1. Resident Evil: Retribution - $21.1M - $21.1M
2. Finding Nemo (3D) - $17.5M - $17.5M
3. The Possession - $5.8M - $41.2M
4. Lawless - $4.2M - $30.1M
5. ParaNorman - $3M - $49.3M
6. The Expendables 2 - $3M - $80.3M
7. The Words - $2.8M - $9.1M
8. The Bourne Legacy - $2.8M - $107.8M
9. The Odd Life of Timothy Green - $2.5M - $46.2M
10. The Campaign - $2.4M - $82.8M
After the poor showing last weekend, studios are hoping for better
results with this week's releases, which include the fifth Resident Evil
movie, a 3D re-release of Finding Nemo and the limited roll out of The
Master. Four new releases next weekend will also ensure a busier top ten
than seen in recent times. Further ahead we have the highly anticipated
Looper, followed a week later by the return of Liam Neeson in Taken 2.
The Resident Evil series (Biohazard in Japan) kicked off in 1996 when
Capcom unleashed their survival horror epic onto an unsuspecting gaming
public, to great success. Since then the franchise has gone from
strength to strength, with various sequels and spins offs across a
multitude of formats, along with novelizations, comic books, action
figures and much more. The games alone have sold in excess of 50 million
copies, with a sixth one in the original series due early next month. A
move into film seemed inevitable and by 1999, Sony and Capcom announced
horror supremo George A. Romero had signed on to script and direct
Resident Evil - something that came about when he directed a commercial
for the Playstation release of Resident Evil 2. However, dissatisfied
with what Romero turned in (despite it following the plot of the first
game quite closely), Capcom fired him from the project and looked to
move in a different direction. In 2000 they hired Paul W.S Anderson, a
British director who had seen success with his Mortal Kombat adaptation
in 1995. Instead of attempting to adapt the game's plot, Anderson took
elements of the story (monsters, general location, the corporation White
Umbrella) and created a new take on the original. Instead of the game's
leads, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, he came up with Alice (played
by Milla Jovovich), a woman who wakes up in the legendary mansion of
the first game, suffering from amnesia, and quickly becomes ensnared in a
zombie outbreak. Alice would go on to become the central character in
the entire film franchise, with Anderson eventually introducing
characters and situations from the other games. The first Resident Evil
film was released in 2002, and despite getting a mauling from both
critics and fans, went on to earn over $100M on a budget of $33M. The
sequel, Apocalypse, was quickly greenlit and would see a now super human
Alice taking the fight to the streets of Raccoon City. The director
would not return for this second feature, opting instead to script and
produce while working on Alien Vs Predator. The sequel also introduced
the characters of Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, who appeared in the
first and third videogames respectively. A slightly increased budget
yielded an even greater return, with Resident Evil: Apocalypse making
$129M in total global ticket sales.
It would be three years before Alice and Co. would return to screens, in
the 2007 release, Extinction (at one point, the film was to be called
Afterlife, but that title eventually went to part four). By now, the
viral outbreak of the first film had decimated the entire world, and a
ragtag group of survivors found themselves travelling through a
sand-covered Las Vegas on their way to what they hope will be a 'safe
zone' in Alaska. Initially separated from the group for their own
safety, Alice rejoins and they set off to discover a nearby underground
facility run by Umbrella. This third film featured the game characters
of Claire Redfield (played by Ali Larter) and the legendary series
villain, Albert Wesker. Highlander director Russell Mulcahy took the
reigns, while Anderson once again produced and scripted. Despite the law
of averages dictating that sequels generally make less money,
Extinction went on to become the biggest of the series so far, making
$147M. Instead of handing a fourth film over to another director, Paul
W.S Anderson opted to return for Resident Evil: Afterlife. Alice would
return too, as would Larter's Claire Redfield and Sienna Guillory's Jill
Valentine. The major new addition would be Prison Break's Wentworth
Miller, taking on the role of Chris Redfield, brother of Claire and one
of the main protagonists in the original game. The picture would see
Alice continuing her attempt to locate the safe zone discovered in the
third film. On the way, she is attacked by Claire, who is now under the
control of Umbrella. In Los Angeles, Alice and the now-cured but
amnesiac Claire join a new group of survivors (which includes Chris) and
they set off to find the Arcadia, a boat thought to be a safe haven
that turns out to be an Umbrella research vessel. A post credit sequence
made way for the inevitable fifth entry. Much was made of the fact that
Afterlife was shot on the same camera system pioneered by James Cameron
and used on the shooting of Avatar. The fourth film would be the first
shot in 3D and went on to more than double the global take of the third
film. All told, Resident Evil: Afterlife made $60M in North America (a
series best for the territory) and an astonishing $236M overseas. By the
time a fifth feature was announced, the franchise had made $675M on a
total budget of $183M. And those figures covered just theatrical revenue
- all the films to this point have enjoyed long and lucrative lives on
DVD/Blu-Ray.
The path to the screen for the fifth feature is a little different to
the other parts in the series. At one point, Anderson was planning on
shooting parts five and six back to back but eventually decided to
concentrate on just one film (he has since stated that should part five
be a success, part six would be the series' finale). When the feature
was announced in March 2011, little was known about the direction it
would take but a month later, website Bloody-Disgusting.com discovered
it would be a prequel and carry the subtitle 'Begins'. Word also came
that Alice's role would be more in line with an extended cameo, which
made sense if the picture was indeed a prequel. This seemed to be
confirmed when on-set photographs revealed Raccoon City vehicles along
with a number of cast members who featured in the first film. However,
by August of 2011 the title had been changed to Retribution, Alice's
role returned to that of the main lead, with game-series favourites Leon
S. Kennedy, Barry Burton and Ada Wong also set to make their series
debut. Shooting ran from October to December, taking in such locations
as Tokyo, Moscow and Time Square in New York. The official plot synopsis
shed little light on how new and old characters fitted into the film
and the second trailer served only to confuse the matter further - Alice
seemingly waking up to a family life in Raccoon City which is suddenly
interrupted by marauding zombies. With filming complete, extensive
post-production got underway to meet the September release date. Screen
Gems knew that Resident Evil: Retribution would have little competition
(old or new) this weekend, but must be well aware of Dredd the week
after, which will share an almost identical demographic. Retribution
wasn't screened for critics but those that weighed in with an opinion on
Friday were generally negative - that said, with the exception of the
original, it was the best reviewed of all the films. Afterlife had the
best opening frame of the series, with $26M, and there was little reason
to think this new film couldn't top that - especially with the 3D
surcharge. Things certainly began well, with Retribution scoring $665K
from midnight sneak-peaks, stronger than the previous Resident Evil and
recent action release, The Bourne Legacy. Friday's total came in at
$8.5M, around $2M less than the previous film, but still good enough to
secure a weekend win. By Sunday evening, with the front loading out of
the way and the average word of mouth beginning to take hold,
Retribution was sitting on a three day total of $21.1M. That figures
puts it as the fourth best opening of the series and while Screen Gems
would have been looking to clear $25M, they know that the film's real
money will be made overseas. Expect Resident Evil: Retribution to fall
hard next week, but look for it to rapidly surpass $100M abroad.
Pixar first dabbled with 3D when they re-released the first two Toy
Story films on a double bill back in October 2009. Originally set to run
for just two weeks, it proved so popular that it stayed in theatres for
a further three, making $30M overall. It also acted as a pre-cursor to
the third Toy Story feature released in the summer of 2010, also in 3D.
Disney too got in on the act, converting both The Lion King and Beauty
and The Beast into 3D to great box office success, the films making $94M
and $47M respectively during their theatrical 3D re-release. While
Disney set about converting The Little Mermaid (Due September 2013),
Pixar had turned its attention to another water-bound creation -
Finding Nemo. Nemo was originally released in 2003 and quickly went on
to become a critical and financial smash around the globe. The tale of a
kidnapped clown fish and the father who sets out to rescue him made
$339M in North America, with a further $524M overseas. It became Pixar's
most successful release, a title it kept until the release of Toy Story
3. Finding Nemo was also a huge hit on the home market, selling in
excess of 40 million DVDs. On top of all that, it won a number of
animation awards, including the Oscar for best animated feature.
With the studio sticking to their policy of one new movie per year, a 3D
re-release offers them an extra revenue stream and also serves as a
huge advertisement for a picture's eventual Blu-Ray 3D debut (Nemo's is
due December). The film still sits on a stunning 99% fresh rating at
Rotten Tomatoes. With a 2,900 screen roll out and a whole new generation
ready to follow Nemo, Marlin and Dory's adventures, Finding Nemo was
set to give Resident Evil a run for its money, if even their target
audiences had little in common. The picture didn't get off to as strong a
start as expected making $5.1M on Friday and slotting into second
place. As per usual with a family film, Nemo received a boost with
Saturday and Sunday matinees, and finished the weekend with $17.5M. In
comparison, The Lion King 3D opened to a Friday haul of $8.9M on its way
to a $30M weekend (Nemo's performance is actually much closer to the
Beauty and the Beast re-release, which opened to $17.8M). What's
different now is that the public have got wise to these re-releases,
knowing that in a few months they'll be able to own the film for less
than the price of a family cinema trip. What also probably hasn't helped
is Finding Nemo already being so successful on the home market, meaning
that many people who would have potentially gone to see the film will
already own it on DVD. All that said, given that this theatrical release
is essentially one big advert for the December Blu-Ray debut,
Disney/Pixar won't be too disappointed with that $17.5M figure.
With the action horror crowd sated by Resident Evil, The Possession
dropped down to third place on Friday, making $1.8M. Its second frame
drop hadn't actually been that bad, especially considering the word of
mouth on the Sam Raimi produced feature hadn't been strong. However, by
Monday The Possession had lost the top spot to Lawless, which stayed
there until the new films opened on Friday. With that $1.8M start, the
flick added an additional $4M over the Saturday and Sunday, ending the
weekend with $5.8M, for a 17 day total of $41.2M. At this point The
Possession has almost tripled its production budget and will return a
tidy profit for Lionsgate.
As mentioned Lawless moved up to the spot on Monday and managed to hang
on to it for a few days. The John Hillcoat production managed $1.3M on
Friday, on its way to a weekend finish of $4.2M. While reviews and word
of mouth have generally positive, the picture has struggled somewhat,
perhaps partly on account of its graphic violence. It's unlikely to
clear $45M in North America but may end up doing better overseas.
Even with competition from Finding Nemo, ParaNorman only dropped 28%
this frame - the best hold of its theatrical run. The supernatural Laika
production added $3M this weekend, for an overall total of $49.3M. Both
word of mouth and reviews are positive, but it seems sadly that the
general public weren't as taken by Norman and his spooky adventure.
The Expendables 2 made $3M this weekend, its fourth on general release,
to bring its domestic cumulate gross to $80.1M. Obviously competition
from Resident Evil didn't help the action ensemble but by this point it
would have actually had little effect. Overseas things are still going
very well, and by last Wednesday the film had made $158M. That gives the
Expendables 2 an impressive $235M global total. The original film
finished up with $274M, a figure this sequel should surpass within the
next fortnight.
The only saving grace for The Words last weekend was its $6M production
budget. Despite initial estimates, the drama ended up making just $4.7M.
If that wasn't bad enough, on Monday it made just $336K, with the
week's high point being Wednesday ($499K). On its second Friday, the
Bradley Cooper picture fell to fifth position, struggling to make $930K.
Overall The Words made $2.8M this weekend, down 40% on its opening one.
It should double its production budget, but that's likely to be little
comfort to CBS Films, who at one point were said to hoping for award
recognition for the movie. A $15M finish looks to be on the cards and
with four releases next weekend, The Words may not even see another top
ten finish.
While some were quick to highlight The Bourne Legacy's subdued
performance, it did become the seventeenth film of 2012 to cross the
$100M mark. Over the last three days the spin off made $2.8M, to bring
its haul to $107.8M. Abroad Legacy continues to tale its domestic
counterpart, having made $78M so far. Disappointing figures or not,
Universal are certainly happy with the flick's performance, having
announced plans for a further Bourne film in the last few days. (A
sequel to Ted is also being fast tracked).
The Odd Life of Timothy Green manages one more weekend inside the top
ten. Made for $40M, the Jennifer Garner/Joel Edgerton fantasy drama made
$2.5M, for an overall total of $46.2M.
Rounding out the top ten is political comedy The Campaign. In
its sixth weekend the Will Ferrell starrer added $2.4M, which gives it
$82.8M overall.
A surprise release this weekend is Last Ounce of Courage, a drama about a
young man who lost his father years earlier, and his attempts to
reconnect with his grandfather, who is still grieving the loss of his
son. Originally thought to be a low key theatrical release (if indeed
the picture was to receive a theatrical outing at all), it came as
something of a surprise when on Wednesday, a 1,400 location roll out was
announced. Playing up the 'faith and the American way' angle for all it
was worth, Rocky Mountains Pictures were hoping to see a little of the
business that their other release, 2016: Obama's America, has been
witness to. On Friday, Courage just about secured a top ten placing with
$690K, and while it kept steady over the remainder of the frame, it
dropped out of the chart, amassing a weekend total of $1.7M.
In December 2009 it was reported that writer/director Paul Thomas
Anderson was working on a script for what would become known as The
Master. Set post World War 2, the story follows a charismatic man named
Lancaster Dodds who starts a religious movement. A drifter (Freddie
Quell) who crosses Dodd's path ends up becoming his second in command,
but as the number of followers quickly multiplies, Quell finds himself
questioning the master's motives and his own beliefs. Inspiration for
the story was said to have come from a number of sources, including
tales told to Anderson by actor Jason Robards on the set of Magnolia,
along with elements from the lives of John Steinbeck and L. Ron Hubbard
(the latter's influence quickly becoming a talking point for the
picture). Unused scenes from There Will Be Blood, Anderson's 2007 epic,
would also go into the screenplay. The director had Philip Seymour
Hoffman in mind for the role of Lancaster while writing the script and
sent the actor completed sections to read and offer feedback upon.
Indeed, it was Hoffman who suggested the writer shift the focus of the
story off Lancaster and onto Quell. With scripting complete, work began
on financing. Originally the picture was set to be a Universal
production but they passed over budgetary concerns and issues with the
script (as did The Weinstein Company). In the meantime, Jeremy Renner
was cast as Quell (at this point known as Freddie Sutton) and rehearsals
got underway with a view to shoot in August 2010. However, with funding
still not in place (a deal with River Road amounting to nought) the
project stalled. It would take until February 2011 before The Master's
$35M production budget could be secured - Megan Ellison, the daughter of
Oracle founder Larry Ellison, setting up a production company to
provide the money for this and Anderson's next picture. A casualty of
the delay was Renner, who could no longer fit the picture into his
schedule due to working on the fourth Mission:Impossible film and The
Bourne Legacy. He would be replaced by Joaquin Phoenix, returning from
an acting hiatus to play Freddie (The actor having spent an extended
length of time reinventing himself as a rapper for what turned out to be
mockumentary, I'm Still Here). Reese Witherspoon, who had been
tentatively attached as Lancaster's wife, Mary Sue, made way for Amy
Adams to take on the role.
With the cast and financing in place, The Master commenced filming in
June 2011, with Anderson opting to shoot in 65mm (It is the first
theatrical feature to use 65mm since Branagh's Hamlet in 1996). With
L.Ron Hubbard being an influence on the story, a number of outlets were
quick to label the film as a history of Scientology in all but name,
resulting in producer JoAnne Stellar publicly denying the accusation.
Harvey Weinstein, whose company ended up signing on to distribute the
picture worldwide also stated that the film was not about the origins of
Hubbard's religion. Anderson did go on to admit that Hubbard was an
influence on the story, as were others, but that he knew people would
latch on to that aspect and run with it. The similarities are there -
Dodd's release from the army, the year the religion was set up, the
location of that event, and even The Master's wife's name, all echoing
Hubbard's life. Hoffman too bears a likeness to the founder. The
director went as far as screening the film for famed Scientologist Tom
Cruise, who was said to have had issues with aspects of it. What those
were is unclear but the Boogie Nights director left the film unchanged.
What couldn't be argued was the power of the picture, with early footage
screened at Cannes wooing many who witnessed it. The first trailer of
sorts debuted in May 2012, with a more conventional one appearing in
June. The strong word of mouth continued to come, but a late August
screening appeared to split opinion, but in quite a bizarre way. A
number of critics loved the film, while others felt it was the kind of
picture that couldn't be summed up with a quote or capsule review. What
all were in agreement with were the three lead roles, many already
singling them out for Academy award glory (Phoenix in particular). In
fact, recognition would come sooner as The Master won awards for both
director and actors at the Venice Film Festival last weekend (the
picture had originally won the Golden Lion but new ruling disallowing
any one film from wining more then two awards stopped it from taking the
top prize). Critics were more than impressed with The Master, and it
currently sits at 88% approval rating. The picture opened at five
locations (totally 16 screens) on Friday, seeing a stunning $242K
return. Its weekend total was an equally impressive $746K, which equates
to around $146K per location - giving it the best ever screen to
dollars-taken average amongst similarly limited releases. Further
expansion is due next weekend, at which point we'll get a clearer
picture as to whether The Master has a shot at attracting a mainstream
audience, but there's no denying, it's gotten off to fantastic start.
Along with The Master, a number of other films are receiving a limited
release this weekend. First up is Ten Years, a film developed, produced
and starring Channing Tatum. The ensemble picture follows a group of
friends who come together for their high school reunion, a time for
reflection on life, love and regret. Ten Years also features Justin
Long, Rosario Dawson and Max Minghella, along with a number of real-life
partners, including Tatum's wife Jenna Dewan and Minghella's
girlfriend, Kate Mara. Due to a lack of hype and 3 theatre roll out, the
picture made just $23K this weekend.
Arbitrage is a dramatic thriller, starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon
and Tim Roth. It's the story of a hedge fund broker forced to make some
difficult decisions when his life, both personal and professional,
begins to unravel. Directed by first-timer Nicholas Jarecki (who sought
to fund the film independently), Arbitrage has already scored a number
of strong notices and made a solid $2M over the last three day. Not bad
considering the film is already available on VOD.
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