Thursday 16 June 2011

U.S Box Office Report - 5th - 7th November 2010

1. Megamind - $47.6M - $47.6M
2. Due Date - $33.5M - $33.5M
3. For Colored Girls - $20.1M - $20.1M
4. Red - $8.9M - $71.9M
5. Saw VII - $8.2M - $38.8M5
6. Paranormal Activity 2 - $7.2M - 77.2M
7. Jackass 3D -  $5M - $110.8M
8. Hereafter - $4M - $28.7M
9. Secretariat - $4M - $50.9M
10. The Social Network - $3.6M - $85M

After a relatively quiet Halloween, Hollywood throws two major releases at screens this weekend, not to mention the latest from Tyler Perry. With the family market being starved for the last month or so (Neither Alpha & Omega and Legend of the Guardians made much of a splash) Dreamworks returns with their third film of the year. Megamind features the voice talent of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Brad Pitt. Ferrell plays the Megamind of the title, an uber-villain who's unsure of his role in the world when he defeats his arch nemesis Metro Man. Could the appearance of a new super villain allow him to switch sides and fight for the powers of good?

Megamind looks to be performing along the same lines as March's How To Train Your Dragon. That film opened to a $12.1M Friday compared to the $12.5M scored by Megamind. Come Sunday night, Megamind finished some way ahead of Dragon's $43M opening frame. Word of mouth propelled Dragon to some superb weekend drops, allowing the film to finish with over $217M in takings. Megamind's reviews weren't quite so stellar but a lack of competition could see it scoring a couple of decent weekend to weekend drops during November - competition arrives in a fortnight with Harry Potter and a week later with Disney's Tangled. Megamind opened in line with predictions and $46M is a solid start for a non-Shrek movie.

After success with The Hangover, Todd Philips re-teams with star Zach Galifianakis and a white-hot Robert Downey Jnr. for the road trip movie Due Date. Downey stars as a nervous, expectant father who needs to get across America for the birth of his child. Zach Galifianakis plays an eccentric, aspiring actor who joins him on his cross country dash when Downey Jnr. ends up on a no-fly list. Reviews weren't too bright, the film currently sits on a 40% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with more than one review pointing out that it echoes the superior Planes, Trains & Automobiles a little too often. Lacklustre trailers probably didn't help calm nerves.

The R-rated Due Date had pretty much all of the adult market to itself this weekend, with only minor competition from For Coloured Girls and the returning Saw VII. That meant that Friday the film was neck and neck with Megamind, scoring $12.2M. But as the weekend wore on Due Date saw the gap widen, with it finishing around $13M behind the Dreamworks film. That said, a $33.5M opening isn't to be scoffed at and accounts for roughly half the film's production budget. Warner Bros. will no doubt be pleased, and hoping for a small percentage drop in the film's second frame, not to mention some Hangover-style word of mouth.

For the film 'For Coloured Girls' (based on the stage play 'For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf), Tyler Perry decided to change tact. Out went his comedy creation Madea and in came an R-rating, a first for the ubiquitous director. The film follows the lives of seven African-American woman, referred to in the play by colour - Lady in red, lady in green etc and covers subjects such as rape, infidelity and abortion. Perry decided to forgo the colour names for his adaptation and secured Janet Jackson, Thandi Newton and Whoopi Goldberg to help fill out the main roles. Tyler Perry's films generally review poorly but he has a strong core following, especially for the aforementioned Madea.

It's worth noting that Coloured Girls was up against some tough competition in the guise of Due Date and Megamind this weekend (his films have tended to open on slightly quieter weekends). Even though the film doesn't appeal directly to either demographic, crossover was inevitable. Friday saw the film open to $7.4M, low for a normal Tyler Perry movie but more than passable for an R-rated drama at just over two thousand locations. By Sunday the film had managed $20M,again, a slightly low figure for a Perry film but still more than acceptable. Made for just $21M, a decent second weekend should leave the film with nothing to worry about. Even if the film sees a collapse, a new Madea movie is just around the corner.

Even with competition from Due Date, Red has another decent weekend to weekend drop (just 18%). The Bruce Willis comedy/actioner started off a little unsure but has witnessed some amazing frame to frame drops, allowing it to bypass Jackass 3D's chart position last weekend (and this one). With a running total of $71.9M, Red has now recouped its production budget (around $58M) and caused numerous box office analysts to recalculate their 'final gross figures' yet again.

Depending on how you look at it, Saw VII's opening frame was either great or a disappointment. Great when you consider it made $24M from a budget of $20M. Disappointing when you look back at other Saw movie opening frames. Its second Friday saw the film fall apart, fallng a painful 70% (an even worse 75% if you factor in Thursday midnight screenings too). It recovered little over the rest of the weekend, ending down 66%, which is in line with the last few films. Front loading plays a major key here - those still interested in the franchise would have turned out that first weekend, making the second weekend a ghost town. Repeat business is by and large non-existent and there are more than enough other films to cater for those undecided on what to see this weekend. Even at this point it looks a lot like Saw VII will finish as the sixth lowest grossing of the series. A wise time to put Jigsaw & co. to bed?

While Paranormal Activity 2 didn't have quite the second frame of Saw VII, it's still pretty much run it's course in only three weeks thanks to that amazing first frame front-loading. If Paramount closed the film now, and factored in its international take to date, PA2 is up $116M on its production budget. Hereafter never really stood much of a chance. Below average reviews, poor trailers and some serious competition all caused the Clint Eastwood directed drama some problems. The film has recouped just 50% of its production budget and is about lose its location count at quite a rate, making any further progress almost impossible. Like Paranormal Activity 2, Jackass 3D is up on its production budget by around $90M. It's likely looking at its last weekend in the top ten but a lucrative home release is all but assured.

It's a shame Secretariat's astounding advertising budget is so high ($52M) because it's stopped the film from being a decent hit for Buena Vista, who have already seen the film recoup its $35M budget. That said, had BV not spent so much money on advertising, would the film have seen the $50M it has to date? The Social Network is shedding its location count at a high rate now (down over 900 this weekend). The well reviewed, well received 'Facebook' movie is looking at a $95M finish domestically.

Outside the top ten, Danny Boyle's 127 Hours made $265k from just four locations, meaning it sold out almost every single screening over the weekend.

No comments: