The Weekend Report: Memorial Day Wknd 3-Days

Fast & Furious 6 left the competition choking in the dust as it charged to an estimated $98.4 million for the three-day portion (all figures reflect 3-day box office) of the Memorial holiday frame. That proved to be bad news for the launch of The Hangover Part III that slotted second with $42.1 million during the record breaking session. The third new wide release was the futuristic animated Epic that performed to expectations with a $33.8 million telling.

The three-day portion generated more than $260 million in ticket sales with the full holiday period expected to set a new benchmark of $325 million. The prior record level was back in 2011 with a $276 million tally.

While tracking clearly favored Fast & Furious 6 over The Hangover Part III, the margin between the franchises was predicted to be considerably closer. The anticipation was that the former would gross $100 million to the latter’s $80 million in rough figures. Instead the spread is more apt to be $120 million versus $65 million and that ought to provide considerable pause about the methods employed to predict box office. In recent months considerable ink has been spilled about new tracking processes that would more accurately reflect the ultimate gross but one suspects calculations retain a bias that the 18-to-25-year olds will regain their bygone moviegoing habit now that summer has arrived. Fat chance!

The head-to-head between the two franchises was also ill-advised in light of their appeal to a similar audience base. F&F6 drew a crowd that was 51% male; HIII was 52% male. Similarly, the comedy romp viewers were 55% aged 25-years and over while the turbo tale was 57% for that sector.

The difference likely boiled down to the fact that one franchise has a history of reinvention and surprise and the other sank expectations with a third edition that, frankly, disappointed in both areas. A studio spokesman for Hangover said it chose to go head-to-head because that was the date it released the second part and “we underestimated the appeal of Fast & Furious.” Ooops!

That turned out to provide a clear field for Epic… or at least the ability to mine different quadrants. Studio exit polls revealed a far different profile with 57% of viewers female and 55% aged younger than 25.

In the niches, the frame saw good response for the Punjabi Jatts in Golmaal of $71,800 from 22 venues. A  couple of exclusives were off to heady starts. The Israeli Fill the Void permeated the marketplace with $57,400 at three screens and even better, Before Midnight, the third Delpy-Hawke-Linklater roundelay, romanced excellent box office of $262,000 at five locations.

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