Thursday 16 June 2011

U.S Box Office Report - 24th - 26th December 2010

1. The Little Fockers - $34M - $48.3M
2. True Grit - $25.6M - $36.8M
3. Tron Legacy - $20.1M - $88.3M
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader - $10.8M - $63.9M
5. Yogi Bear - $8.8M - $M36.7M
6. The Fighter - $8.5MM - $27.5M
7. Gulliver's Travels - $7.2M - $7.2M
8. Black Swan - $6.6M - $29M
9. Tangled - $6.5M - $143.7M
10. The Tourist - $5.7M - $41.2M

Just a short box office report this weekend due to it being Boxing Day (and spending a bit too much time on the year end report)

Of the new entries, The Little Fockers is the best performing, at least in terms of box office, as its reviews were nothing short of horrific. The third in the series reunites the entire cast, including Dustin Hoffman, whose role was added to the film when previews failed to provide the laughs the studio were looking for. Opening on Wednesday, The Little Fockers had a strong opening day and continued to perform well throughout the holiday, giving it a five day total of $48M. A strong start was needed given the extra costs caused by the last minute re-shoots and by next weekend the film should have more than covered over half of its production budget.

The Coen Brothers adaptation of True Grit opened with $5.5M on Wednesday and continued on that path for the next few days, amassing $16M by the end of play on Friday. The weekend (inc Friday but not Wed/Thurs) clocked in at a very strong $25.6M. Unlike the other two major releases, True Grit reviewed exceptionally well and its lack of Golden Globe nominations is baffling. While it is early days, True Grit stands every chance of being the most successful release of the Coen Brothers career so far - something that currently stands with No Country For Old Men's $74M.

Tron Legacy, which had a bad/disappointing/good/strong/great showing last weekend continued to perform well in the days following. By Christmas Eve it had amassed $72M (though its Friday to Friday drop was a painful 77%, and a slightly more acceptable 55% for the weekend overall). This weekend saw it score a further $20M, pushing it over $100M in global takings. It's still hard to judge the longevity of the film at this point but a few nerves will be calmed once it hits $100M.

Meanwhile, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in its third weekend on general release still hasn't made what The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe amassed during its first three days. Now the good news - it's made over $130M on the global market and that, combined with its domestic take, has covered its $155M production budget. A $220M global finish isn't out of the question. Last weekend saw Yogi Bear pretty much crash and burn to just $16M. This weekend is little better even with the holiday. After ten days on release the $80M production has made just $36M. The Fighter ends this frame off just 30% on last weekend's take and has now more than doubled its production budget.

Gulliver's Travels opted to open on Christmas Day after a very later alteration moved it from Christmas Eve. While reviews were slightly better than The Little Fockers, the general public didn't appear to give this the same benefit of the doubt. Christmas Day saw the film take just $3.5M, ending the weekend with just $7.2M. It's hard to imagine Christmas Eve adding much more to proceedings. While budget details weren't available at the time of writing, there's no chance this cost anything less than $50M to produce. At the moment it looks at though Gulliver's Travels will be the last turkey of 2010 (Along with How Do You Know).

Similar to The Fighter, Black Swan is down just 22% from its last frame. The Fox Searchlight picture should clear $30M by Monday evening. On the flip side of Yogi Bear, Tangled continues to perform well as it approaches the $150M mark. Worldwide the film added a further $98M to its total meaning it's well on the way to recouping its $260M production budget. Finally, The Tourist sees its last weekend in the top ten having made little splash despite starring two of the biggest actors in the world today. With help from the international market the film should eventually turn a profit.

Next weekend there are no major release but a week later Nic Cage returns to screens with Season of the Witch. Next weekends report will be replaced by the Year End Box Report.

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