By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report – February 13
Bieber Pitch
By Leonard Klady
It was Sandler by a nose over the teen sensation. The rom-com Just Go With It emerged with an estimated $30.8 million while the 3D concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never was right behind with $30.4 million. In a session energized by new releases the animated Gnomeo and Juliet charted third with $25.3 million and the Gladiator-lite The Eagle slotted in position five with a drab $8.3 million.
The frame also featured a clutch of incoming niche and exclusive debuts. Bollywood entry Patiala House was the best of the newbies with $352,000 at 80 venues and on the Pinoy circuit Bulong had an OK $25,300 at six locales. Testing the waters with 15 screens, the comic Cedar Rapids found the temp conducive with a $302,000 tally.
There was also good response to the Oscar shorts tour with a first stop of $237,000 and the pacifist doc Mooz-lum had an impressive $12,000 per location average of $12,000, The single screen bow of another doc, Vidal Sassoon, looked and dressed good with $13,800.
Following a month of box office declines revenues experienced dramatic upturns that have finally put smiles on the folks in the distribution and exhibition sector.
Pundits were confident that the Sandler – Aniston pairing in Just Go With It would generate a $30 million plus opening salvo that would easily outdistance any threat from Justin Bieber’s concert foray. The latter movie was pegged at $25 million to $28 million and was the clear winner on opening day Friday with close to a $3 million edge of $12.4 million.
However, whereas the pubescent fan base proved to be first day fanatics, the older Valentine romantics were dominant for Saturday date night. The Bieber group declined by 13% while the Gos expanded by 42%. Both films skewed female with the concert crowd comprised of a whopping 84% and 67% under 25 according to exit polls. The comedy crowd was 58% distaff and 60% comprised of plus 25%. Never Say Never also registered a very potent 84% attendance for its stereoscopic playdates.
That still left plenty of room for the family audience that embraced Gnomeo and Juliet. Largely underserved in recent weeks, trackers underestimated its appeal with predictions in the range of $16 million to $20 million. The Eagle was the poor cousin in the mix and largely negative reviews didn’t help improve a lackluster response.
Overall revenues pushed to roughly $150 million for an eye-popping 73% boost from the prior weekend. It was also an impressive 32% improvement from 2010. Last year’s freshmen thrust was provided by first and third ranked Dear John and From Paris with Love with respective opening salvos of $30.5 million and $8.2 million.
Obviously with so much incoming fare the crowd of Oscar contenders – even the most resilient – lost a significant number of screens. And if on-going appeal is any kind of indicator, The King’s Speech contingent would be well advised to brush up on their elocution. It sputtered an insignificant 5% erosion despite the loss of 321 theaters.
Weekend (estimates) February 11 – 13, 2011 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
Just Go With It | Sony | 30.8 (8,680) | NEW | 3548 | 30.8 |
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never | Par | 30.4 (9,790) | NEW | 3105 | 30.4 |
Gnomeo and Juliet | BV | 25.3 (8,450) | NEW | 2994 | 25.3 |
The Roommate | Sony | 8.3 (3,290) | -44% | 2534 | 26 |
The Eagle | Focus | 8.3 (3,630) | NEW | 2296 | 8.3 |
The King’s Speech | TWC | 7.3 (3,230) | -5% | 2263 | 93.8 |
No Strings Attached | Par | 5.6 (2,030) | -30% | 2756 | 59.8 |
Sanctum | Uni | 5.1 (1,830) | -46% | 2789 | 17.5 |
True Grit | Par | 3.8 (1,820) | -19% | 2072 | 160.3 |
The Green Hornet | Sony | 3.6 (1,730) | -39% | 2090 | 92.3 |
The Rite | WB | 3.1 (1,410) | -44% | 2207 | 28.7 |
The Mechanic | CBS | 3.1 (1,630) | -42% | 1886 | 25.3 |
The Fighter | Par/Alliance | 2.1 (2,030) | -25% | 1049 | 85.6 |
Black Swan | FoxSrchlght | 2.1 (1,980) | -37% | 1069 | 99.3 |
Dilemma | Uni | 1.0 (800) | -70% | 1242 | 47.6 |
Tangled | BV | .77 (980) | -58% | 784 | 193.3 |
Yogi Bear | WB | .74 (670) | -67% | 1111 | 96.6 |
Blue Valentine | TWC | .57 (1,450) | -28% | 393 | 8.2 |
Tron: Legacy | BV | .55 (1,510) | -60% | 364 | 169.7 |
127 Hours | FoxSrchlght | .54 (1,500) | -50% | 359 | 16.8 |
Biutiful | Roadside | .52 (2,740) | -19% | 190 | 2.2 |
The Company Men | TWC | .51 (1,840) | -7% | 277 | 3 |
Barney’s Version | eOne/SPC | .44 (4,400) | -11% | 119 | 3.3 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $144.10 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | 32% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | 73% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Patiala House | Hari | .35 (4,400) | 80 | 0.35 | |
Another Year | Sony Classics | .34 (1,970) | -23% | 236 | 2.2 |
The Illusionist | Sony Classics | .32 (1,540) | 70% | 205 | 1.15 |
Cedar Rapids | FoxSrchlght | .30 (20,150) | 15 | 0.3 | |
2011 Oscar Shorts | Magnolia | .24 (3,880) | 61 | 0.24 | |
Mooz-lum | Peace-Films | .13 (12,000) | 11 | 0.13 | |
Gaganam | Big Pictures | 96,700 (6,400) | 16 | 0.1 | |
Bulong | ABS | 25,300 (4,210) | 6 | 0.03 | |
Poetry | Kino | 18,300 (6,100) | 3 | 0.02 | |
Payanam | Big Pictures | 15,400 (1,490) | 9 | 0.02 | |
Vidal Sassoon: The Movie | Phase 4 | 13,800 (13,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Carancho | Strand | 12,900 (4,300) | 3 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Feb. 10, 2011) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
Paramount (7) | 184.7 | 20.60% | |||
Sony (8) | 157.6 | 17.50% | |||
Universal (5) | 121.9 | 13.60% | |||
Buena Vista (3) | 83.9 | 9.40% | |||
Warner Bros. (10) | 81.3 | 9.10% | |||
Weinstein Co. (3) | 78.8 | 8.80% | |||
Fox Searchlight (2) | 62.4 | 6.90% | |||
Fox (4) | 46.6 | 5.20% | |||
Relativity (2) | 24.5 | 2.70% | |||
CBS (2) | 22.6 | 2.50% | |||
Alliance (5) | 5.3 | 0.60% | |||
Other * (49) | 27.7 | 3.10% | |||
897.3 | 100.00% |
Gnomeo and Juliet could have been great if they worked just a little more harder at the story, title and staying faithful to Shakespeare’s work. -Luke Robey