An absolutely huge weekend at the box office, with the top three films each overperforming to big numbers. Love was definitely in the air, while the biggest surprise came from a family film that rocked theatres. Here’s how the weekend turned out.
Valentine’s weekend proved perfect timing for the release of The Vow with Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. The film wound up in first place at the box office with $41 million, more than $10 million more than predicted. I think the success can be attributed to both the time of year and the growing star power of McAdams, who consistently nails these romantic films (even I dug The Time Traveller’s Wife). I’m less certain the Channing Tatum had much to do with the film’s success, though he is definitely a hit with the ladies. According to the Queen, every performance in The Vow was great except for Tatum’s. Let’s see how the film does over subsequent weeks.
Opening strong at number two with $39 million was Safe House with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Not only is this another strong showing from Denzel, but it also goes a long way in wiping Reynolds’ summer box office failure’s, Look for this one to have legs as the weeks progress.
Coming in third with $27 million was Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which overcame lacklustre reviews and an apparent disinterest leading up to its release to be the family film of choice this weekend. Credit to Dwayne Johnson, who hit all the big talk shows to promote the film. I don’t anticipate a lengthy stay in the box office for J0urney 2, but it should be able to make back its $79 million budget.
Fourth place finds Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D, which brought in $23 million. This isn’t a bad number at all, more than I predicted, but I think it’s safe to say I’m surprised the film grossed less than Journey 2. However, the fact that the entire series was released on Blu-Ray last fall, combined with the fact that this is a conversion rather than a film made for 3D may have had something to do with the less than spectacular numbers. However, credit where it’s due – this is a solid number for a rerelease, especially for what’s considered the worst film in the Star Wars canon. And for the record – the pod race was pretty darn cool in 3D.
Closing out the top five was last week’s number one, Chronicle, which brought in $12 million for a total gross so far of $40 million.
So, to recap, here were our predictions:
1) The Vow – $34 million
2) Safe House – $30 million
3) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D – $21 million
4) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – $16 million
5) Chronicle – $13 million
And here’s how the weekend turned out:
1) The Vow – $41 million
2) Safe House – $39 million
3) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – $27 million
4) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D – $23 million
5) Chronicle – $12 million
Next weekend sees the release of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D and the romantic comedy This Means War. Check back on Friday to see our predictions!
