The Weekend Report — February 27

Passing Gear
By Leonard Klady

Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend (and I don’t mean the Independent Spirits) experienced yet another box office decline with the animated lawn ornaments of Gnomeo and Juliet the winner by a pug nose with an estimated $13.8 million.

The comic antics of Hall Pass _ one of two national debuting entries _ just missed out on bragging rights with $13.6 million while the road rage actioner Drive Crazy got lost in a speed trap with a disappointing $5.1 million that slotted ninth overall.

In limited wide release the barely inspirational The Grace Card managed a little more than $1 million and a clutch of niche and exclusive debuts were largely moribund. The sole bright spot was the French import (and that country’s Oscar submission) Of Gods and Men that grossed $293,000 from 33 venues; virtually all in Quebec. Quebec also contributed two other new enties – Angle mort, a local thriller, that crawled to $95,000 from 43 screens and French family sequel Arthur et le vengeance de Maltazard with $72,200 on 55 screens.

There was also a wave of Indian films but only the Hindi-language Tanu Weds Manu created a small ripple with a box office of $102,000 in 24 exposures. Best of the exclusives was the re-issue of Diary of a Country Priest that grossed $7,600 from a Manhattan solo.

Overall business pushed to $107 million that translated into a 25% decline from seven days earlier and a 9% drop from 2010. A year ago the second weekend of Shutter Island rang up $22.7 million and newcomers Cop Out and The Crazies added $18.2 million and $16.1 million respectively. Tonight’s Oscar broadcast is expected to effect movie sales but nowhere near the impact of the Super Bowl earlier this month.

Once again the new films skewed older (where have all the young males disappeared to?) with Hall Pass comprised of an audience of 78% plus 25 and Drive Crazy around 63% older. Both films were male dominated with the latter drawing a 69% macho crowd while the comedy drew 55% according to exit polling.

Hall Pass also wound up grossing on the low end of tracking estimated but Drive Crazy was well below expectations of $10 million to $12 million. Roughly 95% of the audience for the Nicolas Cage vehicle opted for 3D engagements but its finally tally was hardly an endorsement for the process.

With Oscars just a few hours away, the weekend saw a 13% boost for The King’s Speech and a confident addition of 300 screens for the presumed crown wearer. Few potential winners are apt to receive much of a domestic theatrical boost from Academy recognition – King’s Speech, Biutiful – but ancillary and international theatrical for the likes of Black Swan, The Fighter and Winter’s Bone could be substantive.

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