By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Sly and the Family Tomes
By Leonard Klady
Get some buddies together, save the world and the results are an estimated $28.3 million for the debut of The Expendables 2. The weekend’s top grosser was among four nationally debuting pictures that included the family animated ghoul ParaNorman in third spot with $13.9 million and the musical remake Sparkle two notches down with a $12 million gross. The family-targeted The Odd Life of Timothy Green trailed with a $10.8 million frame gross.
In the niches Ek the Tiger bowed with a potent $938,000 ($1.3 million since Wednesday) from 120 exposures. The film opened to record-breaking biz in its native India.
Exclusive newcomers provided a couple of encouraging results including the U.S. bow of David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis with an impressive $72,400 tally at three venues following a disappointing Canadian run. Also of note were the oddball drama Robot & Frank with box office of $36,500 at two sites and a $8,400 gross at a solo stand for the non-fiction Side by Side about how digital cinema has changed the movies.
The session generated roughly $145 million in ticket sales for a slight 2% decline from last weekend. It was, however, 11% better than the comparable 2011 period when The Help’s second weekend led with $20 million and a trio of stereoscopic newcomers—Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night—all failed to impress.
Perhaps no one has done more for personal recycling than Sylvester Stallone. While we await his take on the geriatric boxing circuit The Expendables 2 provides a Ramboesque yarn with a rogue’s gallery of support. Expectations of $30 million domestically fell short but initial international returns were buoyant. To no great surprise, opening weekend moviegoers were 63% male and 65% were at least 25.
ParaNorman, an animated spin on The Sixth Sense for families, arrived in the middle of tracking in the $12 million to $15 million range. It slightly outshone the live action The Odd Life of Timothy Green that took a Wednesday head start but failed to get any additional traction in weekend viewing.
Long the elephant’s graveyard for studio pictures with perceived limited commerciality, August can be grim times at the multiplex. Sparkle, despite the presence of Whitney Houston, slightly exceeded estimates that topped out at $10 million. It played female and predominantly 25 years old and more mature.
With just two more weekends of movie summertime to bank the 2012 edition is on track for improved box office results. However, it may also rank as one of the most brutal seasons for potential (and failed) future franchises with the likes of John Carter and Battleship put into dry dock.
| Weekend (estimates) August 17 – 19, 2012 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| The Expendables | Lions Gate | 28.3 (8,550) | NEW | 3316 | 28.3 |
| The Bourne Legacy | Uni | 17.0 (4,530) | -55% | 3753 | 69.6 |
| ParaNorman | Focus | 13.9 (4,060) | NEW | 3429 | 13.9 |
| The Campaign | WB | 13.2 (4,060) | -50% | 3255 | 51.5 |
| Sparkle | Sony | 12.0 (5,340) | NEW | 2244 | 12 |
| The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 10.9 (3,450) | -43% | 3157 | 409.7 |
| The Odd Life of Timothy Green | BV | 10.8 (4,170) | NEW | 2598 | 15.1 |
| Hope Springs | Sony | 9.1 (3,850) | -38% | 2361 | 34.4 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | Fox | 3.8 (1,390) | -52% | 2737 | 38.7 |
| Total Recall | Sony | 3.5 (1,430) | -57% | 2434 | 51.8 |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 2.9 (1,290) | -54% | 2274 | 150.1 |
| Ted | Uni | 1.6 (1,380) | -50% | 1169 | 213.1 |
| 2016 Obama’s America | Rocky Mountain | 1.2 (7,160) | 282% | 169 | 2 |
| Step Up Revolution | Lions Gate | 1.1 (1,180) | -64% | 905 | 32.8 |
| Ek the Tiger | Yash Raj | .94 (7,820) | NEW | 120 | 1.3 |
| Brave | BV | .81 (1,260) | -55% | 641 | 229.1 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | .76 (1,270) | -64% | 598 | 257.4 |
| Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | .67 (1,650) | 59% | 406 | 212.6 |
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | Searchlight/eOne | .55 (2,330) | -24% | 236 | 8.1 |
| Moonrise Kingdom | Focus | .52 (1,840) | -15% | 282 | 43 |
| The Watch | Fox | .43 (840) | -81% | 513 | 33 |
| Intouchables | Alliance/Weinstein | .36 (1,870) | -3% | 194 | 10.1 |
| Nitro Circus | Arc Entertainment | .32 (760) | -73% | 424 | 3.1 |
| Ruby Sparks | Fox Searchlight | .30 (1,370) | -33% | 218 | 1.8 |
| To Rome with Love | Sony Classics | .25 (1,550) | -41% | 160 | 15.6 |
| Celeste and Jesse Forever | Sony Classics | .25 (3,670) | 97% | 67 | 0.62 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $133.55 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 11% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -2% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| The Queen of Versailles | Magnolia | .19 (2,430) | -12% | 77 | 1.2 |
| Killer Joe | LD | .14 (3,430) | 2% | 42 | 0.66 |
| Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Classics | .10 (3,870) | 65% | 27 | 0.31 |
| The Awakening | Cohen Media | 88,200 (1,260) | 70 | 0.09 | |
| 2 Days in New York | Magnolia | 83,300 (5,950) | 185% | 14 | 0.12 |
| The Imposters | Indomina | 79,700 (4,190) | 82% | 19 | 0.27 |
| Cosmopolis | eOne | 72,400 (24,130) | 3 | 0.25 | |
| Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed | KOAN | 66,800 (2,150) | 31 | 0.07 | |
| Robot and Frank | Stage 6 | 36,500 (18,250) | 2 | 0.04 | |
| Beloved | IFC | 25,100 (5,020) | 5 | 0.03 | |
| Painted Skin: The Resurrection | Well Go | 16,200 (2,700) | 6 | 0.02 | |
| Devudu Chesina Manushulu | Big Pictures | 13,400 (670) | 20 | 0.01 | |
| Chicken with Plums | Sony Classics | 10,500 (5,250) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Je n’ai rien oublie | Seville | 8,700 (1,740) | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Side by Side | TriBeCa | 8,400 (8,400 | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – August 16, 2012) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (20) | 1142.5 | 15.90% | |||
| Sony (17) | 1105.7 | 15.40% | |||
| Buena Vista (12) | 1082.9 | 15.10% | |||
| Universal (13) | 1063.8 | 14.80% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (14) | 724.2 | 10.10% | |||
| Lions Gate (11) | 674.8 | 9.40% | |||
| Paramount (14) | 586.8 | 8.20% | |||
| Relativity (5) | 170.8 | 2.40% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (8) | 100.9 | 1.40% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (9) | 88.2 | 1.20% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 72.2 | 1.00% | |||
| Focus (5) | 71.8 | 1.00% | |||
| CBS (2) | 63.6 | 0.90% | |||
| Summit (4) | 47.1 | 0.65% | |||
| Sony Classics (17) | 39.2 | 0.55% | |||
| Other * (218) | 148.9 | 2.00% | |||
| 7183.4 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Limited Releases (Jan. 1 – Aug. 9, 2012) | * | ||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
| Intouchables | Alliance/Weinstein Co. | 9,747,724 | |||
| Salmon Fishing in the Yemen | CBS | 9,212,707 | |||
| Bernie | Millennium | 8,984,717 | |||
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | Searchlight/eOne | 7,547,676 | |||
| To the Arctic | WB | 7,497,785 | |||
| Friends with Kids | Roadside Attractions | 7,251,073 | |||
| A Separation | Sony Classics | 7,099,055 | |||
| Casa de mi Padre | Lions Gate | 5,950,292 | |||
| For Greater Glory | Arc Entertainment | 5,672,673 | |||
| Born to Be Wild * | WB | 5,399,567 | |||
| October Baby | IDP | 5,357,328 | |||
| Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Par | 4,301,276 | |||
| A Dangerous Method * | Sony Class/eOne | 4,215,019 | |||
| The Raid: Redemption | Sony Class/Alliance | 4,105,187 | |||
| Monsieur Lazhar * | Seville/Music Box | 4,089,856 | |||
| Pina * | IFC/Metropole | 4,062,507 | |||
| Goon | Alliance/Magnolia | 3,969,697 | |||
| Safety Not Guaranteed | Film District | 3,642,607 | |||
| Hubble 3D * | Imax | 3,618,918 | |||
| Bully | Weinstein Co. | 3,495,043 | |||
| * does not include 2011 box office |
