1. Argo - $12.3M - $60.7M
2. Hotel Transylvania - $9.5M - $130.4M
3. Cloud Atlas - $9.4M - $9.4M
4. Paranormal Activity 4 - $8.6M - $42.6M
5. Silent Hill: Revelation - $8M - $8M
6. Taken 2 - $8M - $117.3M
7. Here Comes The Boom - $5.5M - $30.6M
8. Sinister - $5M - $39.5M
9. Alex Cross - $5M - $19M
10. Fun Size - $4M - $4M
(13. Chasing Mavericks - $2.2M - $2.2M)
Another
busy weekend at the movies with four wide opening releases all set to
take on Paranormal Activity 4 and the still white-hot Argo. The
audacious Cloud Atlas was set to clash with the Silent Hill sequel, teen
comedy Fun Size and real life drama, Chasing Mavericks. Not only would
they need to contend with each other but the very real danger created by
Storm Sandy attacking huge areas of North America. Next week brings
another three releases hoping for glory, with Wreck-It Ralph already
expected to see a comfortable victory. But back to this frame, and the
now three-week old Argo...
Having dropped just 15.5% in its
second weekend, Argo would remain a threat throughout the week, toppling
Paranormal Activity 4 from the top spot on Tuesday, when it made $1.7M.
It would continue to hold off the found footage film and by Thursday
night, was sitting on a $48.4M total (by day 14 The Town, Affleck's
previous directorial effort, had made $54M). Even before we approached
the weekend, there were many analysts who felt Argo could hang onto the
top spot inspite of the four wide opening new releases it would come up
against. And indeed, they were proved correct when the film made $3.94M
on Friday, holding off nearest rival, Silent Hill: Revelation. That
figure means it was off just 22% on last Friday and set the picture up
for a comfortable weekend win - barring any last minute advances. All
told, Argo's third weekend total came in at $12.3M, down just 25% on its
already very impressive second frame. It's also the first film since
February's Safe House to move up from second to first place. After 17
days the political drama has made $60M and should continue to play well
even as more dramatic competition weighs in. $100M still isn't a dead
cert but it's certainly moved a step closer with Argo's performance this
frame.
With Fun Size (See below) aimed at the slightly older
market, Hotel Transylvania continued to play well this weekend, its
fifth on general release. It made another $2.5M on Friday, as it headed
towards a weekend total of $9.5M - moving up into second place in the
process. The Adam Sandler-voiced fantasy comedy now has a cumulative
gross of $130M and is already the seventh biggest film of the comedian's
career (it also has the $135M earner Anger Management firmly in its
sights). There's a strong chance of it making $150M in North America but
its competition free days are almost up as Wreck-It Ralph enters the
fray next Friday. Next up for Sandler is comedy sequel Grown-Ups 2,
along with the recently announced Magnificent Seven knock off,
Ridiculous Six. Overseas Hotel Transylvania continues its expansion and
has made $91M to date.
Cloud Atlas is an adaptation of David
Mitchell's sprawling, multi-layered book of the same name. It spans six
different time periods, beginning in 1850 and ending in a distant
post-apocalyptic future, and covers many aspects of the human condition
and the idea of eternal recurrence. Thought to be impossible to
translate into a screenplay (something Mitchell himself admitted) due to
its complex nature and themes, it came as some surprise when director
Tom Tykwer revealed in 2009 that he had begun work on a script for Cloud
Atlas with The Wachowskis, who had optioned the rights to the book.
This came about when The Matrix duo were shooting second unit on the
2005 flick V for Vendetta, and noticed star Natalie Portman engrossed in
the novel. After listening to Portman rave over it, both Lana and Andy
read it and were equally as impressed. On the look out for a project on
which they could collaborate with Tom Tykwer, they urged the German-born
director to read it. He too was blown away and quickly joined the
project. But commitments on both sides held back work until 2009
(Tykwer was finishing up The International, the Wachowskis were
recovering from the financial disappointment that was Speed Racer and
tentatively experimenting with Iraq war drama Cobalt Neural 9, a project
on which they would not secure funding). By February 2009, the trio
assembled in Costa Rica to begin work. They immediately ran into
problems of how to convey the different storylines, yet keep the links
between them in tact. There were also issues with how the book was set
out and its use and partial invention of language. Furthermore, the
story only follows a chronological path until half way through, when it
reverses (meaning it starts and finishes in 1850). The directors
attempted to break it down into hundreds of small scenes and arranged
them into a time line which would (they hoped) resemble the order in
which a traditional film would play out. Still they could make no
headway, but with their time together almost up, they were hit by a
revelation - they could have the same actors playing different roles in
each story to show that the human soul is reincarnated and goes on -
tapping into the aforementioned eternal recurrence (a major theme in the
book).
With this in mind, the Wachowskis started work on
assembling a screenplay and thus began a back and forth between
themselves and Tykwer. Having been burnt badly by Alan Moore's comments
regarding their V for Vendetta adaptation, they, along with
Tykwer agreed that if author David Mitchell disliked their screenplay,
they would scrap the work they had done and go their separate ways.
Fortunately, Mitchell loved it and joked that the trio now knew his book
and its characters better than he himself did. With his blessing, they
began to seek funding. Despite their combined clout (the Wachowskis'
Matrix trilogy had earnt within excess of $1B in theatrical, home and
ancillary sales for WB) they hit walls at every turn. Warner Bros. did
eventually offer to distribute the picture domestically, but that fee
would only partially cover the proposed $140M production budget. Worse
was to come. While casting the film the studio put the deal on hold,
claiming that the figures didn't add up (Lana Wachowski told New Yorker
that Warner Bros. had used the Darran Aronofsky film, The Fountain, as
their financial projection model for Cloud Atlas). Thanks to securing
Tom Hanks for the project, they were able to return to WB and get the
funding, though not as much as originally offered. Further money was
also secured from the German Federal Film Fund. The project continued to
stall a number of times, with the traditional method of raising funds
out of the window. Instead, the production signed up a number of
investors, but this still wasn't enough and left the picture in the
risky position of falling apart if even one financier dropped out. Even a
passionate presentation by Tykwer, The Wachowskis and Focus Features'
James Schamus at the Cannes film festival in 2011 failed to generate
enough interest. In fact the opposite took place - seeing a lack of
investment in the project prompted others to withhold or withdraw their
funding. Eventually the costs were scaled back to $100M, giving the
picture an $86M shooting budget. The Wachowskis not only gave up their
directing fees but also invested some of their own money into the film.
With funding coming from so many sources, Cloud Atlas has been deemed
one of the most expensive independent movies ever produced.
Casting
could finally begin in earnest. Along with Hanks, the trio signed up
Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Ben Wishaw, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae and
Halle Berry (taking the role originally earmarked for Natalie Portman),
along with Hugh Grant, who was cast at the last minute. All would have
multiple roles across the sections. It was decided The Wachowskis would
handle the 19th century chapter, along with the two future ones, while
Tykwer took on the 30s, the 70s and the present day instalments. Two
separate crews would operate on the film, but work closely together.
Shooting commenced in September 2011, primarily in Berlin but also
counting Majorca and Scotland amongst its location shoots. By December,
filming was complete and the directors screened a 170 minute cut to
Warner Bros. brass, who much to the trio's surprise, loved it. The only
issue now was how they could possibly market the film to the public -
attempting to convey its complexities in two minutes and thirty seconds.
In a move as bizarre as their funding process, Tykwer and The
Wachowski's issued an epic five minute long, online trailer, which
sought to explain what the film was about, while displaying some
incredible visuals. Furthermore, they created an introduction to the
trailer in which the three talked about the film and its themes. Having
had their lives shrouded in secrecy for many a year, after an earlier
encounter with the Hollywood machine left them fearful, The Wachowskis
(now classing themselves as Wachowski Starship) appearing on screen
generated almost as much hype as the trailer itself. Knowing their
livelihoods depend on the film's success, they continued to use
themselves to promote the picture, granting interviews and such like.
Cloud Atlas premièred at the Toronto Film Festival to great acclaim and
received a ten minute standing ovation. Subsequent screenings had gone
equally well, but more than one critic had mentioned that while the
movie was audacious in both theme and scale, it was almost as far from
potential commercial success as was possible. At 164 minutes in length,
with six interweaving and time spanning stories, along with the same
actors playing multiple characters, Cloud Atlas was set to find success
at the box office hard to come by this weekend. It opened on just over
2,000 theatres and while its reviews were initially very positive, as
more critics weighed in, its approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes dropped
to 61%.
Alas, the hype and positive festival word of mouth did
little to separate Cloud Atlas from the other releases this frame, as it
stumbled to $3.45M on Friday, not even good enough for second place,
let alone the top spot. Word of mouth from the general public was
decidedly mixed, something reflected in its C+ Cinemascore. Over the
remainder of the weekend, the sci-fi epic made only $5.9M more, bringing
its three day total to a disappointing (but not that unexpected) $9.4M.
As mentioned, this was a tough sell to the average movie-goer, with its
complex story and a runtime that limited the amount of showings
possible each day (Location count too, would have been a factor, albeit a
minor one). Its $9.4M start puts Cloud Atlas in flop territory, as with
that poor word of mouth attached, it's unlikely to make much of a dent
next weekend either. Ultimately, the issue, apart from the difficult
sell, may well have been the fact that it was essentially an art house
film with a blockbuster-style budget - and thus had to play in the
blockbuster field if it was to see a worthy return. A very limited
roll-out may have benefited the film initially but it would have been
unlikely to save it, at least not in North America. There's a chance the
overseas market may be its saving grace, but for now, Cloud Atlas will
go down as one of the bigger flops of 2012.
Paranormal Activity 4
opened as the second lowest of the series last weekend, making $29M
over its first three days. While largely academic given its $5M
production budget (and the fact it also scored over $26M overseas), it
did highlight the growing apathy amongst the general public for the
found footage series. Week day figures were equally poor, with the then
two week old Argo managing to usurp PA4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday to control the number one spot. By the eve of its second frame,
the film had made $33.9M - a long way from the $49.1M and the $62.7M
made by parts 2 and 3 in the same time. With poor word of mouth in full
effect, along with four new releases to counter against (along with the
still popular Sinister), Paranormal Activity 4 was expected to give up
the top spot. It toppled a disastrous 80% on its second Friday, making
only $3.1M (and dropping to fourth place). That drop is even higher that
the one witnessed by PA3, and that entry at least had a huge opening
frame on its side. Over the remainder of the weekend PA4 added a further
$5.5M, to bring its second frame total to $8.6M ($42.6M overall and a
weekend to weekend drop of 70%). While it's hard to worry about a $5M
film that has only made $42M, it does mean this fourth entry
will be the lowest grossing of the series and may only just surpass what
the third film made in its first week, by the end of its theatrical
run. None of this appears to have worried Paramount, who have not only
announced a fifth entry into the series but also put forth a Spring
release date for the proposed Latino-themed spin off.
Silent
Hill: Revelation is the sequel to the 2006 minor hit Silent Hill, which
was itself based on the best-selling Konami videogame series (the
adaptation borrowed elements from the first four games). Set largely in
the titular town, the original starred Sean Bean, Radha Mitchell and
Deborah Kara Unger and had been in development for a number of years
before moving forward. Scripting on the original film went to Oscar
winner Roger Avary, known for his work with Quentin Tarantino and for
directing 1994's Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction in 2002. At the
helm was Christophe Gans, who described the film as a labour of love.
It would go on to make $46M domestically, with a further $50M coming
overseas, and North America DVD sales in excess of 1.3M. Gans claimed in
December 2006 he had a follow-up officially ready to go, but he would
leave the project shortly after citing that he had other ideas he wished
to work on instead. This caused a delay in proceedings which was
exasperated when Roger Avary, already on board to write the sequel, was
jailed in 2008 for vehicular manslaughter. There was little movement for
almost two years, apart from Silent Hill video game artist Masahiro Ito
declining the offer to work on creature design/general world aesthetics
for the sequel. It would be November 2010 before Michael J. Bassett
signed on to write and direct Silent Hill: Revelation. Bassett was an
English born director whose previous work included the World War 1
horror Deathwatch and the 2009 action adventure Solomon Kane (which
received a very limited release in North America just a few weeks ago).
Along
with her father Christopher (a returning Sean Bean), Heather Mason has
spent years evading malevolent forces. Just as she is about to turn 18,
her father disappears and Heather discovers her identity and origins may
actually be false. This discovery leads her to an alternate Silent
Hill, which is controlled by Claudia (played by Carrie-Anne Moss) and
Leonard Wolf (Malcolm McDowell). She soon discovers she may be trapped
in the demonic world of Silent Hill forever. Filming on the sequel took
place in Toronto in March and April of 2011, with the picture shooting
in 3D as opposed to being converted in post-production. At the San Diego
Comic-Con of 2012, two short clips were unveiled, followed by a trailer
appearing online late July. Silent Hill: Revelation had its work cut
out this weekend, as it faced not only the second frame of Paranormal
Activity 4 but the still popular Sinister. Reviews, while largely
irrespective for such a film, were little short of horrific, and left it
with just a 7% approval rating. But the good news was that it would
receive a wide roll out into just under 3,000 locations, which enabled
it to debut in second place on Friday with $3.5M (way down on the $8.1M
made by the original feature on its first day, albeit with much less
competition). But with that being its strongest day of the three and the
terrible word of mouth starting to bite, Revelation couldn't hold on to
its placing, and had dropped down to fifth by Sunday evening, with a
weekend finish of $8M (Silent Hill's three day total was $20.1M). While a
poor starter, the picture cost $20M to produce, which it will cover at
least three quarters of domestically, with any shortfall being covered
overseas. Expect Silent Hill: Revelation to be a distant memory within a
few weeks.
With the new releases this weekend, Taken 2 found
itself relegated to fifth place on Friday, making $2.7M in the process
(which considering this is the film's fourth weekend on release, isn't
bad at all). All told, it finished the weekend with an $8M total, down
around 40% on last frame. While reviews and weekend to weekend falls
couldn't hold a candle to its predecessor, the action sequel crossed
$100M on day sixteen of its release and now sits on a $117M total. It
should manage one more frame in the top ten before heading on to the
lucrative home market. Overseas Taken 2 continues to dominate and has
made more than double what the first movie made, with expectations high
that it would surpass $200M by Sunday night.
Here Comes The Boom
drops 35% this weekend as it continues to struggle to find an audience.
Despite a not-bad drop of 29% in its second frame, the picture opened
below estimates and has struggled to recover to any great degree -
though many doubted it would be in the top ten by its third weekend.
This frame saw the Kevin James comedy make $5.5M, for a $30M overall
total.
With fresh competition from Silent Hill: Revelation,
Sinister took hit on Friday, making $1.75M. The Ethan Hawke horror, made
for only $3M, opened well a fortnight ago taking over $18M and fell a
not-bad 51% last weekend, up against the Paranormal Activity sequel.
Back to this week, and Sinister finished up with $5M, bringing its 17
day total to $39.5M. While this may be its last placing in the top ten,
it will turn a solid profit for Summit, and take some of the
disappointment off Alex Cross' lacklustre showing.
Along with
Paranormal Activity 4, the Alex Cross reboot also failed to woo crowds
last weekend, making only $11.3M (a figure that was lower than what
Along Came a Spider made in its second weekend). Tyler Perry's
first lead role (outside of his own work) failed to entice his fan base
or those looking for a solid thriller. Some speculated that the lack of
violence alienated those who enjoyed James Patterson's Cross novels, but
conversely, the violence that did feature (or the implication of
violence) put off many of Perry's fans, who are far used to seeing him
as his female alter-ego, Madea. A week on and Alex Cross tumbled down to
eighth place on Friday, making just $1.69M (a drop of 56% on opening
day). Over Saturday and Sunday it continued to struggled, finishing its
second weekend with an unspectacular $5M ($19M overall and a weekend to
weekend drop of 56%). It's unlikely to cover its modest $35M budget in
North America and will need to rely on a better showing overseas, where
Perry is a relative unknown.
Our next new release this weekend is
the Nickelodeon produced comedy, Fun Size, featuring Victorious star
Victoria Justice. When Wren is invited to a Halloween party by a guy she
has a major crush on, she couldn't be happy. But the plans fall apart
when Wren's mother asks her to babysit/go trick or treating with her
little brother Albert. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, she
takes her brother along to the party, but inadvertently loses him
amongst the crowds of people. With the help of two geek guys (who just
happen to have a access to a car) and her best friend by her side, Wren
faces a race against time - find Albert before her mother realises he's
missing. She soon discovers her Halloween adventure is about to get a
whole lot crazier. Josh Schwartz makes his directorial debut on the
picture, but is no stranger to the game, having created TV series The
O.C, and been co-creator on Chuck and Gossip Girls, amongst a number of
other TV productions. He was announced as director back in January 2011,
and had cast Victoria Justice by March, to be joined a month later by
Jane Levy, who was set to play Wren's best friend, April. With
everything set to go on the production, bad weather delayed filming,
causing newcomer Schwartz to have to shoot much faster than he'd
anticipated when things finally got back on track. Switching locations
from Minnesota, to Michigan and then finally Cleveland didn't help
matters either. The first (and only) trailer for Fun Size was issued in
June 2012, with a late October release set. Interestingly, despite being
a Nickelodeon production, the film received a PG-13 rating, only the
second time this has happened on a 'Nick' picture (the first being
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging). That left the picture in a tricky
position - too old for the family market but not edgy enough for the
teen crowd. There was also the Halloween effect to factor in, with many
choosing this weekend to celebrate. While Fun Size faced no direct
competition, it made little impact as it cleared just $1.3M on Friday,
not even good enough to crack the top ten (it finished eleventh). Unlike
Hotel Transylvania, the teen comedy didn't really benefit much from a
Saturday matinee boost and ended up on Sunday with a poor three day
total of $4M (though it did at least chart). Even with a $14M budget,
Fun Size is unlikely to break even domestically and will have to hope
for a return on DVD/Blu-Ray instead. But even this wasn't the poorest
opener this frame.
Chasing Mavericks stars Gerard Butler and
Jonny Weston and chronicles the life of surfer Jay Moriarty and his
tutelage under local surf legend, Frosty Hesson. Moriarty dreams of
surfing the most dangerous waves in North America but finds he still has
a lot to learn about surfing and life in general. Hooking up with
Hesson, who is initially resistant to the idea of teaching him, the two
form a friendship as Moriarty prepares to realise his dream. Joining
Butler and Weston is Elisabeth Shue, taking on her third role in the
space of a few months (she featured in Hope Springs and House at the End
of The Street). At the helm of Chasing Mavericks (Which was originally
titled Of Men and Mavericks) are veteran directors Curtis Hanson and
Michael Apted, known for, amongst many other things, his work on the
'Up' documentary series. While Hanson has been directing since 1973 (his
debut was the Roger Corman produced Sweet Kill), it was his 1990s
output that shot him to mainstream success, beginning with Bad
Influence, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild, before
going on to direct arguably his best work, the multi-award winning L.A
Confidential in 1997. Chasing Mavericks shot around this time last year,
with Walden Media and Fox opting for a busy Halloween release date.
Real life dramas can go either way at the box office, but often have the
power to surprise - 2011's A Dolphin's Tale opened to an impressive
$19M, before going on to gross over $70M in North America. That was not
to be the case for Chasing Mavericks, which opened at the fewest
locations of any of the wide releases (2,002). Of the critics who
expressed an opinion, only a third found something they liked about the
picture, leaving it with a 34% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It managed
$825K on Friday, and like Fun Size, failed to break into the top ten.
Curiously though, of the four new openers, Chasing Mavericks had the
highest audience approval (a B+ Cinemascore). Sadly that still wasn't
enough to save it over the rest of the weekend and it ended up making
just $1.3M more, for a opening frame total of $2.2M. Expect its screen
count to be slashed quickly and for it to make its debut on the home
market by January, if not sooner.
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