Thursday 16 June 2011

U.S Box Office Report - 12th - 14th November 2010

1. Megamind - $30M - $89.7M
2. Unstoppable - $23.5M - $23.5M
3. Due Date - $15.5M - $59M
4. Skyline - $11.6M - $11.6M
5. Morning Glory - $9.6M - $12.2M
6. For Colored Girls - $6.7M - $30.9M
7. Red - $5.1M - $79.8M
8. Paranormal Activity 2 - $3M - $82M
9. Saw VII - $2.7M - $43.4M
10. Jackass 3D - $2.3M - $114.7M

Megamind spends a second weekend in the top spot, fighting off competition from three new releases this weekend. Having opened to a solid $46M last weekend, it dropped 36% on a Friday to Friday basis (34% overall) so isn't seeing quite the word of mouth that How To Train Your Dragon was blessed with. While Harry Potter will be a juggernaut next weekend, there'll still be room for Megamind with the non-Potter fans and the slightly younger family audiences. The Will Ferrell/Brad Pitt flick had already scored $20M from the international market by last Thursday and when combined with Megamind's domestic take this weekend, should clear $100M.

Our first new entry this weekend harks back to the high concept days of Don Simpson. Unstoppable features a runaway train with a toxic payload and an old skool engineer and young conductor who are tasked with stopping it. Denzel Washington teams up with Chris Pine and director Tony Scott in the slam bang action flick. Scott and Washington recently worked together on The Taking of Pelham 123 ($65M US/$150M global total) while Pine is still riding high after the success of Star Trek. Trailers weren't anything to write home about but the reviews were stellar to say the least, with the film currently sitting on an amazing 86% fresh rating over at Rotten Tomatoes.

Unstoppable opens well below The Book of Eli, putting it on par with the aforementioned Taking of Pelham, but neither of those films had anywhere near the reviews (and hopefully word of mouth) of Unstoppable. While it had competition from Skyline, it probably didn't harm the film as much as was predicted before the weekend (some places had Skyline in the top spot). Unstoppable wasn't a cheap film, weighing in at $100M, so it needs a good second weekend hold to give it a chance at $45M in ten days. Washington has a strong international following, which should add another $50M in takings in the coming weeks.

Depending on whose box office estimates you work with, Due Date either opened exactly where predicted or actually made more than expected. Either way, its opening frame was a win for all concerned. A week later, with front loading out of the way and word of mouth spreading, Due Date found itself down a worrying 54% from its opening day haul. A 'Hangover' style hit isn't on the cards for the Robert Downey Jnr comedy but it shouldn't disappoint either. Due Date was made for $65M, a figure the film has already surpassed when you combine its international take with the domestic one. At this point the film is looking at a $80-90M finish in the US and an equal or better amount abroad.

Skyline is the new film from the Strause Brothers, special effects experts who made their cinematic directorial debut with Alien Vs Predators: Requiem. Skyline flew completely under the radar until it debuted at this year's ComicCon to some half decent reports. Trailers were mixture of wow and Sci-Fi channel movie of the week. Films such as this rarely review well but for Skyline they were particularly harsh (not helped by it not being screened for critics).

As mentioned previously, up until Friday (or until some reviews appeared) Skyline was estimated by some to be in with a shot at the number one spot. Sadly, it's had to settle for a fourth place finish and will almost certainly see a horror movie style second frame. But the ace in the hole is that the film cost around $10M to produce and that's a figure the film has already recouped domestically. A similar or better international figure and a decent home release should fund the sequel that the Strause Brothers are already talking up.

Harrison Ford switches to comedy for his role as Mike Pomeroy in our third new release this weekend, Morning Glory, a story about a struggling morning TV show which he co-hosts with Colleen Peck, played by Diane Keaton. Rachel McAdams takes on the lead role as an up and coming TV producer tasked with getting the show (and its warring hosts) back on track. Originally scheduled for a mid-summer release, the film was pushed back to November, to give it, one assumes, a fighting chance.

Opening on Wednesday probably cost Morning Glory a higher chart position. While it had only amassed $2.6M by Friday morning, that would have probably been enough to jump over Skyline if it was part of the weekend takings. Anything more than a 35% drop next weekend will spell a swift end for Morning Glory. Even with a $40M budget, the film is going to struggle to see profit before its DVD release.

Tyler Perry's movies tend to have average second frames but For Coloured Girls took a mighty 73% fall from its opening Friday take. It's already making money for Lionsgate thanks to it's $21M production budget but it looks to be another film for Perry that's failed to break out of his core market. Still, there are very few mainstream directors who have such a profitable track record as Perry.

While Unstoppable takes over the action flick mantle this weekend, Red still had another decent frame to frame drop. The action flick has so far made nearly $80M from a budget of $58M. This weekend saw the film cross the $100M barrier in total global takings.

Paranormal Activity 2 and Saw 3D have run their course now (it could be said that Saw had run its course by its first Sunday) and begun to see their location counts slashed. PA2 has a running global total of $145M from a budget of just $3M, while Saw 3D has made $74M from a $20M budget.

Rounding us out is Jackass 3D. The $20M MTV/Paramount flick leaves the top ten with nearly $115M in takings.

No comments: