In a very tight battle at the box office, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One was able to be the #1 film for the second week in a row, barely holding off the Disney animated film Tangled , which was by far and away the highest grossing new release of the weekend. The three other new releases were dead on arrival, as Faster, Burlesque and Love and Other Drugs were unable to get a per theatre average above $5,000, which means that all three films will be on DVD shelves soon. Audiences wanted blockbusters this weekend, and those are the films they supported. Here’s how the weekend broke down:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One was the #1 film for the second weekend in a row with a gross of $50.3 million (I predicted a 1st place finish and a gross of $45 million). The per theatre average for the film was $12,205, and the film was down 59.7% from its opening weekend. The second weekend gross was not a franchise best (that still belongs to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) but on the plus side, the gross falls in the middle of the pack for the franchise, although the monster opening weekend deserves some credit as the second weekend percentage drop was the third highest in franchise history (confused yet). See below for how the films in the franchise stack up on their second weekends:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – $57.4 million / Down 36.3%
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – $42.2 million / Down 52.2%
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – $34.9 million / Down 62.7%
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – $54.7 million / Down 46.7%
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – $32.5 million / Down 57.8% Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – $29.4 million / Down 62.1%
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One – $50.3 million / Down 59.7%
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One should have no problem repeating as box office champion next weekend as there is only one new release and it is not getting a big launch at all. After 10 days, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One has grossed $220.3 million. The film is hoping to become the highest grossing in the franchise and it is now less than the $100 million away from overtaking Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for that distinction. Here’s the total gross for all the films in the franchise list:
1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – $317.5 million
2) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – $301.9 million
3) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – $292 million
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – $290 million
5) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – $261.9 million
6) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – $249.5 million
7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One – $220.3 million
Tangled had an excellent debut this weekend finishing in 2nd place with a gross of $49.1 million (I predicted a 2nd place finish and a gross of $35 million). Tangled had a per theatre average of $13,628, which was the highest of any film in the top ten. The opening weekend gross for Tangled comes as a bit of a surprise to me, as the last animated film by Disney was The Princess and the Frog and that only debuted to $24.2 million in its first weekend of wide release. You might make the argument that the gross was low for The Princess and the Frog because it was a hand drawn animated film, and kids would prefer to see computer generated animated films. That argument gets struck down because two years ago, Disney released the computer generated animated film Bolt and that film only grossed $26.2 million on its opening weekend. Tangled almost doubled that total this weekend. As with all Disney films, the marketing was very strong and the film did receive very strong reviews, so I would expect to see Tangled in the top five for quite awhile. Tangled has grossed $69 million since its debut on Wednesday.
Dropping from 2nd place to 3rd place is the animated film Megamind with a gross of $12.8 million (I predicted a 5th place finish and a gross of $9.76 million). Megamind had a per theatre average of $3,767 and the film was down 19.8% from last weekend, which is a strong hold considering the competition Megamind faced in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Tangled. It is also worth noting that the film did have a strong hold because of the Thanksgiving weekend, as movie going is always up in the U.S.A. during this holiday. After four weeks, Megamind has grossed $130.4 million and it has now made back its budget of $130 million.
Burlesque debuted in 4th place with a gross of $11.8 million (I predicted a gross of $10 million and a 4th place finish). Burlesque had a per theatre average of $3,885, which is not very good considering its in its first weekend of release, and it is a holiday weekend where movie going is higher than usual. The film was marketed well, but for musicals, I find that they have to have a built-in audience from the theatre world to succeed on the big screen. Musicals like Chicago, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Rent and Dreamgirls may not all have had great opening weekend, but there was just a buzz about them from the theatre community that put them in the limelight a little longer. Credit goes for trying to make an original musical, but I can’t see this film being a box office success. Also, Cher and Christina Aguilera, as talented as they are, are not box office draws. Since its opening on Wednesday, Burlesque has grossed $17.1 million.
Dropping from 4th place to 5th place is the thriller Unstoppable with a gross of $11.7 million (I predicted a 7th place finish and a gross of $7.4 million). Unstoppable had a per theatre average of $3,691 and was down only 9.7% from last weekend, which was the smallest decline of any film in the top ten. Unstoppable was definitely the film to see for adults this weekend, and it goes to show how appealing this film is for adults because of the fact that the film is in its 3rd weekend of release and was still able to post a solid hold. After three weeks, Unstoppable has grossed $60.7 million, and it gets closer to its budget of $100 million.
Love and Other Drugs finished in 6th place with a gross of $9.8 million (I predicted a 6th place finish and a gross of $8 million). Love and Other Drugs had a per theatre average of $4,012, which was the second best among the four new releases, although it is still not a good number for a film on its opening weekend. The Jake Gyllenhaal//Anne Hathaway dramedy debuted around were most people thought it would, so it met expectations, but it is one of those films that is going to get lost in the shuffle the closer we get to Christmas. Since debuting on Wednesday, Love and Other Drugs has grossed $14 million.
Faster finished in 7th place with a gross of $8.7 million (I predicted a 3rd place finish and a gross of $11 million). Faster had a per theatre average of $3,548. The Dwayne Johnson “R” rated action film only cost $24 million to make, but I really thought that there was interest by audiences for an adult action flick on the Thanksgiving weekend, but the numbers tell me there wasn’t. Johnson is not at that level yet where you know that you are guaranteed a consistent opening weekend from him. The opening weekend of Faster is a disappointment when you look at some of Johnson’s other films. See below:
2010 – Faster – $8.7 million opening weekend
2006 – Gridiron Gang – $14.4 million opening weekend
2005 – Doom – $15.4 million opening weekend
2004 – Walking Tall – $15.5 million opening weekend
2003 – The Rundown – $18.5 million opening weekend
Faster will hang around the top ten for another weekend, only because there is not much in the way of competition next weekend, but I would expect this to be on DVD shelves soon. Faster has grossed $12.2 million since opening on Wednesday.
Dropping from 4th place to 8th place is the comedy Due Date with a gross of $7.3 million (I predicted an 8th place finish and a gross of $5.5 million). Due Date had a per theatre average of $2,857 and was down 18.1% from last weekend. The good percentage drop is due mainly to the Thanksgiving long weekend, but I will give Due Date some credit as the percentage drop was the second lowest of any film in the top ten. Due Date has now grossed $85 million in four weeks from a budget of $65 million.
Dropping from 5th place to 9th place is the Russell Crowe / Elizabeth Banks / Liam Neeson thriller The Next Three Days with a gross of $4.8 million (I predicted a 10th place finish and a gross of $2.6 million). The Next Three Days had a per theatre average of $1,888 and was down 26% from last weekend. After 10 days, The Next Three Days has grossed $14.5 million.
Dropping from 6th place to 10th place is the dramedy Morning Glory with a gross of $4 million (I predicted a 9th place finish and a gross of $2.7 million). Morning Glory had a per theatre average of $1,651 and was down 22.5% from last weekend. After three weeks, Morning Glory has grossed $26.4 million, but it definitely will not make a profit as the film cost $40 million to make.
In limited release:
The King’s Speech – This film stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter and follows the true story of King George VI who had a debilitating speech impediment, which made him come across as weak when he spoke. His wife encourages him to see a speech therapist in order to overcome this problem and lead England during a time of crisis. The film received much acclaim at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and that buzz led it to a very strong debut. The King’s Speech grossed $350,000 from 4 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $87,500, which was easily the highest of any film in release.
The Nutcracker in 3D – This film grossed $68,000 from 42 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $1,619.
127 Hours continues to perform well in limited release. The James Franco real life drama once again added more theatres this weekend and once again saw its box office numbers go up. It grossed $1,725 million, putting it in 11th place. The gross is 88.2% from last weekend, but it’s per theatre average was down from $8,472 to $5,887. In four weeks of release it has grossed $4.4 million.
Break Ke Bad did not report its gross as of this writing.
So to recap, here were my predictions:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – $45 million
Tangled – $35 million
Faster – $11 million
Burlesque – $10 million
Megamind – $9.7 million
And here are the actual numbers:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – $50.3 million
Tangled – $49.1 million
Megamind – $12.85 million
Burlesque – $11.8 million
Unstoppable – $11.75 million
My predictions were off by $28.7 million.
Next weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part One looks to be the #1 film for a third weekend in a row against the martial arts western The Warrior’s Way with Kate Bosworth, Geoffrey Rush and Jang Dong Gun. Oscar season begins to heat up as some buzzed about films go into limited release like Natalie Portman’s ballet film Black Swan and the much talked about Jim Carrey/ Ewan McGregor film I Love You, Phillip Morris. Check out Biff Bam Pop next Friday to read my predictions!
