By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report: November 20, 2011
Dawn of the Lively
To no great surprise The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn topped weekend movie going with an estimated $139.6 million debut that accounted for more than 60% of the frame’s ticket sales. The session’s other new national bow Happy Feet Two had to settle for poor seconds of $21.9 million.
Bollywood took a break but Tollywood newcomer, the costume drama Sri Rama Rajyam, got off to a good start of $147,000 at 35 venues and Punjabi Hitler Hero in Love displayed comparable strength of $40,800 from 10 screens.
Limited and exclusive activity largely centered on the launch of Oscar tipped The Descendants that racked up a $40,340 screen average from 29 playdates for a $1.2 million weekend. Conversely there were disappointing results for other touted pics including Another Happy Day and Tyrannosur but an upbeat first round for the non-fiction Eames: The Architect and the Painter of $21,300 at two sites.
The Twilight surge pumped up revenues to about $225 million for the frame that translated into a 65% boost from last weekend and a 15% improvement from 2010. A year back the launch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 led with $125 million.
Domestic revenues for the year to date now stand at $9.05 billion or about 4% behind last year’s pace. The current session certainly holds out ample hope that the gap can be closed in the remaining six weeks of 2011.
The fourth Twilight installment had industry pundits salivating with estimates in the ballpark of $140 million to $150 million that proved to be within accepted margin of error range. Early reports also indicate a comparable international box office from 54 territories. As with prior chapters the romantic horror franchise skewed heavily female with exit polls indicating a whopping 80% distaff crowd. It also appears that as the fans hooked by the original outing age, the film’s demos rise with the current outing composed 60% of folk 21 years and older.
Twilight pretty much ran over Happy Feet Two that was expected to open with at least $30 million and rising to more than $35 million. It also had a majority female audience of 60% and despite its younger appeal wound up with an audience of 53% aged 25 years and more upwardly mature. A studio spokesman cited the comparably disappointing opening of Polar Express and crossed fingers that the picture will sustain through the holidays.
Weekend (estimates) November 18 – 20, 2011 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn | Summit | 139.6 (34,380) | NEW | 4061 | 139.6 |
Happy Feet Two | WB | 21.9 (6,080) | NEW | 3606 | 21.9 |
Immortals | Relativity | 12.4 (3,970) | -62% | 3112 | 63.1 |
Jack and Jill | Sony | 11.8 (3,440) | -53% | 3438 | 40.9 |
Puss in Boots | Par | 10.7 (3,130) | -57% | 3415 | 122.3 |
Tower Heist | Uni | 6.9 (2,350) | -46% | 2942 | 53.4 |
J. Edgar | WB | 5.9 (3,010) | -48% | 1947 | 20.7 |
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas | WB | 2.9 (1,580) | -52% | 1808 | 28.3 |
In Time | Fox | 1.6 (1,200) | -60% | 1367 | 33.4 |
The Descendants | Fox Searchlight | 1.2 (40,340) | NEW | 29 | 1.3 |
Paranormal Activity 3 | Par | .96 (680) | -73% | 1402 | 102.6 |
Footloose | Par | .83 (680) | -70% | 1218 | 50.1 |
Real Steel | BV | .54 (770) | -71% | 702 | 82.6 |
Like Crazy | Par Vantage | .52 (4,770) | 3% | 109 | 1.8 |
Moneyball | Sony | .49 (1,200) | -54% | 409 | 72.6 |
The Ides of March | Sony/Alliance | .43 (1,440) | -54% | 298 | 39.1 |
Margin Call | Roadside/Alliance | .40 (2,290) | -28% | 173 | 3.9 |
Courageous | Sony/Tricord | .39 (750) | -61% | 517 | 32.3 |
Martha Marcy May Marlene | Fox Searchlight | .38 (2,110) | -21% | 180 | 2.2 |
Melancholia | Magnolia/eOne | .31 (5,650) | 21% | 55 | 0.7 |
The Help | BV | .28 (780) | 13% | 357 | 168.2 |
The Skin I Live In | Sony Classics | .28 (2,460) | -6% | 113 | 2.1 |
The Way | PDA | .27 (1,960) | -19% | 137 | 3 |
Dolphin Tale | WB | .25 (740) | -64% | 388 | 70 |
50/50 | Summit | .21 (1,140) | -59% | 185 | 34.2 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $218.25 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | 15% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | 65% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Sri Rama Rayjam | Blue Sky | .15 (3,200) | 35 | 0.15 | |
Take Shelter | Sony Classics | .10 (1,330) | -18% | 74 | 1.4 |
Hero Hitler in Love | Viva | 40,800 (4,530) | 9 | 0.04 | |
Eames: The Architect & the Painter | First Run | 21,300 (10,650) | 2 | 0.02 | |
Punch | CJ Entainment | 14,600 (14,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Another Happy Day | Phase 4 | 8,700 (4,350) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Tomboy | Dada | 7,400 (3,700) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Tyrannosaur | Strand | 7,100 (1,420) | 5 | 0.01 | |
Heir Apparent: Largo Winch | Music Box | 2,400 (600) | 4 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Nov. 17, 2011) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
Paramount (18) | 1689.2 | 19.10% | |||
Warner Bros. (25) | 1544.9 | 17.50% | |||
Sony (27) | 1125.6 | 12.80% | |||
Buena Vista (15) | 1108.3 | 12.50% | |||
Universal (18) | 1009.3 | 11.40% | |||
20th Century Fox (16) | 821.5 | 9.30% | |||
Weinstein Co. (13) | 282.6 | 3.20% | |||
Relativity (8) | 185.6 | 2.10% | |||
Lions Gate (15) | 184.1 | 2.10% | |||
Film District (4) | 125.1 | 1.40% | |||
Focus (7) | 123.6 | 1.40% | |||
Summit (8) | 123.2 | 1.40% | |||
Fox Searchlight (12) | 109.6 | 1.20% | |||
Sony Classics (16) | 83.6 | 1.00% | |||
CBS (3) | 57.5 | 0.70% | |||
Other * (318) | 255.3 | 2.90% | |||
8829 | 100.00% | ||||
* none greater than 0.35% | |||||
Top Domestic Grossers (Jan. 1 – Nov. 17, 2011) * | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2 | WB | 380,974,762 | |||
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Par | 352,424,682 | |||
The Hangover 2 | WB | 254,464,305 | |||
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | BV | 241,071,802 | |||
Fast Five | Uni | 209,999,424 | |||
Cars 2 | BV | 191,346,423 | |||
Thor | Par | 181,066,624 | |||
Captain America: The First Avenger | Par | 176,679,192 | |||
Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Fox | 176,368,594 | |||
Bridesmaids | Uni | 169,185,860 | |||
The Help | BV | 167,933,930 | |||
Kung Fu Panda 2 | Par | 165,347,740 | |||
X-Men: First Class | Fox | 146,408,305 | |||
Rio | Fox | 143,619,809 | |||
The Smurfs | Sony | 141,722,064 | |||
Super 8 | Par | 127,021,426 | |||
Rango | Par | 123,481,694 | |||
The King’s Speech * | Weinstein Co. | 121,123,415 | |||
Horrible Bosses | WB | 117,538,559 | |||
Green Lantern | WB | 116,601,172 | |||
* does not include 2010 box office |