By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
You Dirty Rat
The revenge actioner Snitch debuted to $12.9 million but that put it in the bridesmaid slot behind returning champ Identity Thief that topped session charts with an estimated $14 million. Thief is poised to become the first 2013’s release to hit a $100 million domestic gross. The frame’s only other incoming national release was the alien terror yarn Dark Skies that opened to $8.6 million to rank sixth overall.
In the niches Bollywood served up Kai Po Che to an excellent $540,000 at 111 venues. Other Indian imports were largely moribund. In Québec, the latest Asterix and Obelisk adventure from France was off to a good start of $284,000 at 79 locations but local production Roche papier ciseaux (Rock Paper Scissors) failed to cut it with box office of $30,200 from 23 encounters.
New exclusive entries were also disappointing with Camp’s $8,400 single screen bow displaying any sign of hope.
Weekend revenues pushed to roughly $105 million for a 27% erosion from seven days past. It was also the fifth consecutive week to see declines from 2012 with the current session 21% off last year’s pace. Twelve months ago the debuts of Act of Valor and Good Deeds were top placed with respective box office of $24.5 million and $15.6 million.
Off campus the 85th Academy Awards will air ce soir. Contenders in the marketplace certainly appear to have benefited from Oscar fever and that could prove a key factor in determining 2014’s air date in light of an absence of a February slot due to playoffs in the sporting arena.
The Academy certainly is pushing (eventually) toward a late January broadcast but may not be logistically ready for that next year with glitches to fix in its first kick at the can at electronic voting.
Personally I’m just hoping that tonight’s presentation will have a smattering of surprises … pleasant ones.
| Weekend (estimates) February 22 – 24, 2013) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Identity Thief | Uni | 14.0 (4,360) | -41% | 3222 | 93.6 |
| Snitch | Lionsgate | 12.9 (5,150) | NEW | 2511 | 12.8 |
| Escape from Planet Earth | Weinstein Co. | 11.0 (3,290) | -31% | 3353 | 35.2 |
| Safe Haven | Relativity | 10.6 (3,300) | -50% | 3223 | 48.1 |
| A Good Day to Die Hard | Fox | 9.8 (2,760) | -60% | 3555 | 51.6 |
| Dark Skies | Weinstein Co. | 8.6 (3,720) | NEW | 2313 | 8.6 |
| Silver Linings Playbook | Weinstein Co. | 6.0 (2,970) | -4% | 2012 | 107.4 |
| Warm Bodies | Lionsgate | 4.8 (1,800) | -46% | 2644 | 58.2 |
| Side Effects | Open Road/eOne | 3.5 (1,680) | -55% | 2070 | 25.2 |
| Beautiful Creatures | WB | 3.4 (1,160) | -55% | 2950 | 16.4 |
| Zero Dark Thirty | Sony/Alliance | 2.2 (1,870) | -25% | 1197 | 91.6 |
| Argo | WB | 1.9 (2,400) | -12% | 802 | 129.8 |
| Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters | Par | 1.6 (1,130) | -54% | 1425 | 52.9 |
| Life of Pi | Fox | 1.5 (2,660) | -3% | 572 | 113.4 |
| Lincoln | BV | 1.5 (1,690) | -10% | 875 | 178.6 |
| Quartet | Weinstein Co. | 1.2 (2,610) | -9% | 456 | 8.9 |
| Mama | Uni/eOne | 1.1 (980) | -58% | 1163 | 70.2 |
| Django Unchained | Weinstein Co. | 1.0 (1,500) | -35% | 659 | 158.8 |
| Amour | Sony Classics | .77 (2,350) | -10% | 328 | 5.2 |
| Wreck-It Ralph | BV | .63 (1,570) | -21% | 402 | 186.7 |
| Les Miserables | Uni | .58 (1,250) | -33% | 462 | 146.6 |
| Kai Po Che | UTV | .54 (4,860) | NEW | 0.54 | |
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | WB | .53 (1,360) | -47% | 388 | 300.9 |
| Bless Me Ultima | Arenas | .45 (1,720) | NEW | 263 | 0.9 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $99.65 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -21% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -27% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Asterix & Obelix au service de sa majeste | Alliance | .28 (3,600) | 79 | 0.28 | |
| The Gatekeepers | Sony Classics | .14 (7,440) | 148% | 19 | 0.39 |
| The Berlin File | CJ Entertainment | .12 (5,400) | -35% | 23 | 0.37 |
| No | Sony Classics | 77,800 (12,960) | -14% | 6 | 0.19 |
| Jabardasth | 7 Seas | 57,300 (1,330) | 43 | 0.06 | |
| Roche papier ciseaux | Filmoption | 30,200 (1,310) | 23 | 0.03 | |
| Zila Ghaziabad | Showman | 24,900 (800) | 31 | 0.02 | |
| Aadhi Bhagavan | Anbu | 14,400 (1,030) | 14 | 0.01 | |
| Camp | FreeStyle | 8,400 (8,400) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Doctor Bello | Black Ivory | 6,800 (390) | 20 | 0.01 | |
| 11 Flowers | First Run | 3,800 (1,900) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – February 21, 2013) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Percentage | |||
| Universal (5) | 247.2 | 18.70% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (6) | 194.5 | 14.70% | |||
| Warner Bros. (8) | 159.4 | 12.10% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (6) | 128.7 | 9.70% | |||
| Lionsgate (9) | 126.3 | 9.60% | |||
| Paramount (8) | 117.2 | 8.90% | |||
| Sony (4) | 99.6 | 7.60% | |||
| Buena Vista (5) | 66.9 | 5.10% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 59.9 | 4.50% | |||
| Relativity (2) | 46.2 | 3.50% | |||
| Film District (3) | 18.9 | 1.40% | |||
| Alliance/eOne (6) | 15.4 | 1.20% | |||
| Focus (3) | 13.7 | 1.00% | |||
| Other * (50) | 26.8 | 2.00% | |||
| 1320.7 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.45% |
