By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report, August 14, 2011
A Hard Day’s Weekend
The chimps beat off the competition as the second weekend of Rise of the Planet of the Apes earned bragging rights with an estimated $27.1 million to rank at the top of the ticket buying list. It was close but no cigar for the debut of the 60s-set race comedy-drama The Help that bowed to $25.2 million.
Three additional films made national debuts during the frame. Final Destination 5 ranked third with $18.1 million while the irreverent 30 Minutes or Less slotted fifth with $13.1 million. And it wasn’t a gleeful moment as Glee: The 3D Concert Movie suffered stage fright with $5.8 million.
In the niches Indian cinema provided a good launch for Hindi Aarakshan of $357,000 at 90 venues and a strong start for Telugu Kandireega of $153,000 from 13 engagements. In Quebec the “let’s put on a show” Sur le rythme jumped the gun with a Wednesday bow that provided $140,000 pre-weekend and proceeded to falter with the addition of $112,000 in the subsequent three days.
Exclusives included a solid single screen $10,400 for urban comedy CornerStore and a fast paced $69,100 for Senna, a gripping doc on the bygone Formula One racer at two pit stops.
Overall box office revenues approached $155 million that amounted to a 10% decline from last weekend. It was a slim 4% improvement from 2010 when the charts were topped by newcomers The Expendables and Eat Pray Love that launched respectively with $34.8 million and $23.1 million.
The Help, the adaptation of the Kathryn Stockett novel about the class/race divide in Jackson, Mississippi of the 1960s, was pure counter-programming inspiration. Released Wednesday, it entered the weekend with $9.9 million and per Disney played strong across the spectrum exceeding expectations that it was limited to urban and upscale crowds. Industry tracking had projected an opening weekend in the $18 million to $20 million range.
Exit demos pegged the film attracting 74% female but listing more male as the weekend proceeded. It was also not unexpectedly 60% over the age of 35 years old but a studio spokesman said ethnic breakdown was still being collected and would be available Monday. Regardless the picture is shaping up as this generation’s Driving Miss Daisy equivalent.
The session’s anticipated bridesmaid Final Destination 5 was expected to gross between $22 million and $25 million. Its demos were close to predictable with 54% male and an audience 50% aged less than 25 years old. Underlying the growing belief that 3D is strongest among 18-25ers, the horror franchise generated 76% of its box office from stereoscopic playdates.
Both 30 Minutes or Less and Glee 3D opened below tracking projections. The two films were dominated by younger tickets buys with the latter listing 78% female. Glee experienced a surprising 37% box office Friday to Saturday that provided the weekend head scratcher.
With the season three weeks away from a wrap the August surge will be critical in closing the box office gap that consumed the early part of summer.
Weekend (estimates) August 12 – 14, 2011
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Fox | 27.1 (7,350) | -51% | 3691 | 104.5 |
The Help | BV | 25.2 (9,950) | NEW | 2534 | 35.1 |
Final Destination 5 | WB | 18.1 (5,750) | NEW | 3155 | 18.1 |
The Smurfs | Sony | 13.4 (3,920) | -35% | 3427 | 101.5 |
30 Minutes or Less | Sony | 13.1 (4,550) | NEW | 2888 | 13.1 |
Cowboys & Aliens | Uni | 7.6 (2,290) | -52% | 3310 | 81.4 |
Captain America: The First Avenger | Par | 7.1 (2,500) | -46% | 2835 | 156.8 |
Harry Potter & the Deadly Hollows, Part 2 | WB | 6.9 (2,870) | -44% | 2414 | 357 |
Crazy, Stupid, Love | WB | 6.9 (2,620) | -43% | 2635 | 55.4 |
The Change-Up | Uni | 6.2 (2,120) | -54% | 2913 | 25.7 |
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie | Fox | 5.8 (2,820) | NEW | 2040 | 5.8 |
Horrible Bosses | WB | 2.4 (1,810) | -47% | 1338 | 110 |
Friends with Benefits | Sony | 1.8 (1,380) | -62% | 1294 | 53 |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Par | 1.3 (1,500) | -57% | 886 | 347.2 |
The Zookeeper | Sony | 1.0 (1,300) | -55% | 748 | 75.8 |
Midnight in Paris | Sony Classics | .66 (2,010) | -33% | 328 | 49.6 |
Cars 2 | BV | .64 (1,300) | -48% | 494 | 186.2 |
Sarah’s Key | Weinstein/A-Z | .47 (4,490) | -16% | 105 | 2.1 |
Green Lantern | WB | .37 (1,530) | 234% | 242 | 115 |
Bridesmaids | Uni | .36 (1,270) | -35% | 285 | 167.2 |
Aarakshan | Big Pictures | .36 (3,970) | NEW | 90 | 0.36 |
Mr. Popper’s Penguins | Fox | .34 (1,170) | -16% | 294 | 66 |
Kung Fu Panda 2 | Par | .34 (1,350) | -32% | 252 | 164.4 |
Winnie the Pooh | BVI | .33 (810) | -59% | 409 | 25.2 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | BV | .30 (1,180) | -33% | 254 | 239.6 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $145.20 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | 5% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -10% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
The Guard | Sony Classics | .27 (5,780) | 41% | 47 | 0.67 |
Devil’s Double | Lions Gate | .24 (2,720) | 22% | 89 | 0.68 |
Kandireega | Supreme | .15 (11,780) | 13 | 0.15 | |
Another Earth | Fox Searchlight | .15 (1,800) | -13% | 82 | 0.7 |
Sur le rhythme | Seville | .11 (2,030) | 55 | 0.25 | |
The Whistleblower | IDP | .11 (5,070) | 82% | 22 | 0.2 |
Attack the Block | Sony | .10 (2,530) | 30% | 40 | 0.45 |
Senna | PDA | 69,100 (34,550) | 2 | 0.07 | |
CornerStore | Shotown | 10,400 (10,400) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow | Lorber | 6,200 (6,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Aug. 11, 2011) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
Paramount (14) | 1387.9 | 20.70% | |||
Warner Bros. (21) | 1242.4 | 18.50% | |||
Universal (14) | 870.8 | 13.00% | |||
Sony (18) | 800.6 | 11.90% | |||
Buena Vista (12) | 746.8 | 11.10% | |||
Fox (12) | 653.6 | 9.70% | |||
Weinstein Co. (8) | 185.9 | 2.80% | |||
Relativity (5) | 125.4 | 1.90% | |||
Lions Gate (10) | 119.1 | 1.80% | |||
Fox Searchlight (9) | 105.7 | 1.60% | |||
Focus (5) | 78.1 | 1.10% | |||
Summit (6) | 69.8 | 1.00% | |||
Sony Classics (12) | 68.2 | 1.00% | |||
CBS (3) | 57.5 | 0.90% | |||
Film District (1) | 54 | 0.80% | |||
Other * (218) | 148 | 2.20% | |||
6713.8 | 100% | ||||
* none greater than 0.4% | |||||
Top Domestic Grossers * (Jan. 1 – Aug. 11, 2011) | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2 | WB | 350,085,941 | |||
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Par | 345,884,168 | |||
The Hangover 2 | WB | 253,759,628 | |||
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | BV | 239,349,842 | |||
Fast Five | Uni | 209,837,675 | |||
Cars 2 | BV | 185,536,656 | |||
Thor | Par | 180,897,792 | |||
Bridesmaids | Uni | 166,809,375 | |||
Kung Fu Panda 2 | Par | 163,082,531 | |||
Captain America: The First Avenger | Par | 149,760,206 | |||
X-Men: First Class | Fox | 145,500,737 | |||
Rio | Fox | 143,408,673 | |||
Super 8 | Par | 125,411,785 | |||
Rango | Par | 123,481,694 | |||
The King’s Speech * | Weinstein Co. | 121,123,415 | |||
Green Lantern | WB | 114,631,201 | |||
Hop | Uni | 108,426,065 | |||
Horrible Bosses | WB | 107,564,646 | |||
Just Go With It | Sony | 103,127,146 | |||
True Grit * | Par | 100,866,002 | |||
* does not include 2010 box office |
Once again, it’s *Deathly Hallows*, not Deadly Hollows. Hallows as in relics of the saints. Hallowed ground.
http://pinoytutorial.com/lifebytes/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Harry-Potter.jpg
“Close but no cigar” Really? The film vast exceeded all projections, some by as much as $9M.