By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report: May 27, 2012 (3 Day)
They’re Black!!!
Men in Black III did little to slow down The Avengers juggernaut but nonetheless won the box office crown for the Memorial holiday weekend with a three-day estimate of $54.9 million. The Avengers added $36.8 million and raised its cume to more than $500 million – the fourth film to reach such heights.
The sessions only other national debut was the horror cheapie Chernobyl Diaries that entered the fray with $8 million in position five.
Regional newcomers were dullish but a pair of exclusive entries displayed brio and gusto. French powerhouse Intouchables ($355 million internationally) opened in the U.S. with close to $100,000 (all figures reflect three-day box office) from a quartet of screens following a $2 million plus tally in Quebec. The dynamic bow was overshadowed by a jaw dropping $517,000 bow (also at four sites) for Cannes curtain raiser Moonrise Kingdom. This year’s Cannes jury winners are a few hours away from announcement as of this writing.
Weekend revenues added up to roughly $155 million for a tidy 9% boost from seven days back. However, it was a sizeable 32% from last year’s holiday incarnation. In 2011 the dynamic duo of Hangover 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 debuted respectively to $86 million and $47.6 million respectively.
Anticipation for the third installment of Men in Black was considerable with estimates in the range of $70 million to $75 million. Actuals were slightly lower though placated by an estimated $130 million gross internationally that included near $20 million openings in both China and Russia.
Critical reaction was mixed with some griping about Tommy Lee Jones’ limited involvement in the time travel scenario. Exit demos showed a slight 54% male tilt and 56% of the audience aged 25 years and older.
Chernobyl Diaries crowd was composed 53% female with the overall audience 57% 25 years old and younger. It also underperformed tracking that indicated a $10 million to $12 million debut.
Alternative titles other than the freshman entries continued to expand effectively. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel reached national exposure with 1233 playdates and a sturdy $5,170 per engagement average. Bernie roughly doubled its exposure to 194 venues and maintained a healthy $4,590 average.
| Weekend (estimates) May 25 – 27, 2012 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Men in Black III | Sony | 54.9 (12,920) | NEW | 4248 | 54.9 |
| The Avengers | BV | 36.8 (9,380) | -34% | 3918 | 513.5 |
| Battleship | Uni | 10.7 (2,893) | -58% | 3702 | 44.2 |
| The Dictator | Par | 9.5 (3,150) | -46% | 3008 | 41.3 |
| Chernobyl Diaries | WB | 8.0 (3,300) | NEW | 2433 | 8 |
| Dark Shadows | WB | 7.5 (2,200) | -41% | 3404 | 63 |
| What to Expect When You’re Expecting | Lions Gate | 7.2 (2,390) | -32% | 3021 | 22.2 |
| The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Fox Searchlight | 6.4 (5,170) | 97% | 1233 | 16.6 |
| The Hunger Games | Lions Gate | 2.2 (1,570) | -24% | 1421 | 395.2 |
| Think Like a Man | Sony | 1.4 (1,760) | -48% | 786 | 88.3 |
| Pirates! Band of Misfits | Sony | 1.1 (1,220) | -32% | 884 | 27.3 |
| Bernie | Millennium | .89 (4,590) | 81% | 194 | 2.2 |
| The Lucky One | WB | .57 (930) | -58% | 615 | 58.3 |
| Moonrise Kingdom | Focus | .52 (129,250) | NEW | 4 | 0.52 |
| Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Uni | .51 (1,310) | 11% | 390 | 210.9 |
| Mirror Mirror | Relativity | .46 (1,140) | 15% | 407 | 62.2 |
| Chimpanzee | BV | .33 (900) | -50% | 368 | 27.7 |
| The Five Year Engagement | Uni | .31 (1,120) | -72% | 274 | 28 |
| The Three Stooges | Fox | .26 (810) | -40% | 325 | 42.2 |
| John Carter | BV | .23 (1,300) | -38% | 175 | 72.4 |
| Wrath of the Titans | WB | .22 (850) | -54% | 255 | 82.9 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $148.20 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -32% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 9% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Hysterical | Sony Classics | .14 (4,450) | 300% | 32 | 0.2 |
| Crooked Arrows | Branded Pictures | .12 (1,840) | -51% | 67 | 0.44 |
| Intouchables | Weinstein Co. | .10 (24,320) | 4 | 0.1 | |
| Cowgirls n’ Angels | IDP | 85,400 (1,710) | 50 | 0.09 | |
| Darling Companion | Sony Classics | 66,700 (1,090) | 13% | 61 | 0.52 |
| Where Do We Go Now? | Sony Classics | 59,800 (2,390) | 153% | 25 | 0.12 |
| Daruvu | Blue Sky | 53,600 (1,530) | 35 | 0.05 | |
| Mighty Fine | Adopt | 22,300 (7,420) | 30 | 0.02 | |
| Oslo, August 31 | Strand | 11,200 (5,600) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| OC87 | Fisher | 5,400 (5,400) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – May 24, 2012) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
| Buena Vista (9) | 694.7 | 16.80% | |||
| Universal (9) | 560.6 | 13.60% | |||
| Sony (12) | 546.4 | 13.30% | |||
| Lions Gate (9) | 535.3 | 13.00% | |||
| Warner Bros. (15) | 500.1 | 12.10% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (9) | 343.7 | 8.30% | |||
| Paramount (12) | 321.6 | 7.80% | |||
| Relativity (5) | 167.2 | 4.10% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (7) | 81.1 | 2.00% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 72.1 | 1.80% | |||
| CBS (2) | 63.2 | 1.50% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (5) | 56.5 | 1.40% | |||
| Summit (4) | 47.1 | 1.10% | |||
| Focus (3) | 22 | 0.50% | |||
| Sony Classics (13) | 20.5 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (135) | 89.5 | 2.20% | |||
| 4121.6 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.04% | |||||
| Top Domestic Grossers (Jan. 1 – May 24, 2012) * | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
| The Avengers | BV | 476,684,788 | |||
| The Hunger Games | Lions Gate | 393,008,785 | |||
| Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Uni | 210,363,770 | |||
| 21 Jump Street | Sony | 135,833,788 | |||
| Safe House | Uni | 126,271,974 | |||
| The Vow | Sony | 125,074,813 | |||
| Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | WB | 102,933,493 | |||
| Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol * | Par | 87,174,082 | |||
| Think Like a Man | Sony | 86,871,941 | |||
| Wrath of the Titans | WB | 82,695,376 | |||
| John Carter | BV | 72,225,619 | |||
| Act of Valor | Relativity | 69,994,277 | |||
| Contraband | Uni | 66,703,339 | |||
| Chronicle | Fox | 64,551,779 | |||
| Underworld: Awakening | Sony | 62,904,000 | |||
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows * | WB | 62,826,945 | |||
| Mirror Mirror | Relativity | 61,718,257 | |||
| Titanic 3D (reissue) | Par | 57,765,802 | |||
| The Lucky One | WB | 57,712,833 | |||
| American Reunion | Uni | 56,592,105 | |||
| * does not include 2011 box office | |||||
I’d like to hear thoughts on Bernie’s business, but as usual, everyone refuses to acknowledge it. Why will NO ONE (its studio included) promote or even mention this film?
For all the talk about how MiB III “beat” AVENGERS, at $54.6M this is the first weekend that total could have beaten every other weekend of AVENGERS (last week, its third, was $55.6M).
Some time on Friday AVENGERS will pass DARK KNIGHT’S entire domestic gross. But I don’t think it has a shot at $600M.
Bernie is now showing for a third weekend in Denton, TX. How is this possible if no one gives a shit?