The Social Network was the number one film with ease this weekend, as no film even came close to challenging it for the title of box office champion. The two horror films that debuted this weekend definitely underwhelmed audiences and the holdovers posted solid weekends. Here’s how things broke down:
The Social Network debuted in 1st place with a gross of $23 million (I predicted a 1st place finish and a gross of $27 million). The Social Network had a per theatre average of $8,300, which was the highest per theatre average in the top ten. The gross was only slightly better than the $19 million debut of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps last weekend, so I would say that these dramas met audience expectations on their opening weekend, but did not exceed them. Having said that, I would expect The Social Network to be a mainstay in the top ten for quite awhile, as it is receiving some of the best reviews of any film this year. You would also assume that Sony Pictures will give The Social Network a heavy marketing push to help make audiences aware of the positive reviews the film has received. The opening weekend gross also puts the film in a good position to make a profit, as the budget for The Social Network is rumoured to be around $50 million. A solid debut for the film and it should be able to build from it’s debut this weekend.
Less than $900,000 separates the next three films, so they could finish in a different order when final numbers come out on Monday.
Staying in 2nd place for a second weekend in a row is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole with a gross of $10.8 million (I predicted a 2nd place finish and a gross of $10.7 million). The film had a per theatre average of $3,036 and dropped 32.6% from last weekend which was the lowest percentage drop in the top ten. The fact that the film does not have a per theatre average near $5,000 on its second weekend is troubling, and if I’m Warner Bros., I have my doubts about this film turning a profit. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole did not have any new challengers in the following categories: 3-D, family films and animation films. This film should be raking in the money with the lack of competition, but audiences have ignored it. After 10 days, the film has taken in $30 million, and has a ways to go to reach its budget of $80 million.
Dropping from 1st place to 3rd place is Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps with a gross of $10.1 million (I predicted a 5th place finish and a gross of $8.55 million). Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps had a per theatre average of $2,808 and was down 46.9% from last weekend, which was the largest percentage drop of any film in the top ten. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps definitely lost its momentum this weekend to The Social Network thanks to the positive reviews the later film received. When it comes to dramas, critics definitely hold a lot of influence, and audiences listen to them, so that is why the second weekend drop is fairly large. What is disturbing is that Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has the highest theatre count of any film in release, and to have such a poor per theatre average shows how little audiences seem to care about the film. It definitely looks like 20th Century Fox will not be making money on the film as in 10 days Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has grossed $35.8 million and the budget of the film is reportedly around $70 million.
Dropping from 3rd place to 4th place is The Town with a gross of $10 million (I predicted a 3rd place finish and a gross of $9.8 million). The Town had a per theatre average of $3,407 and was down only 35.9% from last weekend. The action element of the film is what makes it stand out to audiences as there have been three high profile adult dramas debuting three weekends in a row (The Social Network, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Town), The Town might be the highest grossing of them all when all is said and done. It sure looks to be the most profitable film of the three as in seventeen days, The Town has made $64.3 million and the budget is rumoured to be around $37 million.
Dropping from 4th place to 5th place is Easy A which grossed $7 million (I predicted a 7th place finish and a gross of $6.89 million). Easy A had a per theatre average of $2,354 and was down only 34% from last weekend. I thought The Social Network might take away some of the audience for Easy A as teenagers would be interested about the origin of Facebook, but enough teenagers also wanted to see a film about a “sex scandal” at a high school. After three weekends, Easy A has grossed $42.4 million, from a budget of only $8 million.
Dropping from 5th place to 6th place is the comedy You Again with a gross of $5.5 million (I predicted an 8th place finish and a gross of $3.8 million). You Again had a per theatre average of $2,179 and was down 34% from its opening weekend. You Again definitely posted a decent hold, but the terrible per theatre average gives this film the kiss of death, and it will be on DVD shelves soon. After 10 days, You Again has grossed $16.4 million and will definitely make some money as the budget for the film is only $20 million.
The other two new releases take the 7th and 8th spots with results that should not be that surprising.
Debuting in 7th place is the Renee Zellweger horror film Case 39 with a gross of $5.35 million (I predicted a 6th place finish and a gross of $7 million). Case 39 had a horrendous per theatre average of $2,420. Zellweger was in a genre that audiences were not used to seeing her in, and the fact that the marketing for the film was weak, as were the reviews, did not help its cause. The film had been sitting on the studio shelves for quite awhile, so it was essentially dumped into theatres as close to Halloween as possible, away from more popular horror titles, to try to make and make some money. Expect this film to be on DVD shelves soon. Case 39 will not be making money for Paramount Vantage as the budget for the film is rumoured to be around $26 million.
Debuting in 8th place is the horror remake Let Me In with a gross of $5.3 million (I predicted a 4th place finish and a gross of $9 million). Let Me In had a terrible per theatre average of $2,624. Even though Let Me In received glowing reviews, which is rare from a horror film, and was based on an acclaimed Swedish film that would give it a little bit of a built in fan base, Let Me In was unable to connect with mainstream audiences. The subject matter definitely is a tough sell, seeing two young kids try to be friends, when one is a little “different” as the “R” rating never helps a film with kids in the leading roles. Expect this to be on DVD shelves soon. Let Me In will be hard-pressed to make back its money for Overture Films as the budget for the film is rumoured to be $20 million.
Dropping from 6th place to 9th place is Devil with a gross of $3.6 million (I predicted it would gross $2.8 million and finish in 9th place). Devil had a per theatre average of $1,535 and was down 44.4% from last weekend. The percentage drop is again surprisingly small for a horror film in its third weekend, but being in 9th place in your third weekend of release tells me that you will be on DVD shelves soon. Devil has grossed $27.3 million in seventeen days.
Dropping from 8th place to 10th place is Alpha and Omega with a gross of $3 million (I did not make a prediction for the film). Alpha and Omega had a per theatre average of $1,303 and was down 36.6% from last weekend. After three weekends, Alpha and Omega has grossed $19 million.
In other box office news:
Dropping from 10th place to 12th place is Inception with a gross of $870,000 (I did not make a prediction for the film). Inception had a per theatre average of $1,392 and the reason why I’m including Inception in my box office wrap-up report is because the percentage drop from last weekend was 30.2%, which continues the trend of Inception having its percentage drops being below 40% each weekend of its release, which is a really incredible accomplishment. Here’s the breakdown to prove my point:
Inception’s Weekend Drops
2nd weekend – 32% drop
3rd weekend – 35.7% drop
4th weekend – 32.7% drop
5th weekend – 39% drop
6th weekend – 30.5% drop
7th weekend – 37.8% drop
8th weekend – 6.2% drop
9th weekend – 34.1% drop
10th weekend – 28.1% drop
11th weekend – 36.7% drop
12th weekend – 30.2% drop
After twelve weekends, Inception has grossed $288 million and has made quite a lot of money for Warner Bros. as the budget for the film is $160 million.
The film with the best per theatre average in release is the documentary Waiting for “Superman” which focuses on the U.S. public school system. The documentary is in its second weekend of release and grossed $407,000 giving it a per theatre average of $11,971.
In limited release:
Leaving – This film stars Kristin Scott Thomas and is about a bored housewife who has an affair. The film grossed $13,400 from 2 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $6,700.
Freakonomics – This documentary is based on the acclaimed book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The film grossed $33,000 from 17 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $1,941.
Hatchet II – A sequel to the cult-horror film continues were the first one left off (Hint – People die by way of hatchets). This film grossed $62,000 from 68 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $912.
Chain Letter – This film is about a murderer who goes after people who do not forward chain letters. The film grossed $143,000 from 406 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $352.
Nine Nation Animation – This film grossed $3,000 from one theatre.
Ip Man, Nuremberg, Douchebag and Barry Munday did not report their box office gross as of this writing.
So to recap, here were my predictions:
The Social Network – $27 million
Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole – $10.7 million
The Town – $9.8 million
Let Me In – $9 million
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps – $8.55 million
And here are the actual numbers:
The Social Network – $23 million
Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’Hoole – $10.8 million
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps – $10.1 million
The Town – $10 million
Easy A – $7 million
My predictions were off by $5.96 million.
Next weekend, The Social Network looks to be the #1 film for a second weekend in a row against the comedy drama Life as We Know It starring Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl, the horror film My Soul To Take from director Wes Craven and a film about the worlds most famous racing horse Secretariat starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich. Check out Biff Bam Pop next Friday to read my predictions!
