By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report: June 5, 2011
X-Cellent
By Leonard Klady
The opening of X-Men: First Class provided the franchise with a strong re-boot and the new chapter easily led weekend ticket sales with an estimated $56.1 million.
X-M:FC was the sole national debut but freshmen in the niches and specialized arenas were rife. Ready on the Bollywood circuit provided a rebound in that sector with a solid $510,000 gross. There were a couple of inspirational entries with the Mormon-produced 17 Miracles off to a good start of $53,200 at 11 venues but the 3-D animated The Lion of Judah went into the tank with a $22,900 tally from 81 playdates.
Beginners, the unusual father-son relationship saga, was at the forefront of the exclusive bows with box office of $134,000 from five outings. The Brit coming-of-age yarn Submarine also had good response of $39,500 at four locations as was the non-fiction The Last Mountain with $16,700 on a pair of screens. On the flip side audiences were cool to the intense drama of Beautiful Boy that struggled to $15,600 at four sites and iced the chills of YellowBrickRoad with a $5,400 tally from 24 engagements.
Overall revenues inched toward $165 million for a 27% decline from the 3-day portion of last weekend’s Memorial holiday frame. It was however a 28% boost from 2010 when the $25.5 million third weekend of Shrek Forever After trumped newcomers Get Him to the Greek and Killers that bowed respectively with $17.6 million and $15.8 million. The box office upturns of the past few weeks have provided the industry with some encouragement but box office still remains 8% behind last year’s pace.
The re-imagineering of X-Men with an origins tale set in the Cold War climate of 1962 generally received critical thumbs up. Tracking reports pegged its bow around $60 million and the difference this time couldn’t be attributed to 3-D engagements. Exit polls identified the crowd as 58% male to no great surprise while the plus 25s dominated with 54% and the industry continues to scratch its head about the seeming erosion of young, avid filmgoers.
Initial international results were first class for X-Men with an estimated $64 million including a UK country best of $9 million in the 74 nation lineup. Japan, China and Italy were the only major territories not in the first wave.
One current positive is that all those folk that fell in love with the movies in the 1970s and 1980s have found the likes of Midnight in Paris and The Tree of Life and have provided Beginners with a good start. These shifts in movie going trends are receiving close scrutiny in the industry and one can expect release patterns to see at least nominal change from rather entrenched patterns dating back to 1989 including a few high profile debuts in March and October.
Weekend (estimates) June 3 – 5, 2011 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
X-Men: First Class | Fox | 56.1 (15,410) | NEW | 3641 | 56.1 |
The Hangover Part II | WB | 32.6 (9,010) | -62% | 3615 | 187 |
Kung Fu Panda 2 | Par | 24.5 (6,190) | -49% | 3952 | 100.6 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | BV | 18.0 (4,530) | -55% | 3966 | 190.2 |
Bridesmaids | Uni | 12.1 (4,140) | -27% | 2919 | 107.2 |
Thor | Par Intl | 4.2 (1,500) | -56% | 2780 | 169 |
Fast Five | Uni | 3.2 (1,440) | -49% | 2237 | 202 |
Midnight in Paris | Sony Classics | 2.8 (18,840) | 43% | 147 | 6.8 |
Jumping the Broom | Sony | .85 (1,440) | -53% | 589 | 35.9 |
Something Borrowed | WB | .83 (1,210) | -55% | 688 | 36.6 |
Rio | Fox | .73 (1,060) | -60% | 687 | 136.7 |
Water for Elephants | Fox | .67 (1,170) | -38% | 572 | 55.7 |
The Tree of Life | Fox Searchlight | .61 (30,650) | 64% | 20 | 1.2 |
Ready | Eros | .51 (5,220) | NEW | 98 | 0.51 |
Priest | Sony | .35 (600) | -80% | 583 | 28.7 |
The Cave of Forgotten Dreams | IFC | .32 (2,620) | -35% | 123 | 3.2 |
Rango | Par | .23 (910) | -35% | 254 | 122.1 |
Source Code | Summit | .22 (770) | -31% | 288 | 53.8 |
Soul Surfer | Sony | .20 (810) | -49% | 251 | 41.7 |
Born to Be Wild | WB | .19 (4,100) | -22% | 47 | 6.3 |
Hop | Uni | .19 (770) | -13% | 245 | 107.8 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $157.70 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | 28% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -27% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Beginners | Focus | .13 (26,860) | 5 | 0.13 | |
17 Miracles | Excel | 53,200 (4,840) | 11 | 0.05 | |
The Beaver | Summit | 47,300 (700) | -55% | 68 | 0.88 |
The First Grader | National Geo | 42,700 (1,190) | -25% | 36 | 0.22 |
Submarine | Weinstein Co. | 39,500 (9,880) | 4 | 0.04 | |
Empire of Silver | Neo Classics | 34,800 (1,930) | 18 | 0.03 | |
Lion of Judah | Rocky Mtn | 22,900 (280) | 81 | 0.02 | |
The Last Mountain | Dada | 16,700 (8,350) | 2 | 0.02 | |
Beautiful Boy | Anchor Bay | 15,600 (3,900) | 4 | 0.02 | |
Good Neighbors | Alliance | 6,350 (1,590) | 4 | 0.01 | |
Rejoice and Shout | Magnolia | 6,200 (6,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Women, Art, Revolution | Zeitgeist | 5,700 (2,850) | 2 | 0.01 | |
YellowBrickRoad | Bloody Disgusting | 5,400 (225) | 24 | 0.01 | |
Film Socialisme | Lorber | 3,600 (3,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – June 2, 2011) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
Paramount (11) | 662.4 | 16.60% | |||
Universal (11) | 660.6 | 16.60% | |||
Warner Bros. (17) | 511.7 | 12.90% | |||
Sony (13) | 481.6 | 12.10% | |||
Buena Vista (9) | 458.1 | 11.50% | |||
Fox (8) | 330.8 | 8.30% | |||
Weinstein Co. (6) | 182.9 | 4.60% | |||
Lions Gate (9) | 116.6 | 2.90% | |||
Relativity (4) | 110.4 | 2.80% | |||
Fox Searchlight (6) | 92.1 | 2.30% | |||
Focus (4) | 71.5 | 1.80% | |||
Summit (5) | 66.9 | 1.70% | |||
CBS (3) | 57.6 | 1.40% | |||
Film District (10) | 52.8 | 1.30% | |||
Roadside Attractions (7) | 20.4 | 0.50% | |||
Sony Classics (9) | 20.4 | 0.50% | |||
Other * (152) | 84.2 | 2.10% | |||
3981 | 100% |