This weekend, Hugh Jackman’s latest film came out swinging and, as predicted, took first place at the box office, leaving George Clooney and his ensemble cast a distant second. Here’s how the weekend turned out:
Hugh Jackman’s sci-fi, robot boxers film Real Steel was the most high profile release this weekend. With massive amounts of promotion and a summer box office feel to it, it easily took first place at the weekend box office with $27 million, not far from the $29 million I thought it would bring it. A strong showing for the film, but keep in mind that the budget for Real Steel is in the neighbourhood of $110 million. Whether it can hit that number in the coming weeks will be the big question.
Debuting in second place this weekend with $10 million is the George Clooney-directed ensemble film, The Ides of March (I had predicted a third place showing with the same gross). Realistically, this film should have performed far better with Clooney as both director and a star. But as I mentioned on Friday, none of the other key players in the film, including Ryan Gosling, are box office draws, so the success of the film is based more on reviews than anything else. The Ides of March could go one of two ways – crash and burn in the next few weeks, or maintain a steady adult audience throughout October. I’m predicting the former.
In third place is Dolphin Tale with $9.1 millon (I had predicted second place and $11 million). The film has already made back its budget of $37 million, as its domestic gross has now reached $49 million. It’s a good showing for an under the radar family film without any box office draws.
As for the rest of the top five, as predicted, Brad Pitt’s Moneyball landed in fourth spot with $7.5 million this weekend (I was off by $2 million), while 50/50 hit the fifth spot with $5.5 million (I didn’t make a prediction on that one, as I thought The Lion King would remain in the top five for another week – it actually landed at number seven with $4.5 million). From the outside, it would look as though 50/50 has been a bit of a disappointment, but the film has already made back its $8 million budget, having gross $17 million in two weeks.
So, to recap, here were my predictions:
1) Real Steel – $29 million
2) Dolphin Tale – $11 million
3) The Ides of March – $10 million
4) Moneyball – $9.5 million
5) The Lion King – $6 million
And here’s how the weekend turned out:
1) Real Steel – $27 million
2) The Ides of March – $10 million
3) Dolphin Tale – $9.1 million
4) Moneyball – $7.5 million
5) 50/50 – $5.5 million
Next weekend, remakes/reboots of The Thing and Footloose look to topple Real Steel from the top spot. Check back on Friday to see our predictions.
