By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Watch Your Step
The Dark Knight Rises continued to ascend as the clear movie going favorite with an estimated $62.4 million gross in its second weekend. The current session featured two new national releases that bowed to so-so results. The comedic security romp The Watch opened third in the ratings with an estimated $12.8 million and a pas behind Step-Up Revolution bowed to a box office of $11.7 million.
In the niches new Indian imports were just fair with the Hindi Kya Super Kool Hain Hum providing a $130,000 tally at 54 venues while Telegu Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara limped to $59,400 from 41 locations.
The results were more encouraging for incoming limited and exclusive entries. The quirky rom-com Ruby Sparks mined $147,000 from 13 jewel boxes while Killer Joe slayed ‘em with $33,400 at a trio of playdates. Comparably strong was the non-fiction musical Searching for Sugar Man with $27,600 also at three sites.
Overall session revenues pushed to roughly $135 million and a 43% collapse from seven days earlier. It was additionally 25% behind the 2011 pace when freshmen entries Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs duked it out for bragging rights with respective premiere box office of $36.4 million and $35.6 million.
Following last weekend’s tragedy in Aurora, Colorado the industry held its breath about possible reverberations. Friday’s launch of the Olympics wasn’t helpful for those wanting to provide a rush to judgment. And Saturday’s rebound, though bountiful, is no more than a quick snap shot of current ebbs and flows in viewership.
As with the shift to a more mature audience, the possible impact of movie attendance as a result of security concerns won’t be anything more than anecdotal for months. The theater chains_unlike post 9/11 airlines_have decided against either ramping up security or providing incentives (monetary or otherwise) to remind patrons of the joy and ritual of going out and escaping into a fantasy world.
Expectations were modest ($15 million to $17 million) for both The Watch and Step-Up Revolution but neither film quite cleared the bar. The Watch, a comedic mashup of Paul Blart and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, skewed 60% male in its audience. It was also 59% aged 25 years old and senior according to exit reports.
The fourth installment of the youth-targeted dance franchise Step-Up appeared to be slightly off tempo although its core audience showed consistency. It’s female centric and that gender constituted 64% of initial viewship with 71% aged 24 years old and more junior.
With the on-going stamina of the likes of Moonshine Kingdom, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and To Rome with Love summer 2012 continues the trend of a buoyant movie going time for mature and alternative audiences. It might even be a box office record but we’ll just have to wait for that pronouncement.
Weekend (estimates) July 27 – 29, 2012 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 62.4 (14,160) | -52% | 4404 | 287.4 |
Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 13.3 (3,440) | -35% | 3869 | 114.9 |
The Watch | Fox | 12.8 (4,040) | NEW | 3168 | 12.8 |
Step-Up Revolution | Lions Gate | 11.7 (4,570) | NEW | 2567 | 11.7 |
Ted | Uni | 7.3 (2,340) | -27% | 3129 | 193.6 |
The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | 6.6 (2,100) | -40% | 3129 | 241.8 |
Brave | BV | 4.2 (1,650) | -30% | 2551 | 217.2 |
Magic Mike | WB | 2.5 (1,220) | -41% | 2075 | 107.5 |
Savages | Uni | 1.7 (1,220) | -49% | 1414 | 43.9 |
Moonrise Kingdom | Focus | 1.4 (1,590) | -26% | 853 | 38.6 |
Medea’s Witness Protection | Lions Gate | 1.3 (1,180) | -42% | 1111 | 62.7 |
To Rome with Love | Sony Classics | 1.0 (1,970) | -32% | 492 | 12.9 |
Beasts of the Southern Wild | Searchlight/eOne | .90 (4,320) | 18% | 208 | 4.2 |
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | .85 (1,050) | -37% | 808 | 209.5 |
The Avengers | BV | .53 (1,420) | -15% | 373 | 616 |
Katy Perry: Part of Me | Par | .52 (860) | -55% | 606 | 24.1 |
Intouchables | Alliance/Weinstein | .50 (2,580) | 38% | 194 | 8 |
The Hunger Games | Lions Gate | .39 (1,270) | 116% | 310 | 405.7 |
Snow White and the Huntsman | Uni | .36 (1,010) | -16% | 355 | 153.2 |
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Fox Searchlight | .32 (1,170) | -23% | 276 | 44.5 |
Prometheus | Fox | .21 (900) | -33% | 229 | 125.5 |
Men in Black III | Sony | .20 (990) | -22% | 203 | 175.8 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $129.50 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -25% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -43% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Ruby Sparks | Searchlight | .15 (11,310) | 13 | 0.19 | |
The Queen of Versailles | Magnolia | .14 (5,930) | 166% | 23 | 0.22 |
Kya Super Kool Hain Hum | Alt Entertain. | .13 (2,400) | 54 | 0.13 | |
Take This Waltz | Mongrol/Magnolia | 78,700 (1,230) | -39% | 64 | 1 |
Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara | Cool Flicks | 59,400 (1,450) | 41 | 0.06 | |
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry | IFC | 46,300 (7,720) | 6 | 0.05 | |
Killer Joe | LD | 33,400 (11,130) | 3 | 0.03 | |
Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Classics | 27,600 (9,200) | 3 | 0.03 | |
Deranged | CJ Entertainment | 22,500 (2,040) | 11 | 0.02 | |
Sacrifice | IDP | 12,200 (1,360) | 9 | 0.01 | |
Klown | Drafthouse | 9,300 (4,650) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Home Run Showdown | Image | 8,600 (8,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Nuit #1 | Adopt | 3,500 (3,500) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – July 26, 2012) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
Buena Vista (11) | 1060.9 | 16.20% | |||
Sony (15) | 1006.9 | 15.30% | |||
Universal (12) | 978.8 | 14.90% | |||
Warner Bros. (19) | 920.1 | 14.00% | |||
Lions Gate (10) | 637.3 | 9.70% | |||
20th Century Fox (12) | 609.6 | 9.30% | |||
Paramount (14) | 581.9 | 8.90% | |||
Relativity (5) | 170.7 | 2.60% | |||
Fox Searchlight (7) | 94 | 1.40% | |||
Weinstein Co. (9) | 86.1 | 1.30% | |||
Open Road (3) | 72.2 | 1.10% | |||
Focus (5) | 66.5 | 1.00% | |||
CBS (2) | 63.6 | 1.00% | |||
Summit (4) | 47.1 | 0.70% | |||
Sony Classics (15) | 35.1 | 0.50% | |||
Other * (197) | 132.8 | 2.10% | |||
6563.6 | 100.00% | ||||
* none greater than 0.4% | |||||
Top Global Grossers (Jan. 1 – July 26, 2012) * | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
The Avengers | BV | 1,460,274,563 | |||
The Hunger Games | Lions Gate | 687,075,498 | |||
The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | 630,162,237 | |||
Men in Black III | Sony | 618,400,535 | |||
Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 564,071,132 | |||
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | 494,142,648 | |||
Snow White and the Huntsman | Uni | 361,777,992 | |||
The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 358,494,115 | |||
Titanic 3D (reissue) | Par | 345,264,033 | |||
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol * | Par | 344,936,126 | |||
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | WB | 329,080,786 | |||
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Uni | 318,825,234 | |||
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows * | WB | 316,944,418 | |||
Wrath of the Titans | WB | 305,139,409 | |||
Battleship | Uni | 303,832,567 | |||
Prometheus | Fox | 303,507,766 | |||
Brave | BV | 287,949,172 | |||
John Carter | BV | 281,891,774 | |||
Dark Shadows | WB | 242,688,426 | |||
American Reunion | Uni | 234,742,017 | |||
Ted | Uni | 227,938,151 | |||
Intouchables * | Gaumont/Alliance | 218,639,811 | |||
Safe House | Uni | 203,819,430 | |||
21 Jump Street | Sony | 201,627,423 | |||
The Vow | Sony | 196,656,737 |