By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report: Wolf at the Door
Wolf at the Door
There was a lack of Lupophobia at the multiplex as The Grey ascended to the top of the weekend movie charts with an estimated $19.5 million debut. Two other national bows figured into the top five with the romantic actioner One For the Money slotted third with $11.7 million and the suspenseful Man on a Ledge two notches back at $7.9 million.
Bollywood entry Agneepath was off to a solid start of $1.1 million and Oscar contender Albert Nobbs generated an OK $660,000 at 246 venues. Other debuting niche and exclusive entries were largely moribund including animated entry Back to the Sea with a $36,600 tally from 53 engagements and Chinese franchise All’s Well Ends Well 2012 struggling to $28,400 on 20 screens.
An exception – literally and figuratively – was An Inconsistent Truth about globe warming doubters that grossed $21,800 from a single site in Nashville … thank you very much.
Despite the absence of a powerhouse debut business improved from last year. It was still 5% off of last weekend’s box office but 15% improved from 2011 when debuts of The Rite and The Mechanic ranked first and third with respective bows of $14.8 million and $11.4 million.
Pundits predicted that The Grey would be vying for top position with last weekend’s leader Underworld: Awakening. But the yarn of survival in the wild with ravenous wolves at the margins got a big uptick from generally upbeat reviews. The industry grumbling largely emanated from the distribution committee that is testy about the fact that the picture’s distributor was created by the Regal and AMC chains _ the nation’s first and second ranked circuits.
Meanwhile one exhibitor _ mid-West player Marcus Theaters _ created ripples when it refused to accept rental terms on One For the Money. Apparently one sore point was a promotion via Groupon for discounted tickets. The film, starring Katherine Heigl, skewed 79% female with 59% of viewers were 25-years and older.
Man on a Ledge lacked both controversy and commercial interest despite an aggressive promotional campaign. Exit demos showed that those that did go to the brink were split evenly male-female with 56% aged 25 years and younger.
Post the announcement of Oscar nominees Tuesday, the biggest beneficiaries were The Descendants that added 1,441 playdates, The Artist that cautiously expanded 235 screens and Hugo that otherwise would have disappeared into the either. Conversely it was bad news for the likes of Carnage, Shame and We Need to Talk About Kevin that figured into early award consideration but were MIA from the Oscar ballot.
Weekend (estimates) January 20 – 22, 2012 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
The Grey | Open Road | 19.5 (6,130) | NEW | 3185 | 19.5 |
Underworld: Awakening | Sony | 12.2 (3,950) | -52% | 3078 | 44.8 |
One For the Money | Lions Gate | 11.7 (4,270) | NEW | 2737 | 11.7 |
Red Tails | Fox | 10.1 (3,920) | -46% | 2573 | 33.5 |
Man on a Ledge | Summit | 7.9 (2,640) | NEW | 2998 | 7.9 |
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | WB | 7.0 (2,650) | -42% | 2630 | 20.9 |
Contraband | Uni | 6.5 (2,450) | -46% | 2650 | 56.4 |
The Descendants | Fox Searchlight | 6.3 (3,160) | 167% | 2001 | 58.6 |
Beauty and the Beast | BV | 5.4 (2,510) | -39% | 2145 | 41.2 |
Haywire | Relativity | 4.0 (1,630) | -53% | 2441 | 15.3 |
Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Par | 3.4 (2,070) | -38% | 1654 | 202.5 |
The Artist | Weinstein Co. | 3.3 (3,660) | 38% | 897 | 16.7 |
Joyful Noise | WB | 3.2 (1,590) | -46% | 2021 | 26.7 |
The Iron Lady | Weinstein Co. | 3.2 (2,550) | -14% | 1244 | 17.5 |
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | WB | 2.5 (1,640) | -44% | 1530 | 182.2 |
Hugo | Par | 2.2 (2,320) | 139% | 965 | 58.6 |
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Sony | 2.2 (1,820) | -38% | 1202 | 98.2 |
War Horse | BV | 1.9 (1,040) | -38% | 1861 | 75.6 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked | Fox | 1.7 (1,630) | -44% | 1070 | 127 |
We Bought a Zoo | Fox | 1.4 (1,310) | -49% | 1089 | 71.7 |
The Adventures of Tintin | Par | 1.3 (1,860) | -41% | 702 | 74.2 |
Agneepath | Eros | 1.1 (8,410) | NEW | 132 | 1.2 |
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | Focus | 1.0 (2,510) | -41% | 410 | 20.1 |
Albert Nobbs | Roadside Attractions | .66 (2,680) | NEW | 246 | 0.66 |
The Devil Inside | Par Insurge | .62 (860) | -77% | 722 | 52.7 |
A Dangerous Method | Sony Class/eOne | .52 (1,420) | 36% | 365 | 4 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $120.80 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -5% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | 15% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
A Separation | Sony Classics | .26 (8,450) | 55% | 31 | 0.87 |
Shame | Searchlight/Alliance | .17 (2,120) | -31% | 80 | 3.3 |
Carnage | Sony Classics | .12 (1,710) | -58% | 70 | 2.2 |
We Need to Talk About Kevin | Oscilloscope | 61,800 (6,180) | -16% | 10 | 0.28 |
Coriolanus | Weinstein Co. | 48,700 (4,060) | -20% | 12 | 0.14 |
Back to the Sea | Industryworks | 36,600 ((690) | 53 | 0.04 | |
All’s Well Ends Well 2012 | China Lion | 28,400 (1,420) | 20 | 0.03 | |
Unitards | Excel | 23,200 (1,160) | 20 | 0.02 | |
An Inconsistent Truth | Rocky Mountain | 21,800 (21,800) | 1 | 0.02 | |
Declaration of War | IFC | 12,400 (2,070) | 6 | 0.01 | |
Wicker Tree | Anchor Bay | 4,600 (460) | 10 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – 26, 2012) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
Paramount (8) | 173.5 | 25.20% | |||
Warner Bros. (9) | 106.6 | 15.50% | |||
20th Century Fox (5) | 98.8 | 14.40% | |||
Sony (7) | 81.9 | 11.90% | |||
Buena Vista (5) | 79.4 | 11.60% | |||
Universal (2) | 51.1 | 7.40% | |||
Weinstein Co. (4) | 26.7 | 3.90% | |||
Focus (2) | 15.9 | 2.30% | |||
Summit (2) | 15 | 2.20% | |||
Fox Searchlight (3) | 15 | 2.20% | |||
Relativity (2) | 12 | 1.70% | |||
Sony Classics (5) | 3.8 | 0.60% | |||
Other * (25) | 7.7 | 1.10% | |||
687.4 | 100.00% |