The Weekend Report, April 3, 2011

Hop, Skip, Jump … Repeat

The non-stereoscopic anime egg hunt that is Hop easily outdistanced the competition to take the weekend box office crown with an estimated $38.3 million. The session also featured two other new entries that ranked second and third on the charts. The sci-fi thriller Source Code edged out the eerie chills of Insidious with $14.9 million to the latter’s $13 million.

The frame also saw a staggering number of regional, niche and exclusive premieres … but few demonstrated any signs of stamina. Neither the Hindi Game nor the Telugu Shakthi hinted at an Indian rebound with the first bowing to $73,500 from 62 screens and the second marginally better with $88,300 at 31 venues. In Quebec the multi-cultural crime saga Bumrush lived up to its moniker with $34,100 in 37 exposures and the Korean import The Last Godfather bowed with an aggressive 58 playdates and a disappointing $93,800 box office.

The bright spots were the Italian Cannes-prized Le Quattro Volte that grossed $16,300 from a single theater and this year’s Oscar winning Danish political drama In a Better World with a $33,700 tally from four initial engagements.

Overall weekend business added up to roughly $127 million for a slight 4% boost from seven days prior. It was nonetheless 30% lagging from 2010 when the launch of Clash of the Titans arrived with $61.1 million and the sequel Why Did I Get Married Too took the bridesmaid slot with $22.2 million.

First quarter domestic box office became official with the three months adding up to $2.11 billion that translated into a 22% dip from the prior year. The situation internationally is more severe with initial projections indicating erosion in the neighborhood of 33%.

Tracking once again was significantly off beam … though thankfully not over confident. No one expected Hop to do better than $30 million and Insidious was viewed as having a $10 million ceiling. Only the mid-teen estimate on Source Code proved to be on target.

If the Hop numbers hold up (or improve) it could usurp Green Hornet’s top 2011 opening of $40 million. It certainly exceeds the crime fighter’s admissions and when placed in tandem with Rango puts the lie to the contention that animated films must be presented in 3D in order to compete commercially. Unsurprisingly the film’s audience was roughly 75% parents with children younger than 13 in tow.

Exit demos for Insidious were split between the sexes with a slight tilt toward under 25s overall while Source Code was 54% male and 64% on the plus 30 side according to its distributor. Whether movie going continues to trend toward an older crowd will get the true test come May and an onslaught of event pictures throughout the summer. Regardless it was evident at the recently concluded Cinemacon that the majors are eyeing more mature themed movies thanks to first quarter response to the likes of The King’s Speech, Black Swan and The Fighter. Minimally Q1 2013 will reflect that slant but will it translate it a calendar year phenomenon.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•