By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Dog Day Matinee
The Expendables 2 coined an estimated $13.3 million to once again take top spot on the weekend movie going chart. The trio of new national releases didn’t get much more than a toe-hold on audience interest. Premium Rush carried on the tradition of 1986’s Quicksilver as it peddled into eighth with $6.3 million despite allegations of doping while Hit and Run skidded on the rail with $5.7 million. The horror entry The Apparition had a semblance of $2.9 million.
The session also included a regional tryout for basketball comedy Thunderstruck that netted $320,000 and a trip to the minors. New entries on the Indian circuit provided OK results for Telugu Sudigaadu of $131,000 at 27 venues and dull returns for Hindi Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Pad of $118,000 on 54 screens.
Exclusive newcomers fared considerably better with This American Life of Sleepwalk with Me grossing $71,900 at a single site and the Barakaesque Samara with $75,300 from two engagements. The other Baraka—2016 Obama’s America—continues to surprise with a national expansion that polled $6.4 million.
The season’s glory days were definitely over with frame revenues a shade below $100 million that translated into a 32% drop from seven days back. It was nonetheless 3% improved from 2011 when the third weekend of The Help was top of the charts with $14.5 million and newcomer Colombiana took the bridesmaid’s slot with $10.4 million.
With but one more weekend remaining in movie summer box office is at roughly $3.9 billion and will likely fall short of the 2011 level of $4.27 billion.
| Weekend (estimates) August 24 – 26, 2012 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| The Expendables | Lions Gate | 13.3 (3,970) | -53% | 3355 | 52.1 |
| The Bourne Legacy | Uni | 9.3 (2,530) | -46% | 3654 | 84.5 |
| ParaNorman | Focus | 8.6 (2,490) | -39% | 3455 | 28.2 |
| The Campaign | WB | 7.4 (2,250) | -43% | 3302 | 64.5 |
| The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 7.2 (2,750) | -35% | 2606 | 422.2 |
| The Odd Life of Timothy Green | BV | 7.1 (2,750) | -34% | 2598 | 27.1 |
| 2016 Obama’s America | Rocky Mountain | 6.4 (5,860) | 413% | 1091 | 9.2 |
| Premium Rush | Sony | 6.3 (2,780) | NEW | 2255 | 6.3 |
| Hope Springs | Sony | 5.9 (2,440) | -36% | 2402 | 44.9 |
| Hit and Run | Open Road | 4.5 (1,580) | NEW | 2870 | 5.7 |
| Sparkle | Sony | 4.1 (1,830) | -65% | 2244 | 18.8 |
| The Apparition | WB | 2.9 (3,630) | NEW | 810 | 2.9 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | Fox | 2.2 (1,120) | -43% | 1965 | 42.8 |
| Total Recall | Sony | 1.8 (1,150) | -48% | 1576 | 55.2 |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 1.7 (1,080) | -44% | 1550 | 153.4 |
| Ted | Uni | .92 (1,170) | -40% | 783 | 214.7 |
| Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | .56 (1,500) | -21% | 374 | 213.6 |
| Brave | BV | .52 (1,150) | -36% | 452 | 230.1 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | .49 (1,170) | -35% | 418 | 258.3 |
| Ek the Tiger | Yash Raj | .46 (3,880) | -60% | 118 | 2.4 |
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | Searchlight/eOne | .45 (2,130) | -20% | 212 | 8.8 |
| Step-Up Revolution | Lions Gate | .44 (1,040) | -57% | 428 | 33.6 |
| Moonrise Kingdom | Focus | .42 (1,250) | -17% | 332 | 43.7 |
| Intouchables | Alliance/Weinstein | .36 (1,850) | -2% | 194 | 10.7 |
| Thunderstruck | WB | .32 (1,270) | NEW | 251 | 0.32 |
| Celeste and Jesse Forever | Sony Classics | .28 (2,460) | 14% | 115 | 1 |
| Robot and Frank | IDP | .26 (5,690) | 628% | 46 | 0.31 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $91.20 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 3% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -32% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| To Rome with Love | Sony Classics | .20 (900) | -18% | 221 | 15.9 |
| The Queen of Versailles | Magnolia | .19 (2,220) | -10% | 85 | 1.5 |
| Killer Joe | LD | .18 (3,020) | 21% | 60 | 0.92 |
| Ruby Sparks | Fox Searchlight | .16 (1,220) | -45% | 135 | 2.1 |
| Cosmopolis | eOne | .16 (2,490) | 123% | 63 | 0.44 |
| Sudigaadu | Vedha | .13 (4,870) | 27 | 0.13 | |
| Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Pad | Eros | .12 (2,190) | 54 | 12 | |
| Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Classics | .12 (4,240) | 16% | 29 | 0.5 |
| 2 Days in New York | Magnolia | .10 (2,460) | -2% | 40 | 0.29 |
| Samsara | Oscilloscope | 75,300 (37,650) | 2 | 0.08 | |
| Sleepwalk with Me | IFC | 71,900 (71,900) | 1 | 0.07 | |
| Les Infideles | Alliance | 43,200 (1,880) | 23 | 0.04 | |
| Little White Lies | MPI | 25,600 (8,530) | 3 | 0.03 | |
| R2B | CJ Entertainment | 20,300 (1,690) | 12 | 0.02 | |
| Hermano | Music Box | 14,700 (320) | 46 | 0.01 | |
| Neighboring Sounds | Cinema Guild | 12,800 (12,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Somewhere Between | Long Shot | 7,300 (7,300) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Wild Horse, Wild Ride | Screen Media | 3,700 (3,700) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Revenant | Paladin | 2,300 (2,300) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – August 23, 2012) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (20) | 1178.3 | 15.90% | |||
| Sony (18) | 1140.4 | 15.50% | |||
| Buena Vista (12) | 1100.2 | 14.90% | |||
| Universal (13) | 1090.3 | 14.80% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (14) | 735.4 | 10.00% | |||
| Lions Gate (12) | 715.6 | 9.70% | |||
| Paramount (14) | 588.1 | 8.00% | |||
| Relativity (5) | 170.8 | 2.30% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (8) | 102.3 | 1.40% | |||
| Focus (6) | 92.2 | 1.20% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (9) | 88.7 | 1.20% | |||
| Open Road (4) | 73.3 | 1.00% | |||
| CBS (2) | 63.6 | 0.90% | |||
| Summit (4) | 47.1 | 0.60% | |||
| Sony Classics (17) | 40.1 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (223) | 155.9 | 2.10% | |||
| 7382.3 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Global Grossers (Jan. 1 – Aug. 23, 2012) | * | ||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
| The Avengers | BV | 1,484,907,564 | |||
| The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 928,651,346 | |||
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 803,759,790 | |||
| The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | 697,476,794 | |||
| The Hunger Games | Lions Gate | 689,114,563 | |||
| Men in Black III | Sony | 623,837,312 | |||
| Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | 573,683,119 | |||
| Brave | BV | 422,447,709 | |||
| Snow White and the Huntsman | Uni | 371,494,391 | |||
| Ted | Uni | 359,792,533 | |||
| Titanic 3D (reissue) | Par | 345,264,033 | |||
| Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol * | Par | 344,943,081 | |||
| Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Uni | 338,231,414 | |||
| Prometheus | Fox | 333,737,725 | |||
| Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | WB | 329,080,786 | |||
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows * | WB | 316,944,418 | |||
| Wrath of the Titans | WB | 305,139,409 | |||
| Battleship | Uni | 304,315,428 | |||
| John Carter | BV | 281,891,994 | |||
| Dark Shadows | WB | 244,524,914 | |||
| American Reunion | Uni | 234,988,955 | |||
| Intouchables * | Gaumont/Alliance | 225,010,172 | |||
| Safe House | Uni | 203,824,342 | |||
| 21 Jump Street | Sony | 202,044,850 | |||
| The Vow | Sony | 197,130,456 | |||
| * does not include 2011 box office |
