Sunday, June 10, 2012

Box Office Report: "Madagascar" steals "Prometheus" fire

I feel like box office analysts are kicking themselves in the heads for not seeing this coming a mile away. After all, animated films in general have been a mainstay in the summer landscape, most especially as they draw the child masses out to the theaters. It is for that reason we'll see "Brave" perform remarkably well in two weeks, and how "Madagascar 3" managed to out-muscle "Prometheus" at the box office this weekend. "Prometheus" merely operated within the expectations that were allotted it. It's an Rated-R sci-fi horror flick on a huge budget, with few name stars and the added bonus of 3D. By that factor, it performed decently.

Heading on from here, however, is a noticeably more dicey situation for Ridley Scott's slow-build thriller. Audience reaction hasn't been exactly through the roof, and that word of mouth could bite the film in the sack. It's still very likely to make bank, and even turn some kind of profit. We aren't prepping a failure on the scale of "John Carter" or "Battleship". It's just not quite as fortunate as we expected it would be. Turning back to "Madagascar", it absolutely has some strong credentials going forward. Dreamworks films generally tend to dip around or below 40% on their second weekends, and from there it's relatively easy sailing.

Against "Madagascar 3", however, is the fact that "Brave" is slated for entrance in two weeks. That could very likely diminish its chances from that point going forward, but for now it's rather smooth sailing. On the repeat front, "Snow White and the Huntsman" ascended to nearly $100 million this weekend, likely placing an end goal around $150 million. "Men in Black 3" is tracking towards similar terrain, but is on spot to hit $170 million by the end of its run. "The Avengers" is truly losing its momentum now, and will likely coast to a halt around $600 million. Overall, the weekend was quite a heavy increase upon last year, when the sole  debut was J.J. Abrams' "Super 8".

1. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (First Weekend; $60.3 million)
2. "Prometheus" (First Weekend; $50 million)
3. "Snow White and the Huntsman" (Second Weekend; $23 million; $98.5 MILLION TOTAL)
4. "Men in Black 3" (Third Weekend; $13.5 million; $135.5 MILLION TOTAL)
5. "The Avengers" (Sixth Weekend; $10.8 million; $571.9 MILLION TOTAL)
6. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (Sixth Weekend; $3.3 million; $31 MILLION TOTAL)
7. "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (Fourth Weekend; $2.8 million; $35.8 MILLION TOTAL)
8. "Battleship" (Fourth Weekend; $2.3 million; $59.8 MILLION TOTAL)
9. "The Dictator" (Fourth Weekend; $2.2 million; $55.3 MILLION TOTAL)
10. "Moonrise Kingdom" (Third Weekend; $1.6 million; $3.8 MILLION TOTAL)

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