The three new releases were titans at the box office this weekend as their grosses combined for a total gross of $101.2 million. Megamind came out on top, with Due Date finishing in second place and For Colored Girls finishing in third place. The three films are not close to each other financially, so when the final numbers come out on Monday the only question will be how close the estimates were to the actual numbers. Here’s how the weekend broke down:
Debuting in 1st place is the animated film Megamind with a gross of $47.6 million (I predicted a 1st place finish and a gross of $52 million). Megamind had a per theatre average of $12,082 which is the highest per theatre average of any film in the top ten. The opening weekend gross is good but not great for the Dreamworks Animation film. Here’s the list of opening weekends for non-Shrek films released by Dreamworks Animation:
2008 – Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – $63.1 million opening weekend
2008 – Kung-Fu Panda – $60.2 million opening weekend
2009 – Monsters vs. Aliens – $59.3 million opening weekend
2010 – Megamind – $47.6 million opening weekend
2004 – Shark Tale – $47.6 million opening weekend
2005 – Madagascar – $47.2 million opening weekend
2010 – How to Train Your Dragon – $43.7 million opening weekend
2007 – Bee Movie – $38 million opening weekend
2006 – Over The Hedge – $38.4 million opening weekend
What is going to be a problem for Megamind is that the reviews are not that strong and in a couple of weeks, it will face Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 and Tangled, both of which are going to eat into its box office. How to Train Your Dragon had a smaller opening weekend this year, but powered its way through to a very strong finish because it had stellar reviews and not much in the way of competition. Megamind should hold up well next weekend and has a legitimate shot at repeating as the box office champion, but we’ll have to wait until next Sunday to see if that prediction comes true. It should be able to make back its budget which is listed at $130 million.
Debuting in 2nd place is the comedy Due Date with a gross of $33.5 million (I predicted a 2nd place finish and a gross of $35 million) and a per theatre average of $9,985. Due Date overcame mixed reviews to do very well at the box office, and I think the real reason is the pedigree of the people involved. Robert Downey Jr. is becoming a very reliable box office draw (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man 2) and there is still a lot of love for Zach Galifianakis because of The Hangover. I didn’t find the early promotion for the film to be that funny, but in the weeks leading up to Due Date’s release, I thought the marketing was much improved. We’ll see how well it holds next weekend, but it should do all right as there are not any true comedies being released until Christmas with Little Fockers. I think the film should be able to crack $100 million. It will definitely make a profit as the budget for the film is listed at $65 million.
Debuting in 3rd place is For Colored Girls with a gross of $20.1 million (I predicted a 3rd place finish and a gross of $31 million). For Colored Girls had a per theatre average of $9,450 which is excellent considering that of all the films in the top ten, For Colored Girls has the second lowest theatre count. Once again, Tyler Perry serves his audience and they come out and support his films. The strong cast and source material definitely helped create interest in the film, but surprisingly the opening weekend gross is one of the lower ones for a Tyler Perry directed film. See below:
2006 – Madea’s Family Reunion – $41 million opening weekend
2009 – Madea Goes To Jail – $30 million opening weekend
2010 – Why Did I Get Married Too? – $29.2 million opening weekend
2009 – I Can Do Bad All By Myself – $23.4 million opening weekend
2008 – Meet The Browns – $21.3 million opening weekend
2010 – For Colored Girls – $20.1 million opening weekend
2007 – Why Did I Get Married? – $20 million opening weekend
2007 – Daddy’s Little Girls – $17.3 million opening weekend
2008 – The Family That Preys – $11.2 million opening weekend
Since the end of a year is usually rammed with movie releases (both box office blockbusters and more dramatic choices geared towards Oscar success), I don’t know how For Colored Girls will do long term because it is going to get lost in the crowd. Tyler Perry films usually have audiences that come out and support it in the first weekend, and then there are usually big drop offs. Any Oscar buzz was dashed with the terrible reviews the film has received, but it will be profitable, as the budget is reported to be $21 million. Still, a very impressive debut for For Colored Girls this weekend.
Dropping from 3rd place to 4th place is Red with a gross of $8.8 million (I predicted a 4th place finish and a gross of $6.95 million). Red had a per theatre average of $2,743 and was down a miniscule 17.4%, which was the lowest percentage drop for any film in the top ten. The film has definitely been a surprise of the fall movie season, as it has held up well in its four weekends of release. The total gross for the film is $71.8 million and Red is making a nice profit for Summit Entertainment, as the budget is listed at $58 million.
Dropping from 1st place to 5th place is Saw 3-D with a gross of $8.2 million (I predicted a 5th place finish and a gross of $6.75 million). Saw 3-D had a per theatre average of $2,920 and was down 63.6% from last weekend. The percentage drop was on par with the second weekend drops of the recent entries in the franchise. See the list below:
Saw – 39.3% second weekend drop
Saw II – 46.9% second weekend drop
Saw III – 55.9% second weekend drop
Saw IV – 67.4% second weekend drop
Saw V – 67.6% second weekend drop
Saw VI – 62.7% second weekend drop
Saw 3-D – 63.6% second weekend drop
The film is profitable for Lions Gate as the budget for Saw 3-D is listed at $20 million and after two weekends, the film has grossed $38.8 million.
Dropping from 2nd place to 6th place is Paranormal Activity 2 with a gross of $7.2 million (I predicted a 6th place finish and a gross of $6.4 million). Paranormal Activity 2 had a per theatre average of $2,304 and was down 55.8% from last weekend. The total gross for Paranormal Activity 2 is $77.2 million and it is making quite a lot of money for Paramount as the budget for the film is only $3 million (that is not a typo).
Dropping from 4th place to 7th place is Jackass 3-D with a gross of $5 million (I predicted a 9th place finish and a gross of $3.2 million). Jackass 3-D had a per theatre average of $2,354 and was down 40.1% from last weekend. Jackass 3-D has grossed $110.8 million in four weeks, and has made a fair bit of money for Paramount (sound familiar) as the budget for Jackass 3-D is listed at $20 million.
Dropping from 5th place to 8th place is Hereafter with a gross of $4.02 million (I predicted a 7th place finish and a gross of $3.7 million). Hereafter had a per theatre average of $1,700 and was down 37.4% from last weekend. Hereafter has grossed $28.7 million for Warner Bros. after four weekends of release. It will not be making money for the studio as the budget is listed at $50 million.
Dropping from 6th place to 9th place is the horse racing drama Secretariat with a gross of $4 million (I predicted an 8th place finish and a gross of $3.3 million). Secretariat had a per theatre average of $1,531 and was down only 20.1% from last weekend. Secretariat has grossed $50.9 million after five weeks of release and has made a little bit of money for Walt Disney Pictures as the budget is listed at $35 million.
Dropping from 7th place to 10th place is The Social Network with a gross of $3.6 million (I predicted a 10th place finish and a gross of $2.7 million). The Social Network had a per theatre average of $1,935 and the film was down only 20.3% from last weekend. The budget for The Social Network is listed at $50 million and after six weekends, The Social Network has grossed $85 million, which gives it a nice little profit for Sony Pictures. I think the film will get to over $100 million, as I think The Social Network is a film that we will be hearing a lot about come awards time.
In limited release:
127 Hours – This film stars James Franco and is directed by Danny Boyle and is about the true story of a man who is trapped by a boulder in a canyon and how he makes it through the next 127 hours. 127 Hours was an absolute smash at the box office this weekend as it grossed $266,000 from 4 theatres this weekend giving it a per theatre average of $66,500 which was by far the highest per theatre average of any film in release.
Fair Game – This film stars Naomi Watts and Sean Penn and is directed by Doug Liman. The story follows a CIA agent whose cover is blown because her husband wrote an op-ed piece in a newspaper about the Bush administration’s quest to find Weapons of Mass Destruction that was not flattering to the government. The film grossed $700,000 from 46 theaters, giving it a stellar per theatre average of $15,217.
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer – This is a documentary about the former New York governor’s sex scandal. The film grossed $19,000 from 3 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $6,333.
Four Lions – This film is about a group of British jihadists who have to deal with their plans falling apart because of their different ideologies. The film grossed $45,000 from 8 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $5,625.
Red Hill and Guy and Madeline on a Bench did not report their box office grosses as of this writing.
So to recap, here were my predictions:
Megamind – $52 million
Due Date – $35 million
For Colored Girls – $31 million
Red – $6.95 million
Saw 3-D – $6.75 million
And here are the actual numbers:
Megamind – $47.6 million
Due Date – $33.5 million
For Colored Girls – $20.1 million
Red – $8.8 million
Saw 3-D – $8.2 million
My predictions were off by $20.1 million.
Next weekend, Megamind looks to be the #1 film for a second weekend in a row against the Denzel Washington//Chris Pine runaway train film Unstoppable, the alien invasion flick Skyline and the dramedy Morning Glory starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton. Check out Biff Bam Pop next Friday to read my predictions!
