Scotty G’s Box Office Wrap-Up Report

Hop ruled the box office this weekend, dethroning last week’s champion Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. In fact, Hop had the 5th best opening weekend in the month of April, ever! The two other new releases faired well as Source Code finished in 2nd place and Insidious debuted in 3rd place. The films in limited release really did not make a splash and it was an average week of predictions for me as I correctly guessed all five films in the top five, and I placed three of them in the correct finish. The most I was off in any of my top five predictions was by $7.1 million. Here’s how the weekend broke down:

Debuting in 1st place is the live action//animated adventure Hop with a gross of $38.1 million (I predicted a 1st place finish and a gross of $31 million). Hop had a per theatre average of $10,650, which was the best per theatre average in the top ten and the best per theatre average of any film in release. Hop was a film that the critics did not like, but it was released to capitalize on the Easter holiday coming up in the next few weeks. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, Hop had the 5th best opening weekend in the month of April. Here are the numbers:

1) Fast and Furious – $70.9 million opening weekend
2) Clash of the Titans – $61.2 million opening weekend
3) Anger Management – $42.2 million opening weekend
4) Scary Movie 4 – $40.2 million opening weekend
5) Hop – $38.1 million opening weekend

Hop will be the film of choice for the rest of April for younger audiences, but once Easter ends, so does the box office run of the film. Universal likes the start for Hop as the budget is listed at $63 million, so it is more than halfway there.

Debuting in 2nd place is the Jake Gyllenhaal sci-fi adventure Source Code with a gross of $15 million (I predicted a 2nd place finish and a gross of $19 million). Source Code had a per theatre average of $5,084. The critically acclaimed film only had an average debut, opening with a per theatre average where you would want a new release to be at. The problem is that sci-fi films tend not to hold up well as the weeks go on, but Source Code might be different as it will have a lot of critical support to convince moviegoers to go check it out. Jake Gyllenhaal does not yet have the star power to get a film to a $20 million opening weekend, but I think that will come in time. If the film does not do well in theatres, I’m sure it will find its audience on DVD. Source Code only cost $32 million, so it is almost halfway there in making back its budget for Summit Entertainment.

Debuting in 3rd place is the horror film Insidious with a gross of $13.4 million (I predicted a 5th place finish and a gross of $9.5 million). Insidious had a per theatre average of $5,605. The combination of the talents who made the films Saw and Paranormal Activity happen was the selling point for the film, and the ad campaign had some very creepy moments. What’s great about this opening weekend is this is a sleeper film. I doubt most experts (including myself) thought the film would hit an opening weekend of $10 million. Shows how much we know. Next weekend will be interesting as well because horror films tend to suffer big second weekend declines, so we’ll see how Insidious holds up going forward. Even though Film District has yet to announce the budget for Insidious, I’m pretty confident in saying that the film is going to be a profitable one.

Dropping from 1st place to 4th place with a gross of $10.2 million is the comedy Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (I predicted a 4th place finish and a gross of $10.4 million). Diary of a Wimpy Kid had a per theatre average of $3,219 and was down 57.1% from last weekend’s opening weekend. The percentage drop is in line with sequels dropping a little larger than the original, as the first film dropped 54.3% on its second weekend of release. After ten days, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules has grossed $38.3 million from a budget of $21 million.

Dropping from 3rd place to 5th place is the Bradley Cooper//Robert De Niro thriller Limitless with a gross of $9.4 million (I predicted a 3rd place finish and a gross of $11.4 million). Limitless had a per theatre average of $3,313 and was down 37.6% from last weekend. After three weeks of release, Limitless has grossed $55.6 million from a budget of $27 million.

Dropping from 4th place to 6th place is the Matthew McConaughey thriller The Lincoln Lawyer with a gross of $7 million (I predicted a 6th place finish and a gross of $8.5 million). The Lincoln Lawyer had a per theatre average of $2,604 and was down 34.4% from last weekend. For the second weekend in a row, The Lincoln Lawyer had the best percentage hold of any film in the top ten. After three weeks of release, The Lincoln Lawyer has grossed $39.6 million and will make back its budget of $40 million.

Dropping from 2nd place to 7th place is the sci-fi adventure Sucker Punch with a gross of $6 million (I predicted a 7th place finish and a gross of $7.4 million). Sucker Punch had a per theatre average of $2,006 and dropped an astounding 68.1% in its second weekend, which was the worst weekend to weekend percentage drop in the top ten by a country mile. The hardcore fans of director Zach Snyder came out on opening weekend to support his latest film, but the terrible reviews and negative word-of-mouth have ended any hopes of this film making a profit for Warner Bros. After ten days of release, Sucker Punch has grossed $29.8 million from a budget of $82 million.

Dropping from 5th place to 8th place is the Johnny Depp animated film Rango with a gross of $4.5 million (I predicted an 8th place finish and a gross of $6.1 million). The animated adventure had a per theatre average of $1,455 and dropped 53.3% from last weekend’s gross. This weekend’s percentage hold for Rango was the worst hold for the film during its time in theatres and the per theatre average was the lowest in the entire top ten. After five weekends, Rango has grossed $113.7 million from a budget of $135 million.

Dropping from 6th place to 9th place is the Simon Pegg//Nick Frost//Seth Rogen sci-fi comedy Paul with a gross of $4.3 million (I predicted a 9th place finish and a gross of $4.3 million). Paul had a per theatre average of $1,700 and was down 44.8% from last weekend. In three weeks, Paul has grossed $31.9 million from a budget of $40 million.

Battle: Los Angeles dropped from 7th place to 10th place with a gross of $3.5 million (I predicted a 10th place finish and a gross of $3.9 million). Battle: Los Angeles had a per theatre average of $1,547and was down 53.8% from last weekend. After four weeks, the sci-fi adventure has grossed $72.5 million from a budget of $78.4 million, so it is making money for Sony Pictures.

In limited release:

The King’s Speech – The Best Picture winner was re-released in theatres in an edited PG-13 version. This version grossed $1.19 million from 1,011 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $1,181.

Cat Run – This film stars Paz Vega and is about two high school friends who start up a detective agency. Their first case involves an escort having a secret that causes a U.S. senator, the mob and an assassin to want her killed. Cat Run grossed $30,000 from 103 theatres, giving the film a terrible per theatre average of $291.

The Last Godfather – This film stars Harvey Keitel and is about a 1950’s mobster who brings his lovechild home from Korea to train him to be his successor in the mob, which is met with much resistance. The Last Godfather grossed $103,000 from 58 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $1,776.

Trust – This drama is about a young girl who is targeted by an online sexual predator and how her encounter affects her personally as well as how it affects her family. Clive Owen and Catherine Keener star. Trust grossed $60,000 from 28 theatres giving the film a per theatre average of $2,143.

Super – This comedy stars Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page and is about a man who sees his wife abducted and decides to become a superhero known as the “Crimson Bolt” in order to fight the bad guys and save the girl. Super grossed $52,800 from 11 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $4,800.

Queen to Play – This film stars Kevin Kline and Sandrine Bonnaire and is about a woman who discovers the game of chess and begins to learn the intricacies of the game. Queen to Play grossed $32,700 from 6 theatres giving the film a per theatre average of $5,450.

In A Better World – This film is about two young boys that are friends whose friendship is tested when one boy asks the other to help him in an act of revenge. In a Better World grossed $35,400 from 4 theatres giving the film a per theatre average of $8,850.

Rubber, Wrecked, and Circo have not reported their grosses as of this writing.

So to recap, here were my predictions:

Hop – $31 million
Source Code – $19 million
Limitless – $11.4 million
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – $10.4 million
Insidious – $9.5 million

And here are the actual numbers:

Hop – $38.1 million
Source Code – $15 million
Insidious – $13.4 million
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – $10.2 million
Limitless – $9.4 million

My predictions were off by $17.2 million.

Next weekend, Hop looks to be the #1 film for a second weekend in a row against four new films: the remake of the Dudley Moore comedy classic Arthur, starring Russell Brand and Helen Mirren; the thriller Hanna starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett; the sports drama Soul Surfer starring Anna Sophia Robb, Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt; and the action comedy Your Highness starring Danny McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman. Check out Biff Bam Pop next Friday to read my predictions!