The Weekend Report: July 31, 2011

And the Winner Is …

It was an unexpected horse race at the box office with the cross genre Cowboys & Aliens going toe-to-toe with the animated exploits of the original Blue Men Group The Smurfs. Initial estimates gave the former a slight edge with $36.1 million to the latter’s $36 million but that could all change tomorrow. The session’s other national opening was the ensemble comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love that bowed fifth with $19.1 million.

Regionally the slacker comedy Starbuck slurped up close to $200,000 from its Wednesday debut in Quebec and brewed up an additionall $410,000 on the weekend. There was also a solid start for the Punjabi Jihne Mera Dil Luteya of $98,500 at 18 venues (13 in Canada where ex-pats are most conspicuous).

Limited and exclusive debuts also heated up with the Irish set offbeat thriller The Guard ringing up $78,100 at four sites and the dramatic Iraqi war drama The Devil’s Double grossing $90,800 from five screens. The non-fiction Life in a Day realized $48,200 from 11 engagements and French import Point Blank had a $30,500 box office from six initial dates. And American indie The Future was off to a fast start of $27,300 at a solo Manhattan flight.

The frame also saw a significant pop for the specialized Sarah’s Key that opened in Quebec and added U.S. dates for a new total of 38 engagements and close to a $10,000 theater average.

Overall weekend sales topped $180 million that amounted to a slight 7% dip from seven days ago. It was a significant 22% bump from last year when the third weekend of Inception trumped the launch of Dinner for Schmucks with respective grosses of $27.5 million and $23.5 million.

Tracking going into the weekend clearly favored Cowboys & Aliens with estimates generally around $40 million or better. Conversely The Smurfs were given a top end of $25 million that placed it behind continuing runs of both Captain America and the Harry Potter finale. Also undervalued was Crazy, Stupid, Love that was expected to open between $15 million and $18 million.

The cowpokes vs. the Giger-like invaders _ as with most summer spectacles _ couldn’t draw in the increasingly evasive under 25 crowd with exit polls identifying 63% of buyers as 30 years or older. The good news was that the audience wasn’t overwhelmingly male. The lads accounted for 53% of the pic’s total.

Exit demos were much more to the anticipated profile of Crazy, Stupid, Love with a 64% female, 71% older than 25 years breakdown. But the head scratcher is The Smurfs beginning with a 45% slice for its 3D engagements. The current industry wisdom is that movies that skew very young and very old are now likely to register less than 40% from stereoscopic playdates.

The Smurfs attracted 65% of its sales from families which was less than what had been anticipated. Of that slice of ticket buyers, 61% were parents and overall 55% of the crowd was identified as more senior was 25 years old. Objectively speaking it would appear that movie goers are more nostalgic for the cerulean toned Belgium little folk than the grizzled, sagebrush heroes.

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