1. The Wolverine - $55M - $55M
2. The Conjuring - $22.1M - $83.8M
3. Despicable Me 2 - $16M - $306.4M
4. Turbo - $13.3M - $55.7M
5. Grown Ups 2 - $11.5M - $101.6M
6. Red 2 - $9.4M - $35M
7. Pacific Rim - $7.5M - $84M
8. The Heat - $5.8M - $24.3M
9. R.I.P.D - $5.9M - $24.4M
10. Fruitvale Station - $4.6M - $6.3M
Something
of a calm before the storm moment this weekend, as only one new movie
sees a wide release. The Wolverine brings back Hugh Jackman as the
titular hero, hoping to serve as a successful stop-gap between X-Men
movies. Last weekend's surprise hit, The Conjuring was expected to hold
much stronger than the usual horror fare, while Turbo and Red 2 would be
hoping there was still room for them after their lacklustre opening
frames. Ahead and Wednesday brings us The Smurfs 2, followed on Friday
by the action comedy, 2 Guns.
With his comic book origins
stretching back to 1974, Wolverine has remained one of the most
consistently popular characters within the medium. Created by Len Wein
and John Romita Snr, he first made his appearance in The Incredible Hulk
#180. His proper introduction an issue later would set him on a path
that would see him join The X-Men. In 1982 Wolverine (often referred to
as Logan) was featured in his own eponymous series, the anti-hero
receiving something of a makeover from artist Frank Miller. Numerous
attempts were made to bring the character to the silver screen
(primarily as part of the X-Men), but it would not be until the year
2000 that Bryan Singer achieved such a feat. X-Men featured a vast array
of mutants but focused on Wolverine and his quest to unlock his
origins. Expected to be played by a major star of the time, Singer
surprised many by casting the relatively unknown Australia actor and
musical theatre star, Hugh Jackman. While the experience of starring in a
big Hollywood production was alien to him, Jackman took to the role
with gusto, making it his own almost from the get-go. X-Men, which also
featured Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin and Halle Berry would go on to
become a $296M smash hit, launching a brand new franchise in the
process. Most of the cast would return for the sequel, X2: X-Men United,
which was an even bigger hit, scooping $407M in 2003. Fox quickly
geared up on a second sequel, but offered his dream project of Superman
Returns, Singer opted to not return. After a number of names were put
forward, Matthew Vaughn signed on the dotted line, but dropped out some
way into pre-production (he would eventually return to the series to
direct X-Men: First Class). With a start date looming, Brett Ratner was
hired at the eleventh hour. At the time Ratner was known principally for
his work on the Rush Hour series and facing not only a very tight
schedule but a suddenly reduced budget, the director struggled with
X-Men: The Last Stand. While a critical disappointment, it would become
the most successful entry in the series, a position it holds to this
day.
Perhaps feeling the characters had run their course for now
(and also figuring why have one franchise when you could have a number
of them), the studio opted to make a series of movies based on the
origins of certain individual mutants. Making Wolverine the subject of
their first 'Origins' movie was a no-brainer (A Magneto origins movie
was also in an advanced stage of development, but after the idea was
abandoned, its plot ended up being merged into that of X-Men: First
Class). X-men Origins: Wolverine sought to explain Logan's history and
introduce hitherto unseen mutants from within the X-Men universe. Along
with Jackman, Liev Schreiber would take on the role of Sabretooth, while
Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Kitsch would play Wade Wilson and Remy Etienne
LeBeau respectively. The picture had a troubled production, with
director Gavin Hood and the studio clashing over a number of aspects. A
further blow was dealt when a near complete workprint of the film was
leaked onto the internet more than a month before its general release.
Despite Fox claiming this version was missing a number of effects and
differed considerably from the finished picture, there was in fact
little to separate the two. Origins: Wolverine would make $373M on the
global market, but poor critical opinion and a domestic tally of $179M
(against a budget of $150M) put the dampers on things somewhat. While a
sequel was announced not long after the picture's release, it was put on
the back burner as development moved forward on what would become
X-Men: First Class. Jackman would feature in that film, though only in
an uncredited (yet memorable) cameo. There was speculation that any true
Wolverine sequel would be based in Japan, evidenced by one of Origin's
post-credit sequences. This led fans to speculate that the story would
be based around the limited Chris Claremont/Frank Miller series, which
ran in 1982. Jackman had claimed that this was his favourite of all
Wolverine stories, but that they'd needed to establish the character in
his own right first.
Christopher McQuarrie, director of Way of
the Gun and writer of The Usual Suspects, was hired to script the new
picture in August of 2009 (he had actually done some uncredited work on
the X-Men series for Bryan Singer). By early 2010, Jackman was talking
of a 2011 shoot for the new picture, and things looked to be on track
when McQuarrie submitted his finished script in March 2010. With Gavin
Hood out of the picture, the hunt was on for a new director. Having
worked with Darren Aronofsky on The Fountain, Jackman was eager to get
him on board. The Requiem for a Dream helmer joined the project in late
2010, and was quick to state that this would be a stand alone feature
and not a follow up to Origins. By November of that year, the film
became officially known as The Wolverine, and pre-production continued
apace. However, in March 2011, Aronofsky left the feature, stating it
would keep him out of the country for almost a year, a length of time he
was not comfortable with. Fox called a halt on the production while
they searched for a new director. In the meantime, Japan suffered a
terrible earthquake and tsunami, leading some to wonder if the film
would still shoot there when production resumed. A number of directors
were thrown into the mix, including Justin Lin, Jose Padilha and Doug
Liman, before it was announced that James Mangold had gotten the job.
Mangold shot to fame directing ensemble drama Copland, before moving on
to such fare as Walk The Line, 3:10 To Yuma and Knight & Day. His
position was officially announced in the summer of 2011, with a view to
commence shooting in the winter. However, the start date was pushed back
to the Spring of 2012 while Jackman finished up work on Les Miserables.
In the meantime, X-Men: First Class had been released to acclaim and
made $353M at the global box office.
Finally, July 10th 2012, The
Wolverine entered principal photography. The picture shot primarily in
Australia, though did take in Japan for some sequences. True to what
Aronofsky planned when he was in charge, the picture would exist on its
own and feature very few mutants from other films in the series. Set
after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, it would see Logan travelling
to Japan and being offered the chance to finally become mortal again.
In the process, he finds himself protecting the granddaughter of a man
he saved during World War 2. While there was talk Jessica Biel would
join the production in some capacity, this never materialised. Principle
roles were filled by Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Hiroyuki Sanada.
With work now taking place on the sequel to X-Men: First Class, titled
Days of Future Past, there was a gap in the market for The Wolverine to
slot into. An end of summer release was set for the picture, and the
first trailer debuted in March. This was followed by further footage,
and Jackman hitting the publicity trail hard. Reviews for The Wolverine
have been generally positive, and much stronger than those garnered for
Origins. As of Thursday, it was sitting on a Rotten Tomatoes rating of
68% (the previous movie scored 38%). Competition was reduced thanks to
the film opening against no other major release, though last week's hit
The Conjuring wasn't about to go quietly into the night. Other releases
such as Red 2 and Pacific Rim would have less of an impact.
Opening
at just shy of 4,000 locations, things initially got off to a good
start with a decent $4M midnight haul - that was in line with recent hit
World War Z, which went on to have a $66.4M opening. But not everything
was rosy, as The Wolverine's Friday figure came in at $21M (including
the midnight figure) - that's some way down from the first full day of
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which opened to $34.4M. In fact, the $21M
figure is the lowest opening Friday of any X-Men film, even First Class,
which made $21.3M. Comparisons aside, things were still looking good
for a $50M+ opening weekend. Over Saturday and into Sunday, the picture
made a further $34M, giving it a $55M total. Again, that's a solid
enough figure for a $120M budgeted flick, but significantly lower than
Origins' $85M opening total (First Class scored $55.1M). Some have put
this lower figure down to the fact that this was essentially a
one-mutant film - and all of that hung on the shoulders of Hugh Jackman.
There could also be the fact that Origins left a bad taste in the mouth
for some, and competition certainly can't be discounted either. Where
the picture goes next weekend will be more revealing for its overall
future. A decent hold will see it well on its way to recouping the $120M
costs, but a sharp fall could see it struggle - at least domestically,
where it'll be facing Elysium and Kick Ass 2 in the coming weeks (not to
mention next weekend's 2 Guns). Overseas things were much healthier,
with Fox reporting an $86.1M total, giving The Wolverine a $141M global
take after just three days.
After a stunning opening last
weekend, all eyes where once again on The Conjuring, and whether its
fantastic word of mouth would save it from the typical second frame
plunge that curses most horror movies. Early signs based on its weekday
totals were certainly positive and by Thursday night it had recouped its
production budget twice over. With The Wolverine in play, the James
Wan-directed flick slipped down into second, but managed a solid second
Friday take of $7.3M. That's down 57% on the same day last week, and was
less to do with any kind of box office collapse and more to do with the
fact its opening day was so strong. In comparison, The Purge fell a
shocking 82% on its second Friday. The Conjuring remained steady during
the weekend, finishing up with $22.1M (an overall dip of 47%), a sure
sign it isn't just a flash in the pan. That brings its ten day total to
$83M and means $100M will come relatively easily within the next week or
so. It's already the 13th biggest supernatural horror film in history
and stands to threaten the box office totals of The Ring, The Grudge and
the entire Paranormal Activity series in the very near future. If
Universal aren't already hard at work on a sequel, they soon will be.
With
new competition from Turbo last weekend, it was suspected that
Despicable Me 2 had had its run at the box office. Nothing could be
further from the truth however, as Turbo dominated the family market for
just one day. As DM2's fourth weekend began, it had its sights set on
surpassing $300M at the domestic box office, something it would achieve
on Saturday. It's now the second biggest film of 2013 and even with
fresh competition on the horizon (The Smurfs 2 mainly), it could still
climb to $330M. This frame it made $16M, to bring its overall total to
$306M. Overseas the sequel is a little further ahead, having made $354M
to date.
As mentioned, Turbo never really go going with the
general public to the degree it needed to, despite its excellent
Cinemascore (a rating based on a survey of people who have seen the
picture). The film, about a snail who dreams of racing in the Indy 500,
couldn't gain much ground during the week either, and knew it only
really had this weekend to make much of impact before The Smurfs return
on Wednesday. It scored $4M on its second Friday, a not bad fall of 40%
on the same day last week, but not as strong as it needed to be on a
$135M budgeted picture. It earnt a further $9.3M over the weekend
proper, giving it a second frame total of $13.3M (An overall dip of
37.5% on its opening weekend). Turbo now faces the very real prospect of
not hitting $100M in North America, and will need to look overseas for
help (Similar to May release, Epic, although the Fox picture did at
least manage $105M domestically).
Grown Ups 2 hit $100M on
Sunday, an achievement that must come as something of a relief to Adam
Sandler, whose last two live action features made just over $105M
combined (and arguably burnt up a lot of the good will the actor had
earnt). A third weekend of $11.5M puts Grown Ups 2's total at $101.6M.
By the end of weekend three, the original film had made $110M, on its
way to a $162M. It remains to be seen if the sequel will perform as
well, but wherever it does end up, it'll be a solid return on its $80M
investment. Unlike most Sandler flicks, Grown Ups did well overseas, and
there's every chance part 2 will do just as well.
With a much
busier market to play in, Red 2 looks unlikely to have the legs of its
predecessor. Opening to $18M last weekend, it struggled through the
week, not even clearing $1.6M on Thursday. A full week on from its
opening, the Bruce Willis ensemble flick dropped 58% on Friday, making
$2.7M. While both The Wolverine and The Conjuring continued to dominate
the demographic, Red 2 picked up a little, finishing the weekend with a
$9.4M total ($35M overall). At the same point, the original movie had
made $33M and had a few quiet weeks ahead to make its $90M total. The
sequel faces a number of busy weeks, and that combined with the average
reviews and word of mouth will see it top out at around $65M.
Guillermo
del Toro's Pacific Rim managed to get back up to fifth place on
Thursday, crossing the $75M barrier in the process. While the film
hasn't performed as well as WB had hoped it would (or needed it to),
it's already surpassed the domestic totals of John Carter and
Battleship, two releases it was compared unfavourably to. Were the weeks
ahead a little quieter, $100M in North America would be a done deal,
but with ten wide releases in the next four weekends, it is unlikely to
get the chance to hang around. This weekend the Monsters versus robot
thriller made $7.5M, giving it a domestic tally of $84M. Overseas
however, things are much healthier, which has resulted in the picture
hitting $140M, with a number of major territories still awaiting its
release.
This weekend saw The Heat become the biggest film of
Melissa McCarthy's career - at least as one of the main leads
(Bridesmaids, where she had a supporting role, made $169M). It made
$6.8M this frame, to bring its cumulative gross to $141.2M. The cop
comedy should clear $160M in the US and could see at least half as much
overseas. There are already rumours that director Paul Feig wants
McCarthy for the lead role in his new super-spy project, Susan Cooper.
R.I.P.D
became one of the biggest flops of recent times in its first three days
on release. Made for an estimated $130M, it struggled to a $12M first
weekend total. A week later and the collapse is all but complete - it
dipped 54% and barely cleared $5.8M. That gives the Reynolds/Bridges
action comedy a nasty $24.3M ten day total. By next Friday its screen
count will have been slashed as Universal cuts its losses and sets about
sending the film to the home market as quickly as possible. Expect
R.I.P.D, along with The Lone Ranger, to be the "What Went Wrong" essay
subject for summer 2013.
Managing to crack the top ten from a
theatre count of only 1,064 is dual Sundance winner, Fruitvale Station.
The film is based on the controversial final day of Oscar Grant's life,
who was shot and killed by a Bay Side police officer for apparently
resisting arrest in 2009. The topical picture opened on July 12th to
exceptional reviews and made $386K from only 7 locations. Expansion a
week later saw its box office takings rise to $739K. Based on this
strong showing, The Weinstein Company opted to rapidly expand Fruitvale
Station in its third weekend and were rewarded with a $4.6M total. That
figure brings the film's total box office to $6.3M.
In
limited/expanding release news, raunchy comedy The To-Do List, which
stars Aubrey Plaza, made $1.5M from 591 locations. Blue Jasmine, the
well received new feature from Woody Allen made $613K from 6 locations,
while The Way, Way Back, which expanded into 886 theatres scored $3.3M
($8.9M to date). Elsewhere, The Lone Ranger has managed to rise to $85M
($161M global total) while World War Z is at $192M ($473M globally).
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