By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report: January 15, 2012
Got the Goods
Action thriller Contraband delivered an estimated $23.9 million over the three-day portion of the Martin Luther King holiday frame to top weekend movie going. The session also included two other national debutants including the 3D reissue of 19-year-old Beauty and the Beast that finished second in the lineup with $18.2 million and fourth ranked Joyful Noise that’s marked by Dolly Parton’s cinema return after 21 years with $11.3 million.
In the niches Bollywood entry Vettai bowed to a dull $82,600 at 33 venues and incoming exclusives were generally uninspired. An exception in the latter group was the official opening of Oscar contender We Need to Talk About Kevin that garnered $40,800 from two screens.
The three-day portion of the session generated close $135 million that translated into a 7% decline from the prior weekend and a slight 2% hike from 2011. A year ago freshmen The Green Hornet and The Dilemma led the way with full weekend grosses of $40 million and $20.5 million respectively.
The slam-bang Contraband proved to be sturdier than the expected $16 million to $20 million tracking pundits predicted. According to exit polls the audience was pretty much evenly split between the sexes with about half the viewers aged 30 years old and younger. It emerged as the unexpected date night movie of the holiday period.
Also out-pacing estimates was Beauty and the Beast that was dominated by families with 60% of buyers. Couples comprised 28% of the crowd with 53% aged 25% years and younger overall. The studio was also tracking the percentage of the audience seeing the venerable animation film for the very first time but hadn’t finished collating that data at press time.
The prognosticators were conversely over playing the appeal of Joyful Noise with estimated in the mid-teens. It skewed decidedly older and female than expected with the distaff side comprising 73% of ticket sales and exits pegging the plus 25s at 78%. Unless the film starts to tap into a younger crowd its future is less than tuneful.
The awards season has seen the NBR, Broadcast Critics and LAFCA putting on shows in the past week with the Golden Globes just hours away. Individually and collectively the critical consensus has been diverse and their impact on the Oscar ballot will likely be subtle rather than tacit. There certainly appear to be clear nominees in the major categories but I’d be hard pressed to name a lock for anyone or any film … except to say that no film will sweep in artistic and technical categories at the Academy Awards.
| Weekend (estimates) January 13 – 15, 2012 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Contraband | Uni | 23.9 (8.340) | NEW | 2863 | 23.9 |
| Beauty and the Beast | BV | 18.2 (6,940) | NEW | 2625 | 18.2 |
| Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Par | 11.5 (3,430) | -42% | 3346 | 186.7 |
| Joyful Noise | WB | 11.3 (4,120) | NEW | 2735 | 11.3 |
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | WB | 8.4 (2,660) | -39% | 3155 | 170 |
| The Devil Inside | Par Insurge | 7.8 (3,050) | -77% | 2551 | 46.1 |
| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Sony | 6.4 (2,380) | -44% | 2674 | 87.6 |
| War Horse | BV | 5.7 (1,990) | -35% | 2856 | 65.8 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked | Fox | 5.8 (2,040) | -39% | 2849 | 125.8 |
| The Iron Lady | Weinstein Co. | 5.4 (6,760) | 2979% | 802 | 6 |
| We Bought a Zoo | Fox | 5.3 (1.820) | -36% | 2909 | 63.8 |
| The Adventures of Tintin | Par | 3.9 (1,890) | -42% | 2073 | 67.6 |
| Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | Focus | 3.1 (3.490) | -44% | 886 | 15 |
| The Descendants | Fox Searchlight | 2.0 (3,090) | -21% | 660 | 47.1 |
| The Artist | Weinstein Co. | 1.2 (5,370) | 4% | 216 | 8.8 |
| New Year’s Eve | WB | 1.0 (940) | -67% | 1092 | 53.7 |
| The Darkest Hour | Summit | 1.0 (850) | -68% | 1182 | 20.5 |
| Hugo | Par | 1.0 (1,800) | -39% | 545 | 54.1 |
| The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn | Summit | .78 (1,100) | -47% | 708 | 279.6 |
| Carnage | Sony Classics | .73 (1,480) | 570% | 494 | 1.3 |
| A Dangerous Method | Sony Class/eOne | .56 (5,380) | 97% | 104 | 2.7 |
| The Muppets | BV | .53 (970) | -61% | 547 | 86.4 |
| The Sitter | Fox | .44 (990) | -62% | 448 | 29.14 |
| My Week with Marilyn | Weinstein Co. | .43 (1,070) | -48% | 400 | 11.3 |
| Young Adult | Par | .42 (1,080) | -67% | 387 | 15.7 |
| Puss in Boots | Par | .41 (1,290) | -30% | 316 | 147.1 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $125.50 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 2% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -7% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Shame | Searchlight/Alliance | .14 (3,440) | -33% | 41 | 2.8 |
| Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | WB | 89,400 (14,900) | -12% | 6 | 0.63 |
| Vettai | UTV | 82,600 (2,500) | 33 | 0.08 | |
| A Separation | Sony Classics | 78,300 (13,050) | -15% | 6 | 0.41 |
| We Need to Talk About Kevin | Oscilloscope | 40,800 (20,400) | 2 | 0.05 | |
| In the Land of Blood and Honey | Film District | 38,600 (2,140) | 19% | 18 | 0.15 |
| Sophomore | Pillen’s Farm | 14,600 (14,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Divide | Anchor Bay | 14,200 (2,030) | 7 | 0.01 | |
| Bodyguard | Supreme | 13.300 (360) | 37 | 0.01 | |
| Sing Your Song | S2BN | 11,900 (5,950) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Newlyweds | TriBeCa0 | 7,100 (7,100) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Lula, Son of Brazil | New Yorker | 4,200 (2,100) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domain | Strand | 3,100 (3,100) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Man on a Mission | First Run | 1,800 (1,800) | 1 | 0.01 |
