By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Shaken, Stirred and Rocked
Stamina. James Bond has weathered a couple of dozen excursions and experienced many pinnacles and troughs. Skyfall ranks in the former with a North American debut estimated at $88.2 million … or roughly half of all movie tickets sold during the current weekend.
The competition steered clear of going head-to-head with 007 but one granite faced figure had the fortitude to establish an alternative beachhead. Lincoln put down his standard at 11 theaters and was rewarded with a victorious $907,000. Otherwise the exclusive bows ranged from poor to fair including the non-fiction Chasing Ice with $25,600 gross at two ridges and Danish Oscar submission A Royal Affair that entered the marketplace with $34,700 from six venues.
The bottled in Bond frame spurred on weekend revenues of more than $175 million and a tidy 26% boost from last weekend’s biz. It was a slightly higher 28% improvement from 2011 when the openings of Immortals and Jack and Jill topped the charts with respective launches of $10.1 million and $9.6 million.
The 50th anni incarnation of Ian Fleming’s operative has out-lasted and withstood every other movie franchise. Its international popularity has dwarfed domestic response for most of its history and is already in its third weekend of release overseas with more than $400 million in its casino royale.
If a little slower to catch on in the U.S. it should not be forgotten that 1965’s Thunderball was a phenomenal success, becoming the seventh biggest grossing of all-time at the time of its release.
Critical response to Skyfall has been rapturous and even the skeptical have had to concede their quibbles … are qibbles. Opening exit polls were skewed decidedly toward fans with 75% of buyers aged 25-years and older. They were also male dominated at 60%. With good word-of-mouth in the mix, the film should sustain and develop a whole new generation of fans.
Lincoln also garnered critical endorsement (it goes wide next weekend) and was elected to a solid first term. Despite its obvious bent toward history lesson and civics tutorial the film is apt to have its strongest appeal with an older crowd.
Meanwhile one couldn’t carp over the decent holds for both Wreck-It Ralph and Flight and the on-going appeal of Argo. And early niche prospects of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Sessions should sustain through the upcoming holiday and awards seasons.
It only leaves one thing to be said: Show me the magic.
| Weekend (estimates) November 9 – 11, 2012 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Skyfall | Sony | 88.2 (25,160) | NEW | 3505 | 88.2 |
| Wreck-It Ralph | BV | 33.1 (8,820) | -33% | 3752 | 93.7 |
| Flight | Par | 14.7 (7,190) | -41% | 2047 | 47.4 |
| Argo | WB | 6.5 (2,360) | -36% | 2763 | 85.5 |
| Taken 2 | Fox | 3.9 (1,580) | -34% | 2487 | 131.2 |
| Cloud Atlas | WB | 2.5 (1,240) | -53% | 2023 | 22.7 |
| Pitch Perfect | Uni | 2.5 (1,790) | -19% | 1391 | 59 |
| Man with the Iron Fists | Uni | 2.5 (1,320) | -69% | 1872 | 12.7 |
| Here Comes the Boom | Sony | 2.5 (1,210) | -30% | 2044 | 39 |
| Hotel Transylvania | Sony | 2.3 (900) | -47% | 2566 | 140.9 |
| Paranormal Activity 4 | Par | 1.9 (810) | -55% | 2348 | 52.5 |
| Sinister | Lions Gate | 1.4 (930) | -47% | 1554 | 46.5 |
| Silent Hill: Revelation | Open Road/Alliance | 1.2 (640) | -63% | 1902 | 16.3 |
| The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Lions Gate | 1.1 (1,760) | -13% | 607 | 14.6 |
| Lincoln | BV | .91 (82,450) | NEW | 11 | 0.91 |
| Alex Cross | Lions Gate | .87 (800) | -56% | 1090 | 24.6 |
| Fun Size | Par | .72 (550) | -69% | 1301 | 8.8 |
| Looper | Sony/Alliance | .56 (1,140) | -54% | 491 | 64.6 |
| The Sessions | Fox Searchlight | .54 (4,220) | 15% | 128 | 1.6 |
| Chasing Mavericks | Fox | .42 (920) | -66% | 459 | 5.2 |
| Seven Psychopaths | CBS | .41 (1,150) | -44% | 356 | 14.1 |
| Brave | BV | .30 (1,270) | -8% | 239 | 236.1 |
| Frankenweenie | BV | .25 (660) | -67% | 381 | 33.8 |
| Trouble with the Curve | WB | .25 (580) | 36% | 421 | 35.3 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $167.90 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 28% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 26% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| A Late Quartet | eOne | .18 (2,940) | 142% | 62 | 0.29 |
| The Other Son | Cohen Media | .12 (2,200) | -21% | 55 | 0.51 |
| Midnight’s Children | Mongrol | .11 (3,210) | 37% | 35 | 0.23 |
| Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Classics | .10 (1,040) | -34% | 94 | 2.5 |
| Smashed | Sony Classics | 39,200 (930) | 15% | 42 | 0.25 |
| A Royal Affair | Magnolia | 34,700 (4,950) | 7 | 0.03 | |
| Chasing Ice | National Geo | 25,600 (12,800) | 2 | 0.03 | |
| Dangerous Liaisons | Well Go | 16,300 (2,710) | 6 | 0.02 | |
| Starlet | Music Box | 14,500 (2,420) | 6 | 0.01 | |
| Citadel | Cinedgm | 5,700 (5,700) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Christmas in Compton | Barnholtz | 5,600 (930) | 6 | 0.01 | |
| Columbarium | Fun Film | 4,900 (700) | 7 | 0.01 | |
| Burn: One Year on the Frontline | A23 | 2,300 (2,300) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Coming Up Roses | Dada | 2,200 (2,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Nov. 8, 2012) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
| Sony (24) | 1476.9 | 16.40% | |||
| Warner Bros. (25) | 1383.5 | 15.40% | |||
| Buena Vista (15) | 1277.9 | 14.20% | |||
| Universal (15) | 1200 | 13.30% | |||
| Lions Gate (18) | 913.1 | 10.20% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (17) | 891.2 | 9.90% | |||
| Paramount (19) | 685.9 | 7.60% | |||
| Relativity (6) | 202 | 2.20% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (16) | 144.8 | 1.60% | |||
| Open Road (6) | 134.7 | 1.50% | |||
| Focus (7) | 131.4 | 1.50% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (9) | 107.5 | 1.20% | |||
| CBS (4) | 88.9 | 1.00% | |||
| Summit (4) | 47.1 | 0.50% | |||
| Sony Classics (19) | 46.1 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (317) | 267.4 | 3.00% | |||
| 8998.4 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% |
