Horror ruled the box office this weekend as the Anthony Hopkins film The Rite was able to defeat the Natalie Portman//Ashton Kutcher romantic-comedy No Strings Attached and the Jason Statham action film The Mechanic. I’m definitely eating my words from Friday as I wrote that I didn’t think Hopkins had enough star power to make the film #1 at the box office. Oops! My predictions were not that strong this weekend either as I picked all five films in the top five, but only correctly predicted one film in the right spot. In limited release, there was not much to talk about as the films that opened had good results, but nothing extraordinary. Overall the weekend box office was quite slow, and I was a little off when I said that the #1 film would gross less than $15 million, as The Rite grossed just a shade above $15 million. Here’s how the weekend broke down:
Debuting in 1st place is the Anthony Hopkins horror film The Rite with a gross of $15 million (I predicted a 4th place finish and a gross of $9.5 million). The Rite had a per theatre average of $5,027, which was the highest per theatre average of any film in the top ten. The Rite opened in the middle of the pack with the films that I used to make my predictions. See below:
2007 – Fracture – $11 million opening weekend
2009 – The Unborn – $19.8 million opening weekend
2009 – The Uninvited – $10.3 million opening weekend
2010 – Legion – $17.5 million opening weekend
2011 – The Rite -$15 million opening weekend
Audiences wanted to be scared and were intrigued by the premise of the film of a young priest being tutored by an older priest in exorcisms. The film does have some work cut out for it next weekend as horror films usually suffer big drop-offs on their second weekend. With a budget listed at $37 million, I have my doubts about The Rite being able to make back its money, but for now it is the #1 film in the land.
No Strings Attached dropped from 1st place to 2nd place with a gross of $13.6 million (I predicted a 1st place finish and a gross of $11.6 million). No Strings Attached had a per theatre average of $4,517 and was down only 30.5% from its opening weekend. Natalie Portman is the draw for this film and I credit the strong hold of the film to her star power more than to the word-of-mouth on the film. After two weeks, No Strings Attached has grossed $39.7 million and is definitely a nice moneymaker for Paramount as the budget for the film is only $25 million.
The Mechanic debuted in 3rd place with a gross of $11.5 million (I predicted a 2nd place finish and a gross of $10.5 million). The Mechanic had a per theatre average of $4,255. The Jason Statham flick was in line with the openings of his films that I used to make my predictions (these films had an average opening weekend of $11 million). See below:
2002 – The Transporter – $9.1 million opening weekend
2005 – Transporter 2 – $16.5 million opening weekend
2006 – Crank – $10.4 million opening weekend
2007 – War – $9.8 million opening weekend
2008 – Death Race – $12.6 million opening weekend
2008 – Transporter 3 – $12 million opening weekend
2009 – Crank: High Voltage – $6.9 million opening weekend
2011 – The Mechanic – $11.5 million opening weekend
Statham is a consistent performer in that you know where his films are going to open, so if you keep the budget low, you should be able to make a profit. The official budget has not been listed for The Mechanic, but the opening weekend gross is what it is, and there’s not much more to say.
The Green Hornet dropped from 2nd place to 4th place with a gross of $11.5 million (I predicted a 3rd place finish and a gross of $9.9 million). The Green Hornet had a per theatre average of $3,263, and was down 34.9% from last weekend. The Green Hornet and The Mechanic both had identical grosses, but we’re saying The Mechanic finishes in 3rd because of the better per theatre average for the Jason Statham film. Sony has to be happy with the hold The Green Hornet had this weekend and the film really has done well despite all the negativity leading up to its release. I think it also helps that we’ve had a lackluster start to 2011 in terms of blockbuster films, so the lack of competition has helped The Green Hornet. Next weekend, the James Cameron produced Sanctum gets released and it will be taking away some of the 3-D screens that The Green Hornet has. After three weekends, The Green Hornet has grossed $78.8 million. I don’t think The Green Hornet will be making back its budget, which is listed at $120 million.
Dropping from 4th place to 5th place is The King’s Speech with a gross of $11.1 million (I predicted a 5th place finish and a gross of $7 million). The King’s Speech had a per theatre average of $4,342 and the film was up from last weekend’s gross by a total of 41.3%, giving it the best hold of any film in the top ten. The King’s Speech continues to build Oscar momentum with some surprising wins from the Director’s Guild of America and Producer’s Guild of America. In ten weeks, The King’s Speech has grossed $72.2 million and its budget is listed at $15 million.
Dropping from 5th place to 6th place is the Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin western True Grit with a gross of $7.6 million (I predicted a 6th place finish and a gross of $5.7 million). True Grit had a per theatre average of $2,436 and its gross was up 3.7% from last weekend. After six weeks, True Grit has grossed $148.3 million, from a budget of $38 million.
Dropping from 3rd place to 7th place is the Vince Vaughn//Kevin James comedy The Dilemma with a gross of $5.4 million (I predicted a 7th place finish and a gross of $5.5 million). The Dilemma had a per theatre average of $1,888 and was down 39.9% from last weekend. The per theatre average was the second worst per theatre average in the top ten and the percentage drop from weekend to weekend was the worst of all the films in the top ten. The Dilemma is definitely a flop as in three weeks of release it has grossed $40.6 million and has no chance of making back its $70 million budget.
Dropping from 6th place to 8th place is the Natalie Portman ballet thriller Black Swan with a gross of $5.1 million (I predicted an 8th place finish and a gross of $4.8 million). Black Swan had a per theatre average of $2,203 and was down 13.1% percent from last weekend. After nine weeks of release, Black Swan has grossed $90.7 million and its budget is listed at $13 million.
Dropping from 8th place to 9th place is the Mark Wahlberg//Christian Bale drama The Fighter with a gross of $4 million (I predicted a 9th place finish and a gross of $3 million). The Fighter had a per theatre average of $2,119 and the gross was down 2.6% from last weekend. After eight weeks, The Fighter has grossed $78.3 million from a budget of $25 million
Yogi Bear drops from 9th place to 10th place with a gross of $3.1 million (I did not make a prediction on this film). Yogi Bear had a per theatre average of $1,484, which was the worst per theatre average of any film in the top ten and the film was down 17.1% from last weekend’s gross. After seven weeks, Yogi Bear has grossed $92.5 million from a budget of $80 million.
In limited release:
Biutiful – This film stars Javier Bardem in an Academy Award nominated performance and is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (he is best known for directing Babel). The film follows a man from the underworld of Barcelona dealing with life, love, family and loss. Biutiful grossed $461,000 from 57 theatres giving it a per theatre average of $8,088. Biutiful has a total gross of $623,000.
From Prada to Nada – This film is modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s classic “Sense and Sensibility”. When their father dies and leaves them penniless, a group of sisters find out what’s its like to not have privileges in life and have to come to terms with reality. From Prada to Nada grossed $1.1 million from 256 theatres giving the film a per theatre average of $4,297.
Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster – This film stars Donnie Yen and follows the Ip Man as he tries to open a martial arts academy in Hong Kong. The townsfolk won’t let him until he proves himself. Ip Man also has to deal with the British upper-class coming to Hong Kong, where one of the Brits insults martial arts and Ip Man has to defend the honor of his nation and himself. Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster grossed $63,500 from 20 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $3,175.
Kaboom – This film is about a group of students dealing with sex. What makes this film stand out is that it is actually a science fiction film. Kaboom grossed $13,700 from 1 theatre and giving it the exact same per theatre average, which was also the highest per theatre average of any film in release.
So to recap, here were my predictions:
- No Strings Attached – $11.6 million
- The Mechanic – $10.5 million
- The Green Hornet – $9.9 million
- The Rite – $9.5 million
- The King’s Speech – $7 million
And here are the actual numbers:
- The Rite – $15 million
- No Strings Attached – $13.6 million
- The Mechanic – $11.5 million
- The Green Hornet – $11.5 million
- The King’s Speech – $11.1 million
My predictions were off by $14.2 million.
Next weekend, The Rite will try to stay in 1st place for a second weekend in a row against the horror film The Roommate and the James Cameron produced adventure film Sanctum. Check out Biff Bam Pop next Friday to read my predictions!
