,900 (1,630) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| 16 to Life | Water Dog | 1,900 (950) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share: January 1 – September 2, 2010
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
| Paramount (11) | 1224.2 | 16.10% |
| Fox (14) | 1198.3 | 15.70% |
| Warner Bros. (20) | 1196.1 | 15.70% |
| Buena Vista (13) | 1079.9 | 14.20% |
| Sony (19) | 886.4 | 11.60% |
| Universal (14) | 700.4 | 9.20% |
| Summit (9) | 422.9 | 5.50% |
| Lions Gate (10) | 354.1 | 4.70% |
| Fox Searchlight (4) | 70.6 | 0.90% |
| Overture (4) | 67.4 | 0.90% |
| Weinstein Co. (6) | 55.4 | 0.70% |
| MGM (1) | 50.4 | 0.70% |
| CBS (2) | 50 | 0.70% |
| Sony Classics (17) | 46.2 | 0.60% |
| Other * (228) | 215.7 | 2.80% |
| * none greater than 0.4% | 7618 | 100.00% |
