1. The Lion King 3D - $29.3M - $29.3M
2. Contagion - $ 14.4M - $44.1M
3. Drive - $10.8M - $10.8M
4. The Help - $6.4M - $147.3M
5. Straw Dogs - $5M - $5M
6. I Don't Know How She Does It - $4.5M - $4.5M
7. The Debt - $2.9M - $26.5M
8. Warrior - $2.7M - $9.9M
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $2.6M - $171.6M
10. Colombiana - $2.3M - $33.3M
Another four news films this weekend - a doctored re-release, a remake,
and two book adaptations. Contagion opened well last frame but would
quickly face dramatic competition while The Help continued to be a law
unto itself. Going into the weekend, the no.1 spot was open to anyone,
but most figured Contagion would hold firm....
Our number one film, and our first new release this weekend is actually
nothing of the sort, having been released seventeen years ago. The Lion
King is the tale of Simba the lion cub and the spiritual (and physical)
journey he takes after the death of his father. The film was a smash hit
for Disney, not only being their most successful animated release
(until 2003's Finding Nemo) and winning two Academy Awards, but spawning
a huge Broadway show, video games, a TV show and at least two straight
to video sequels/prequels. The Lion King 3D is Disney testing the water -
will the public show up if you take a much-loved classic and put a 3D
spin on it? Those who saw the film as children may well have children of
their own - and unlike films like Mars Needs Moms, they know The Lion
King has pedigree, and may be worth that 3D surcharge.
As we've seen a number of times, a film's theatrical release is often
seen as a costly advert for its eventual home debut, and that is no more
truer than here, the Lion King will be in theatres for just two weeks
before heading, for the first time, onto Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D in
November. Interestingly, this is actually the second big Disney 3D
conversion of an earlier classic - from 2nd to the 15th September 2011,
Beauty & The Beast 3D played at one US location (The El Capitain in
L.A) - and will debut on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D a month before The Lion
King.
It goes without saying that the film reviewed very well but some
predicted it would have a limited appeal (due one assumes, to the film
being available to the home market for a number of years, not to mention
that 3D surcharge) but that changed earlier in the week when the online
ticket agent Fandango revealed that ticket sales for The Lion King made
up for more than 53% of all tickets sold this week. The film opened
strong on Friday, securing the top spot there and then with $8.8M,
almost $4M more than Contagion. As Friday moved into Saturday the film
scored well on the matinee front and continued to dominate over the
remainder of the frame, finishing up Sunday night just shy of $30M. The
original version opened to $40M back in July of 1994 but obviously can't
work as a comparison thanks to the time that has passed, inflation and
the 3D surcharge, but it can't be denied that that is a great start (the
best ever September opener only made $35M). The only question remaining
is whether this now sets a dangerous precedent for all future Blu-Ray
releases of Disney classics?
Having debuted to $22M last weekend, Contagion founds itself down 42% on
a Friday to Friday basis, which translated to a strong 35% for the
weekend as a whole. Word of mouth is solid, but not spectacular and it
may have lost a number of potential patrons to Drive this frame, but one
can't argue with that hold. The star-studded virus epidemic flick was
made for $60M and that's a figure the film should be able to recoup
domestically. With such a big name cast, Contagion should do well on the
international market and see the film become Soderbergh's biggest hit
since the 'Ocean' series of films.
Drive is the new film from Nicholas Refn and stars Ryan Gosling and
Carey Mulligan. The film is based on a book written by James Sallis,
which was optioned for the screen not long after being published in
2005. Originally Neil Marshall was set to direct Hugh Jackman in the
lead role, that of a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver,
sometime in 2008. Everything was in place but both director and star
would ultimately leave the project. Producer Marc E. Platt then
contacted Ryan Gosling to take on the lead role, and he agreed,
suggesting Nicholas Refn as director. The 'Bronson' director agreed and
work began on filling out the remainder of the cast. Mulligan was
amongst the first to sign on, with Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks
joining shortly after. Rounding things out at the last minute was Ron
Perlman, playing one of the main villains of the piece. As mentioned
above, Drive sees Gosling as a nameless driver who pads out his stunt
work by acting as a getaway driver for hire. When a heist goes wrong he
finds a contract put out on his life and has to deal with the fallout
that causes, not only to his own life but that of young mother, Irene,
played by Carey Mulligan.
Shooting took place in Los Angeles and concluded November 2010, with
the film ready for a Cannes Film Festival 'in competition' debut in May.
Drive went down a storm, receiving near universal praise, a fifteen
minute standing ovation and the Best Director plaudit for Refn. The film
was set for a September 2011 debut, and reviews have continued to echo
that early word out of Cannes - Drive currently sits on outstanding 92%
fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. But, with at least one thriller opening
alongside it, not to mention a rom-com and The Lion King 3D, would the
great reviews transfer into box office? Drive opened to $4M Friday, good
enough for a third place finish, around $400K behind Contagion. Word of
mouth spread through out the weekend as the film held steady, adding a
further $6.8M to its total, for a $10.8M first frame finish. Given the
competition and the fact that Drive might not have been an easy sell,
this a good start for the film and should see it cover its production
budget of $13M sometime Monday/Tuesday.
The Help saw its biggest frame to frame drop last weekend (40%) but a
week on and the civil rights flick has stabilised again, dropping 28%.
The flick was still the no.2 film until Friday and even then managed a
higher finish than Straw Dogs and I Don't Know How She Does It. The Help
stands every chance of being the type of film to attract an audience
even once it has left the top ten. A finish above $170M is practically a
given.
Straw Dogs is a remake of the controversial 1971 Sam Peckinpah film of
the same name. In that version, a timid mathematician played Dustin
Hoffman returns, along with his wife (played by Susan George) to her
home town in Cornwall. What begins as taunts and harassment by locals
turns very ugly when Hoffman's David Sumner refuses to stand up to the
men. When his wife is brutally raped by a former boyfriend, David is
pushed to breaking point and beyond. The original caused an outcry upon
its release, and while the film did see a UK release, it would fall foul
of the video recordings act of 1984 (along with many other films). The
film was not submitted for reclassification (in an edited form) until
1999 when it was again refused a certificate. It was 2002 before Straw
Dogs was granted an uncut home video/DVD release in the UK.
Word of a remake began a number of years ago and at one point Ed Norton
was said to have been attached to take on the David Sumner role, but the
project seemed to have disappeared off the radar. Sometime in late
2008/early 2009, Rod Laurie signed on to write and direct the remake,
signing up James Marsden and Kate Bosworth as The Sumners. The plot
remained largely the same - a college professor returns, along with
wife, to her home town, where he finds himself intimidated by locals
working on their house. The situation escalates, forcing David and Amy
to retaliate. So far there seems to have been little of the same
controversy that troubled the original, indeed the film was passed uncut
in the UK. The first trailer appeared in May 2011, and appeared to show
the entire film condensed into two minutes and forty seconds - going
further than most by starting with scenes that are obviously from the
last ten minute of the film, and then proceeding to show how all the
characters got to that point. Reviews weren't great with a number quick
to point out how powerful the original film was. It currently resides
on a RT rating of 38%. Straw Dogs opened on the lower end of
expectations with $1.9M on Friday as the public sided with Drive and
Contagion for their dramatic fix. By Sunday it had made just $5M and
will almost certainly crash hard next frame. The Straw Dogs remake was
made for $25M and that's a figure the film might recoup when foreign
receipts are counted.
I Don't Know How She Does It is the latest romantic comedy starring
Sarah Jessica Parker, and is based on the novel of the same name by
Allison Pearson. The film sees Parker as Kate Reddy, who works as a
financial advisor and devoted mother to two children (and wife to an
out-of-work architect, played by Greg Kinnear). Thanks to her friends,
Kate just about manages to balance her work and life, but runs into
problems when her husband finds a job, her assistant steps up her game
and a promotion that'd take Kate around the country seems in the offing -
not to mention a new business colleague getting flirty. Given the
current and new releases, the studio figured there was space for some
alternate programming. Parker has seen success with the Sex & The
City movies (though took a critical kicking, especially with the second
film) but struggled with some of her other choices, 2009's Did You Hear
About The Morgans making just $29M domestically.
Reviews weren't positive for the comedy, with only 19% of critics
finding something to like. Out the door on Friday, I Don't Know How She
Does It made just $1.6M, not even finishing within the top five. Things
didn't improve as the weekend wore on, leaving the rom-com with just
$4.5M. This one cost $24M to bring to the screen and even at this point
it's safe to say I Don't Know How She Does It is unlikely to see more
than half of that figure during its theatrical run.
Like others, The Debt will have been affected by the newer dramas in the
top ten. It's already recouped its production budget and should see
some decent legs abroad too. Made for $20M, the Sam Worthington/Helen
Mirren flick has so far made just over $26M.
Having been the best reviewed film of the week, Warrior could only
manage lacklustre box office during its opening frame. Things haven't
improved a week later, especially with two more dramas thrown into the
mix. This weekend the film dipped 47%, adding just $2.7M to its box
office total. The Tom Hardy MMA film cost $25M to produce is only likely
to see just over half of that amount domestically.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes hit $170M domestically this weekend. Made
for $93M, the Apes prequel/origin story should hit a global finish of
around $400M. Colombiana falls some way short of recouping its $40M
production budget as it prepares to exit the top ten. Released four
weeks ago, the film has a running total of $33M. Next up for star Zoe
Saldana is The Words, opposite Bradley Cooper.
Two notables from last weekend - horror film Creature had the dubious
honour of becoming one of, if not the, poorest performing/widely
released film in box office history, making just $327K from 1,507
locations - that works out to a per screen average of $217.
Meanwhile, concert movie Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain made an astounding
$1.9M from just 98 locations - over $19K per screen. Expansion should
be on the cards over the coming weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment