Talk about a lackluster week at the movies. When the biggest release features a bunch of yappin' rodents you know the outlook is bleak. Historically, this is one of the slowest in terms of box office in recent memory. In fact, it was so bad that not even the mighty boy-wizard Harry Potter stood a chance.
1. G-Force: $32.2M
Let's keep it in perspective, folks. Yes, G-Force beat out Harry Potter, but $32M by no means qualifies as a breakout hit. I couch the victory on the simple fact that most of this film's target demographic, kiddies, already went to see Harry Potter in massive numbers last week. So G-Force was the only real choice they had. There was another major release, Orphan, starring a kid but she was more interested in bashing nuns in the head with hammers. Not exactly family friendly fodder, although that didn't stop a few too many parents from bringing their kids to the screening I went to. They should have Child Services staff posted outside the doors at some of these theatres, to be honest.
2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- $30M/$222M
Spiraling faster than an out of control flying broomstick, Harry Potter's sixth feature film dropped a huge 61% in it's second week. The reason for that probably centers around the rather mixed critical response this film has received, aimed primarily at it's darker tone which some say is too much for younger kids. Still, Potter continues to dominate globally, raking in over $627M worldwide to date.
3. The Ugly Truth- $27M
I'm convinced that the exact same people go to see all these generic looking romantic comedies. Why? Because they all start with the same exact opening weekend tally. All of 'em. Somewhere there are a group of poor dudes, stuck in what has to be a nighmarish relationship, knowing weeks in advance what movie they'll be dragged to on opening night. I pity them, for I have been in their shoes. Sony says that 62% of the audience was female, and 64% of them were 25 years or older, winning Sony the award for "Least Surprising News of the Day".
4. Orphan- $12.8M
I'm beginning to change my mind on Orphan. The more I think about it, the more I'm appreciating it's fun little twist. Orphan's opening weekend is pretty standard for a slasher film of this sort, just slightly below Drag Me to Hell's opening, but this film lacks the big name talents to hook in viewers. I'm predicting that relatively strong word of mouth, and continued buzz about the revelation regarding the titular killer, will push Orphan into a respectable second week.
5. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs- $8.2M/$171M
Might be the only time dinosaurs get their collective asses kicked by a bunch of gerbils, but Ice Age thawed about 53% this week probably because G-Force stole it's core audience. G-Force also hijacked it's 3-D screens, adding to the humiliation. Ice Age continues be large globally, surpassing the $500M mark worldwide.
6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen- $8M/$379M
Yeah...ummm, it just past Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for 10th place all-time. That kinda pisses me off, I won't lie. But it's also set to overtake Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith for 9th place, which I'm kinda ambivalent about.
7. The Hangover- $6.46M/$247M
It won't go away. This is the longest hangover ever. Hair of the dog might be necessary.
8. The Proposal- $6.42M/$140M
Last week I said the only thing I was interested in seeing this week was how The Proposal would perform against The Ugly Truth. The answer? Pretty damn well, only dropping about 23% from last week.
9. Public Enemies- $4.17M/$88.1M
At this rate, Michael Mann's Dillinger biopic will cross the $100M threshold in about 3 weeks. Still, this has to be somewhat disappointing. Not just because of the middling box office tally, but because of the way this film completely failed to latch on with the public.
10. Bruno- $2.72M/$56.5M
Also....
As predicted, 500 Days of Summer performed mightily as it expanded to 60 more theatres. The quirky romantic comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Leavitt and Zooey Deschanel charmed it's way to $1.6M for a total of $3M. I stand by the idea that this will be the highest grossing indie of the year, and considering it's high per site average I expect it will be in the Top 10 next week.
Kathryn Bigelow's highly acclaimed war film, The Hurt Locker, also did booming(no pun intended) business as it expanded this week to over 230 theatres, increasing it's total to $4M.
The best debut of the week in terms of per site average, goes to In The Loop, a British/US comedy about a botched attempt to start war in the Middle East. The film(which was brilliant, I might add. Review to come), which stars James Gandolfini and Steve Coogan amongst others, pulled in $201,000 in only 8 theatres for an average of over $25,000. Not bad. Here's hoping it expands to more sites soon.
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