By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
A couple of new films enlivened weekend moviegoing, but it was moola-moola at the top for the second frame of Monsters University, with an estimated $46.1 million. That left the bridesmaid slot to debuting The Heat with $39.3 million and position four for incoming White House Down with $25.3 million.
Among exclusives that generated encouraging starts were Jem Cohen’s low-key love story set in Austria, Museum Hours, admitting a $24,400 tally at two sites and I’m So Excited, from Pedro Almodóvar that flew to $98,300 on five flights.
Despite the presence of five $20 million-plus box office films (the first time since November 2012) weekend revenues dipped 21% from last weekend and 9% from 2012. Last year newcomers Ted and Magic Mike led the pack with respective bows of $54.4 million and $39.1 million.
Industry tracking clearly had Monsters University leading the charge and a competitive edge to The Heat over White House Down. Nonetheless social networking data showed the latter film trending with twice the traffic and that film’s star Channing Tatum tripling the chatter accorded both Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.
Ultimately audiences said, “Book ‘em Dana,” with the distaff buddy cop movie entering the marketplace on the high end of estimates The Heat not-too- surprisingly drew a 65% female crowd and skewed older with 67% of viewers aged 25-years and older according to studio exit demos.
It was also a hyperactive session for Indian imports with the Punjabi Jatt & Juliet 2 the hot ticket with a $392,000 bow at 41 locations. Additionally, Telugu Balupu grossed $343,000 from 61 locations and the Hindi Ghanchakkar took home $142,000 at 89 venues. Copperhead, the third segment of the Civil War saga that began with Gettysburg, lost considerable steam with an opening shot of $42,800 from 55 outposts.
Despite generally upbeat reviews for White House Down, one of the big stumbling blocks for the new entry was its similarity to the spring surprise powerhouse Olympus Has Fallen. It’s the rare bird that can soar above like-minded high concepts so closely placed on the release calendar. WHD skewed ever-so-slightly male with 51% of ticket buyers and was a panel composed 61% of folk 25-years and older.
On the alternative side, Much Ado About Nothing is maintaining the best hold in that sector with the politically charged The Attack and the sentimental Unfinished Song expanding nicely on slow roll outs.
| Weekend (estimates) June 28 – 30, 2013 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| Monsters University | BV | 46.1 (11,500) | -44% | 4004 | 170.9 |
| The Heat | Fox | 39.3 (12,360) | NEW | 3181 | 39.3 |
| World War Z | Par | 29.7 (8,240) | -55% | 3607 | 123.6 |
| White House Down | Sony | 25.3 (7,860) | NEW | 3222 | 25.3 |
| Man of Steel | WB | 20.7 (5,010) | -50% | 4131 | 248.5 |
| This is the End | Sony | 8.6 (3,190) | -35% | 2710 | 74.6 |
| Now You See Me | Lionsgate | 5.6 (2,180) | -29% | 2564 | 104.8 |
| Fast & Furious 6 | Uni | 2.4 (1,540) | -52% | 1550 | 233.3 |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | Par | 2.0 (1,960) | -36% | 1035 | 220.5 |
| The Internship | Fox | 1.4 (1,380) | -59% | 1008 | 41.7 |
| Iron Man 3 | BV | 1.3 (2,460) | -40% | 540 | 405.4 |
| The Purge | Uni | 1.2 (1,080) | -66% | 1122 | 62.8 |
| The Bling Ring | A24/eOne | .82 (1,260) | -59% | 650 | 4.3 |
| Epic | Fox | .81 (1,050) | -55% | 774 | 103 |
| Before Midnight | Sony Classics | .64 (2,210) | -29% | 290 | 5.7 |
| Much Ado About Nothing | Roadside Attractions | .53 (2,450) | -27% | 216 | 2.1 |
| The Croods | Fox | .45 (1,460) | -11% | 307 | 184.4 |
| Jatt & Juliet 2 | Speed | .39 (9,560) | NEW | 41 | 0.39 |
| The Great Gatsby | WB | .37 (1,460) | -38% | 255 | 142.4 |
| Balupu | Blue Sky | .34 (5,620) | NEW | 61 | 0.34 |
| The Hangover Part III | WB | .33 (1,190) | -54% | 277 | 110.7 |
| After Earth | Sony | .30 (1,050) | -68% | 288 | 58.2 |
| The East | Searchlight | .25 (1,340) | -32% | 185 | 1.6 |
| 20 Feet from Stardom | Weinstein Co. | .20 (4,830) | 215% | 42 | 0.35 |
| Raanjhnaa | Eros | .19 (2,310) | -54% | 83 | 0.75 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $186.40 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -9% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -21% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Fill the Void | Sony Classics | .18 (2,900) | -5% | 61 | 0.91 |
| Frances Ha | IFC | .15 (1,710) | -12% | 90 | 3.5 |
| Ghanchakkar | UTV | .14 (1,590) | 89 | 0.14 | |
| The Attack | Cohen Media | .13 (3,560) | 370% | 36 | 0.17 |
| I’m So Excited | Sony Classics | .10 (19,660) | 5 | 0.1 | |
| Unfinished Song | Weinstein Co. | 91,400 (4,810) | 255% | 19 | 0.13 |
| The King’s of Summer | CBS | 84,200 (1,750) | -35% | 48 | 0.92 |
| Copperhead | Brainstorm | 42,800 (780) | 55 | 0.04 | |
| A Hijacking | Magnolia | 40,700 (3,390) | 3% | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dirty Wars | IFC | 40,500 (1,450) | -11% | 20 | 0.27 |
| L’écume des jours | Seville | 40,600 (4,510) | 9 | 0.04 | |
| Museum Hours | Cinema Guild | 24,400 (12,200) | 2 | 0.02 | |
| Byzantium | IFC | 16,500 (2,750) | 6 | 0.02 | |
| Redemption | Roadside At. | 15,700 (830) | 19 | 0.02 | |
| How to Make Money Selling Death | TriBeCa | 8,100 (1,620) | 5 | 0.01 | |
| A Band Called Death | Drafthouse | 6,300 (900) | 7 | 0.01 | |
| Laurence Anyways | Breaking Glass | 3,300 (820) | 4 | 0.01 | |
| The Secret Disco Revolution | Screen Media | 3,200 (640) | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Ambikapathy | Eros | 3,100 (310) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Some Girl(s) | Leeden | 2,700 (1,350) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Petunia | Wolfe | 2,600 (2,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Voyez comme ils dansent | Seville | 1,450 (480) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| Detention of the Dead | Anchor Bay | 1,700 (850) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – June 27, 2013) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office (millions) | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (14) | 842.1 | 16.40% | |||
| Buena Vista (8) | 839.9 | 16.40% | |||
| Universal (9) | 735.9 | 14.30% | |||
| Paramount (12) | 608.9 | 11.90% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (9) | 495.6 | 9.60% | |||
| Lionsgate (16) | 369.6 | 7.20% | |||
| Sony (8) | 336.3 | 6.60% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (12) | 326.7 | 6.40% | |||
| FilmDistrict (5) | 119.8 | 2.30% | |||
| Relativity (3) | 105.9 | 2.10% | |||
| Open Road (4) | 93.9 | 1.80% | |||
| Focus (6) | 53.6 | 1.00% | |||
| Sony Classics (11) | 25.9 | 0.50% | |||
| Roadside Attractions (3) | 25.3 | 0.50% | |||
| eOne/Alliance (14) | 24.3 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (166) | 127.1 | 2.50% | |||
| 5130.8 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Domestic Grossers (Jan. 1 – June 27, 2013) * | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Iron Man 3 | BV | 404,032,056 | |||
| Oz the Great and Powerful | BV | 234,668,782 | |||
| Fast & Furious 6 | Uni | 230,902,770 | |||
| Man of Steel | WB | 227,840,106 | |||
| Star Trek Into Darkness | Par | 218,460,867 | |||
| The Croods | Fox | 183,952,270 | |||
| The Great Gatsby | WB | 141,988,676 | |||
| Identity Thief | Uni | 134,778,089 | |||
| Monsters University | BV | 124,825,448 | |||
| G.I. Joe: Retaliation | Par | 122,321,571 | |||
| The Hangover Part III | WB | 110,360,429 | |||
| Silver Linings Playbook * | Weinstein Co. | 103,633,972 | |||
| Epic | Fox | 102,189,525 | |||
| Now You See Me | Lionsgate | 99,180,591 | |||
| Olympus Has Fallen | FilmDistrict/VVS | 98,667,852 | |||
| 42 | WB | 94,380,428 | |||
| Zero Dark Thirty * | Sony/Alliance | 94,325,704 | |||
| Django Unchained * | Weinstein Co. | 94,199,823 | |||
| World War Z | Par | 93,922,294 | |||
| Oblivion | Uni | 89,107,235 | |||
| * does not include 2012 box office | |||||
