By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report (3-Day)
Oy Vey!
A pair of newcomers topped the Labor Day holiday frame but the clear winner was the devil-obsessed The Possession that bowed to an estimated $17.7 million (all grossed reflect 3-day period). The depression-era gangster antics of The Lawless trailed with $9.4 million and an $11.6 million cume with box office from its Wednesday launch wrapped in.
The third national release was the family targeted Ooogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure that grossed considerably less than its highly publicized marketing budget with a five-day tally of $620,000.
In the niches neither new Indian import evinced staying power. Hindi Joker grossed $101,000 at 74 sites and Tamil Mugamoodi toted to $52,300 at 21 venues. Exclusive newcomers were largely dullish. The highly-praised comedy For a Good Time, Call… grossed $142,000 from 23 screens while Chinese 3D spectacle Flying Swords of Dragon Gate drew $84,700 from 15 engagements.
Overall session revenues just topped $100 million for a small 5% boost from seven days back. It was 9% down from 2011.
With initial data in hand, summer 2012 is headed for slightly less than a $4.1 billion finish that should translate into a 5% dip from 2011. Tomorrow’s column will include a preliminary chart and breakdown.
While tracking clearly put The Possession ahead of Lawless few anticipated that the film dubbed The Kosher Exorcist would generate more than $15 million in its opening three days. The Lawless conversely fell short of $10 million to $12 million estimates.
Polling for Ooogieloves suggested scant interest but its financier insisted youngsters weren’t polled and that it would surprise pundits. The surprise would be a second adventure.
The bright spots of the frame were unquestionably in the niches. The rom-com – from the folks at NPR’s This American Life – Sleepwalk with Me and the return of the Baraka crew with Samsara both generated strong per-screens in albeit limited exposure.
| Weekend (estimates) August 31 – September 2, 2012 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| The Possession | Lions Gate | 17.7 (6,280) | NEW | 2816 | 17.7 |
| Lawless | Weinstein Co. | 9.4 (3,270) | NEW | 2888 | 11.6 |
| The Expendables | Lions Gate | 8.8 (2,630) | -35% | 3334 | 66.1 |
| The Bourne Legacy | Uni | 7.2 (2,300) | -23% | 3131 | 96.2 |
| ParaNorman | Focus | 6.5 (2,110) | -24% | 3085 | 38 |
| The Odd Life of Timothy Green | BV | 6.0 (2,280) | -16% | 2635 | 35.9 |
| The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 5.9 (2,690) | -18% | 2187 | 431.2 |
| The Campaign | WB | 5.4 (1,850) | -27% | 2941 | 73 |
| 2016 Obama’s America | Rocky Mountain | 5.2 (2,990) | -20% | 1747 | 18.4 |
| Hope Springs | Sony | 4.7 (1,910) | -18% | 2441 | 52 |
| Premium Rush | Sony | 3.9 (1,730) | -35% | 2255 | 12.3 |
| Hit and Run | Open Road | 2.5 (880) | -44% | 2870 | 10 |
| Sparkle | Sony | 1.8 (1,450) | -54% | 1257 | 21.7 |
| The Avengers | BV | 1.7 (1,000) | 1387% | 1705 | 619.6 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | Fox | 1.4 (1,150) | -39% | 1204 | 45.2 |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 1.3 (1,230) | -28% | 1036 | 155.6 |
| Brave | BV | 1.3 (750) | 148% | 1708 | 231.6 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | 1.0 (1,950) | 99% | 501 | 259.6 |
| Total Recall | Sony | .87 (1,150) | -51% | 756 | 56.7 |
| Ted | Uni | .72 (1,290) | -23% | 561 | 215.9 |
| Celeste and Jesse Forever | Sony Classics | .67 (1,150) | 133% | 586 | 1.8 |
| The Apparition | WB | .61 (750) | -79% | 810 | 4.2 |
| Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | .59 (1,170) | -2% | 505 | 214.5 |
| Robot and Frank | IDP | .59 (4,070) | 106% | 144 | 1 |
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | Searchlight/eOne | .50 (1,890) | 9% | 267 | 9.6 |
| Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure | FreeStyle | .39 (180) | NEW | 2160 | 0.62 |
| Intouchables | Alliance/Weinstein | .36 (2,070) | 3% | 175 | 11.2 |
| Sleepwalk with Me | IFC | .34 (11,790) | 397% | 29 | 0.43 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $95.75 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -9% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 5% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Killer Joe | LD | .15 (2,020) | -22% | 74 | 1.2 |
| The Queen of Versailles | Magnolia | .14 (1,880) | -29% | 73 | 1.8 |
| For a Good Time, Call … | Focus | .14 (6,190) | 23 | 0.14 | |
| Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Classics | .13 (4,190) | 11% | 32 | 0.69 |
| Samsara | Oscilloscope | .11 (12,180) | 44% | 9 | 0.23 |
| Joker | UTV | .10 (1,370) | 74 | 0.1 | |
| Flying Swords of Dragon Gate | Indomina | 84,700 (5,650) | 15 | 0.08 | |
| Mugamoodi | UTV | 52,300 (2,490) | 21 | 0.05 | |
| The Bullet Vanishes | China Lion | 42,600 (2,840) | 15 | 0.04 | |
| The Grand Heist | CJ Entertainment | 18,100 (18,100) | 1 | 0.02 | |
| The Day | Anchor Bay | 10,200 (850) | 12 | 0.01 | |
| The Ambassador | Drafthouse | 9,800 (4,900) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Little Birds | Millennium | 4,900 (4,900) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Good Doctor | Magnolia | 3,300 (1,650) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – August 30, 2012) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (22) | 1203.6 | 16.00% | |||
| Sony (19) | 1165.9 | 15.50% | |||
| Buena Vista (12) | 1111.1 | 14.80% | |||
| Universal (13) | 1104.8 | 14.70% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (14) | 741.6 | 9.90% | |||
| Lions Gate (12) | 735.1 | 9.80% | |||
| Paramount (14) | 588.9 | 7.80% | |||
| Relativity (5) | 170.8 | 2.30% | |||
| Focus (6) | 104.7 | 1.40% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (8) | 103.2 | 1.40% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (10) | 91.4 | 1.20% | |||
| Open Road (4) | 78.9 | 1.00% | |||
| CBS (2) | 63.6 | 0.80% | |||
| Summit (4) | 47.1 | 0.60% | |||
| Sony Classics (17) | 41 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (233) | 171.3 | 2.30% | |||
| 7523 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% |
