Box Office Report: "Expendables" tops summer weak-end

If you take this weekend's box office statistics at face value, they come off as rather abysmal. That's largely to blame on the lack of appealing options in theaters this weekend. I cautioned that this weekend would be an unfortunate grind through the remaining fodder of the summer. I didn't expect that not a single new release would make it into the top five slots. "The Expendables 2" safely won the weekend, though it didn't hold particularly well, as was the case with its predecessor. I'd place odds against it matching the $100 million take of the first film, and would be surprised if it struggled its way to $80 million.

"The Bourne Legacy" continues to hold second, which still disqualifies it from being a failure, but it pales heavily in comparison to previous installments in the franchise. "ParaNorman" didn't hold nearly as well as "Coraline", as was expected, but it maintained better than "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" did back in April. "The Dark Knight Rises" is still doing rather well on its way out of the summer, and seems likely to slowly eke its way to $450 million. Earlier dreams of breaking new box office ground were scattered away the morning of its release, but it's performed admirably given everything going against it.

Box Office Report: "Expendables" rules boys' weekend

Cleanly sliding in place as August-sized blockbuster of the week, "The Expendables 2" had little trouble landing top placement at the box office this weekend. The action extravaganza had more going against it than its predecessor, which had at least the spark of the (relatively) new, and took in nearly $6 million less in its first three days. That may not be such a negative sign for the second installment in the Stallone-led franchise, since audiences heading into the film knew very well what they were in for this time around. Considering the sequel got more positive opinions from critics, or at least more understanding, expect this film to hold well as the summer soldiers on.

The other three debuts fared less significantly, with the strongest of the batch being stop-motion children's horror "ParaNorman". Scoring nearly $3 million less than Laika's last stop-motion adventure, "Coraline", it did manage an impact greater than "The Pirates! Band of Misfits". I suspect "Frankenweenie" will end up the strongest of this year's three stop-motion projects at the box office, but "ParaNorman" could make a decent earnings if it holds up as well as "Coraline" did. I have certain doubts, given critics have more reservations against this one than they did with Henry Selick's 2009 film.

Box Office Report: "Bourne" starts a short legacy

The Summer box office season may be finding a kind of resurgence in itself, even if it comes at the cost of quality cinema. I'm speaking of course of the latest installment in the Jason Bourne franchise, which almost entirely disassociates itself from what made the first three films so thrilling. Tony Gilroy simply doesn't have Paul Greengrass' style, and the box office shows audiences aren't quite buying the franchise turnaround. Sure, "The Bourne Legacy" had a stronger-than-usual opening, but didn't bring at all the same numbers as its predecessors had. I imagine things only going more mildly from here on, much to my dismay.

Will Ferrell comedy "The Campaign", in the meantime, has been playing up the market elsewhere to similar effect. By that I mean the allure is more enticing than what people end up seeing, with many disappointed in how uninspired and not particularly entertaining it was. Once again, sight unseen, but the trailers paint a reliable enough picture of how dismissible this film is. "Hope Springs" is the only film this weekend that's even slightly rewarding viewers what they came to see, that being a light comedy with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. It's simple, unambitious, and maybe even a viable option. It's performing adequately as usual. Overall, this weekend didn't bring the box office back to where it was a year ago, with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "The Help" giving the market an optimistic boost.

Box Office Report: "Recall" falters as cinema recovers

It's been a solid two weeks since I tuned in on the box office, for the most part because it's had quite a downward tumble in the wake of the Aurora shootings. It was expected that we'd have a dry rest of the season following "The Dark Knight Rises", but audiences have generally felt rather shy and hesitant regarding cinematic endeavors of recent weeks. Out of lack of options, I only revisited the theater recently, all to share the experience of "Magic Mike" with somebody else. It feels like the trip to see a movie has taken on a greater symbolic meaning, as it's about the act of sharing with somebody, amongst a theater of similarly bound individuals.

Thus it makes sense that "Total Recall" didn't really call out to audiences as joyous experience to share. Perhaps on some father-son level, but outside the male crowd, I don't see this playing too widely. Even there, most guys are still experiencing "The Dark Knight Rises", which is growing a few stronger legs than it initially had. The weight of critical disappointment and the unfortunate event that introduced it to theaters took its toll in a very frontloaded fashion. That's working to the film's advantage now, as some stragglers are coming along to it, and if for no other reason than not having better options, plenty are revisiting.

Box Office Report: "Dark Knight" rises amidst tragedy

No box office analysts could have predicted the turn this weekend would take, and everything stopped dead in its tracks when news came up from Friday morning. Box office statistic were thoughtfully abated until Monday, so as to not trivialize the tragic events looming over this weekend. Needless to say "The Dark Knight Rises" probably would have fared much better had none of this happened, with some saying it was on track for upwards of $200 million, stomping out "The Avengers"' stronghold over this summer. Christopher Nolan action flick still did rather well in comparison to ordinary releases, even if it didn't come close to setting records. Expect this film to just barely skip past $400 million by the end of its run.

Box office in general took a heavy dive this weekend; with scarcely a single film dropping below 50%. The two occasions in the top ten were "Brave", likely benefiting from the "go out and see a film without people you love" statement many pushed at the start of the weekend. "The Amazing Spider-Man" took the nastiest dive, smothering chances of it getting anywhere close to $300 million. "Ted" is seeming more and more like the success story of the summer, playing favorably with most crowds. Indie films "Moonrise Kingdom" and "To Rome With Love" continue to be some of the strongest holders on the box office.

Box Office Report: "Ice Age" melts as "Moonrise" rises

We may be getting stuck in the doldrums of summer, I fear. A weekend filled with films earning a lot of money is garnering merely a shrug out of me. Admittedly, that's much the way I am during the summer, with "Moonrise Kingdom" being the only success story that merits emotional resonance from me. The audience circus that is box office stats, while I occasionally enjoy commenting on it, wanes with the years as the sums get larger and real success seems a much smaller thing. For example, on some scale "The Amazing Spider-Man" is doing rather well. It's on its way toward $300 million by the end of its run. And yet not only is it meager in the face of the success of the original "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2", but it'll barely register by the year's end.

True box office achievements are stated by two things: 1) the exceptional quality of the film it belongs to ("Twilight" and "Hunger Games" do not count), and 2) contrast to the average box office of its type of film. Take "Moonrise Kingdom" for example, as usually indie films do not register with mainstream audiences. Not only is it continuing to fare extremely well throughout the summer, but it also happens to be Wes Anderson's most inspiring creation to date. Contrast that with "Ice Age: Continental Drift", which opened in line with its predecessors, sure, but nearly $15+ million below any of the other major animated openings this year. Add to that reviews similar to those of every other film in the franchise, we get something that's not all that interesting to comment on.

Box Office Report: "Spider-Man" leads "Amazing" weekend

My worries of a large dip for "Amazing Spider-Man" were apparently unfounded, as the film performed rather positivity anyway. The more I dwell on it, the more I think this proposed trilogy is salvageable, provided they find the right director for the follow-up (can I start by pitching David Cronenberg?). Sure, the reboot didn't perform nearly the same numbers as any of Raimi's trilogy, but reboots generally have a tough time inspiring new followers. In comparison, it's fared much better than the openings for "Batman Begins", "Superman Returns", or "The Incredible Hulk" ($48.7, $52.5, & 55.4, respectively). The film is tracking for a $300 million finish, which is fantastic with all things considered.

The real success story of the summer, currently, continues to be "Ted", to which aspirations were made to "The Hangover" very early on. Seth MacFarlane's talking-teddy comedy is holding extremely well, and considering there isn't a comedy to steal its audience for another three weeks, one could expect it to continue its victory run. Talking of which, "Brave" continues to be a return to form for Pixar, at least in terms of box office success. It seems destined for the same average as predecessors such as "Cars" and "WALL-E". "Savages" fell to a middling status debut, despite aspirations of wider audience acceptance.

Box Office Report: "Boy", nothing can "Rock" "Madagascar"!

How come we still aren't able to see these things coming? After last weekend, when an animated kid-flick beat out a Rated-R sci-fi piece, we still weren't quite prepared for a teen rock musical and dumb boys comedy to not perform too well. Let us please shed a tear for "Rock of Ages", budgeted at $75 million and now rather unlikely to make that back domestically. We can still hope the film will have enough staying power and overseas strength to not be considered a failure. Less mourning will be had for "That's My Boy", Andy Sandler and Adam Samberg's comedy which stalled majorly at the box office this weekend. It looks like people know what to expect from Sandler these days, and they know well enough to avoid him. Or maybe it just lacked the kid-appeal "Jack and Jill" had.

Last week's large debuts haven't entirely tapered off, though one certainly is fading faster than the other. "Prometheus" isn't plummeting so much out of sight as one might have expected, though it's clear that this one has a tougher time ahead of it than the likes of "Snow White and the Huntsman". "Madagascar 3", in the meantime, continues to fare as well as Dreamworks films often do. The finishing of that respective trilogy is turning out to be quite a hit with the kids, at least at this frame of it's lifespan. We could very well see a substantial dip with "Brave" entering the market, stealing the target audience as well as people who are simply more enamored with Pixar.

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.

Box Office Report: "Huntsman" raises average summer weekend

I get a feeling, given the response to "Snow White and the Huntsman", I am going to end up hating it, and people will, for some reason, chastise me for it. It simply feels in the precise same vein as "X-Men: First Class", in more ways than that they share the same release date and the same opening gross. To be honest, I felt we were in for a much larger disappointment, but not so, and while I'm happy with a Charlize Theron vehicle garnering a significant audience, something just reeks foul and joyless about this enterprise. But learn to let people have their successes, especially if somebody is enjoying it. That's no bad thing.

On the brighter side, "Men in Black 3" is holding onto audience interest as well as I hoped it would, with just a 47% fall, which far outshines "Hangover 2"s 64% drop in the same frame last year. "The Avengers" too is holding on well to its audience, even as it falls slowly from view. As for where the other blockbusters of this summer lay, "Battleship" is coasting towards a $60 million final cume, with "Dark Shadows" likely for $75 million at the end, neither particularly fortunate. Overall, the weekend was 14.3% down from last year, understandable given the lack of fare last weekend, which is usually quite filled with blockbusters.

Box Office Report: "Men in Black" cart "The Avengers" off

As far as Mays go, I can't truly say that 2012 had it that bad for movies. Of the box office giants that came out this month, the top two are actually quite deserving of the numbers they've brought in. "The Avengers", as many have already attested, is quite a fantastic ride of a character-mash, and "Men in Black 3" honestly had quite a few factors that not only saved it, but made its brand of humor genuinely fun. The two weeks that came between, we'll forget about for good measure. May was a good month for blockbuster movies, though time may still herald "Men in Black 3" as a box office disappointment.

Let's get our facts straight first. $55 million is a fantastic 3-day opening for Barry Sonnenfeld's film, though probably dwarfed by its predecessors if you factor inflation. Even then, it's a damn good figure for the film that they delivered. Now's the bad news. The film is rumored to be budgeted at $215 million, which certainly puts a few odds against this sci-fi comedy. Mind you, it's not nearly as big as the gulf that faced "John Carter", which is forever doomed to be scale against which all megabudget films are held. This won't be a failure, though possibilities on them getting a sequel really do depend on word-of-mouth impact.

Box Office Report: "Avengers" sinks "Battleship"

I suppose that Hasbro and Universal are digging a tough lesson into their heads right about now, that if you're going to adapt a boardgame you might want to stick to what was great about the game. OR, just don't adapt boardgames. That's a generally good rule of thumb. Their "adaptation", "Battleship", floundered at the box office, middling in the 20s where it was projected above the 40s. In its place at #1 was "The Avengers", continuing to hold up spectacularly, and the more weeks go on, the less you can expect the film to fall upon consecutive weekends. At this point I can very much see it reaching $650 million by the end of its run, but not much higher.

As for the other new releases, they too felt unusually stunted in comparison to "The Avengers". "The Dictator", which sadly enough may have been the most eligible film to court this weekend, wasn't even able to reach $20 million. "What to Expect When You're Expecting", which you'd think would get the chick flick crowd in easy, realized that it was clearly in the wrong landscape. Film really need to bring their A-game when going up against the higher class blockbusters of the summer. The weekend was an expected dip from last year, when "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" climbed to $90 million.

Box Office Report: "Avengers" assemble massive opening

For once in my life, I'm not so entirely pissed at the prospect of a film becoming extremely successful, because in the case of "The Avengers" it is actually well deserved. The last two films that fell under that purview were "The Dark Knight" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". Bash it you may, but that film was one of visual splendors a plenty. I've made my point pretty clearly on my opinions concerning "The Avengers", and please don't try belittling them for not being extremely ecstatic. The joy I had finding "21 Jump Street" to be more than simply good is comparable to that which I got from the insane spectacle that Joss Whedon put together.

It's no mistake that it did well, as we all knew it would, but there's a difference in this case. "The Avengers" landed a record for opening day gross without midnight earnings factored in. But, who really cares about that when the rest of the weekend manages to rake in $200.3 million domestically? That's quite clearly a record, blowing "Deathly Hallows: Part 2"s relatively meager $169.2 million out of the water. Of course, there's high chance of over-estimation, but if this holds, then "The Dark Knight Rises" really does have a run for its money. Okay, that's an understatement. There's no way it's going to pass by "The Avengers".

Box Office Report: The Pre-"Avengers" Slump

This weekend was wise to stock up on as many releases as possible for the weekend before "The Avengers" inevitably shatters records domestically as it has been in foreign markets. Anything that would have gone up against it would be overlooked, and everybody seems to be saving their breath for next weekend. That left audiences split rather decisively, so it's a rather encouraging note that this weekend did as well as it did. While it may be a far cry from last year, when "Fast Five" smashed April records for the box office, it's much better than the frame from two years ago, which was normal goings given the season.

"Think Like a Man" continued its short-lived supremacy at the top, taking a nearly 50% fall like pretty much every other film this weekend, except "The Hunger Games". That filmed continued its climb to $400 million, and is likely to get there just under the wire. As for the new releases, "The Pirates!" was the surprise winner, though how much of a surprise is that really? It's a kids flick, and they're the crowd most prone to flock irrationally to theaters. "The Five-Year Engagement" was the only other film to nearly match it, and that one got its benefits from the rom-com crowd, which is the second reliable faction in this weekend.

Box Office Report: April gets "Lucky"

WAVERING QUETION: Why aren't people in love happy?

Can somebody do me a kindness and explain to me how this weekend turned out to be so ridiculously successful at the box office? I did not believe for a second that films with as little buzz and interest as "Think Like a Man" and "The Lucky One" would end up with the colossal debuts they did, especially after more obvious smashes like "American Reunion", "Wrath of the Titans", and "Titanic 3D" seemed to wash up to some degree. Don't get me wrong, since they're still earning quite the honest intake, with "Reunion" having been made on a small profit, "Titans" pulling in a profit overseas, and "Titanic" having already tripled its budget some time ago.

Needless to say it was a weekend for underdogs, with Tim Story's black (as in the colour) comedy "Think Like a Man" becoming the surprise hit of the weekend. My guess is it found a niche in the Tyler Perry crowd of viewers, and ran with it quite well. And who could possibly be surprised that a bunch of girls flocked to theaters to check out Zac Efron in yet another Nicolas Sparks adaptation. At this point, what tween actor hasn't had the Nicolas Sparks treatment? I think we're waiting on Taylor Swift to grab one up, and I admit that if she did that, I might actually see it. Why? Because I'm an idiot who loves Taylor Swift, so back off keep reading.

Box Office Report: "Hunger" Leads to Starvation

Keep doing your thing "Hunger Games", because it's going to be a long month once your magic has drifted to a state of normality. Not to say this month has no promise whatsoever. On the contrary, there are enough decent releases throughout the month to make up for the drought that's existed below the top five at the box office. I'm sick of typing in digits below $1 million, and even sicker of talking about "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"s kinda/sorta "success". In any case, it's tough to look at this weekend's stats and not see a bit of disappointment. After all, there's been strong enough success in the 3D market to assume that something like "Titanic" would be able to thrive. I guess it's just not THAT beloved.

And I guess people don't really care about the dumb revival of a dumb film series that went away for a good reason. Don't expect "American Reunion" to stick around for good measure. Their disappointment evokes a strong enough boost for last week's somewhat honest debuts. "Wrath of the Titans" fell a good deal as expected, but it's already tracking much better than "John Carter" did. "Mirror Mirror" didn't take much of a tumble at all, and it seems that there's been some kind of positive audience reaction on the part of that film. Hopefully it'll end with some solid enough wages. "21 Jump Street" seems to be reaching the point of winding down, but it'll make it's way to $125 million pretty well. Oh yeah, and "The Hunger Games" did stabilize to a degree, and should make its way past $350 million, but not much higher.

Box Office Update: "Hunger" Devours "Wrath" & "Mirror"

This weekend continued the trend of behemoths dominating senselessly due to unearned enthusiasm while the real gems are still acknowledged, though not nearly as much. I wasn't happy with "The Hunger Games", so the impact of its gargantuan debut had me shrugging with an extreme sense of banality. Though the film did take a massive tumble this weekend, but that's to be expected from such an outstanding opening figure. The film is working on its crawl towards $350-$400 million by the end of its run, though where it lands in that schema depends largely on how it fares next weekend. If nothing else, the film is giving an uncustomary boost to a usually banal box office frame.

And the rest of what's currently filling up the market isn't faring too terribly, if not particularly as excellent. "Wrath of the Titans" opened second to nearly half of what its predecessor opened to. Granted there has been a lot of well earned hatred surrounding that film that this one has been attempting to redeem, so it does have a fight ahead of it, especially if it wants to make back its $150 million budget. Admittedly, that's an easier target to achieve than "John Carter" had against it. "Mirror Mirror" too isn't quite raking in the children it expected to, and everyone else just isn't giving notice to it. It largely depends on buzz, and if the small faction of people who adored it are able to spark enough interest in it.

Box Office Update: "Lorax" Speaks for the Green

I feel bad for a film like "The Artist", which spends the entire season an underdog with unnecessary groans from the vast majority, defeats those to take home five strong Academy Awards last Sunday, and still can't grind out a large enough audience. It's not that the film is of too high prestige. I'd argue that it plays for as many giddy laughs as the big comedies out there, with just as much heart and investment from the cast and crew. I feel like plenty of large audiences would love it if they gave it a shot. The fact that they haven't only serves to disappoint me. Are audiences today really that cynical to refuse a loving ode to the past and progression of cinema? Is "The Lorax" really worth the $70.7 million it took home this weekend?

Perhaps it's unfair to pull a punch against a film I haven't seen, but all the advertisements have seemed so desperately cutesy, to the point of a brain aneurysm. I suppose you can't blame kids for knowing what they want, but they could've chosen much better. But it's hard to gripe at the continuing progression of this box office season. It's not at all a bad thing that people are once again so passionate to go to the movies. I just wish they were being offered something better than "Project X" as an outlet. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised the college comedy didn't bring more in this weekend. It seemed like so many people were chomping at the bit to see that one, only for it to not take that much above average. But overall, films held well, and the box office continued to truck along. It may sag a bit next weekend with the coming of "John Carter", or it may just surprise in a positive manner.

Box Office Update: "Vow" for "Safe" "Journey", Despite "Menace"

I didn't really hold strong hopes for this box office weekend, but it has fared about as well as the year for the whole part has so far. Last year was a long and drawn-out nightmare of a year in terms of the box office. There was simply nothing of real spectacle happening, so despite the mildly disappointing films the money's headed towards, it's still satisfying to see an invigoration towards the theatrical experience. I had worried that this weekend would pale in comparison to last year, when that Justin Bieber movie and "Just Go With It" ruled the box office. I guess I underestimated the Valentine's Day weekend draw of Channing Tatum, Denzel Washington, and... 3D, apparently.

"The Vow" clearly played to the right demographic this weekend, and as such reaped the majority of the weekend's winning. "Safe House" played more to the date-night-action-flick crowd, falling just a tad short of its competition. Both are likely to be frontloaded openings likely to fall immensely come next weekend. "Journey 2" and "Star Wars" managed to split the 3D winnings this weekend, so clearly the problem of not having enough 3D screens that we dealt with just two years ago isn't anything to worry about now. The weekend ended up a 31% increase upon last year, so this year is proving to be a pretty strong bounce-back from last year.

Box Office Update: Surge from the "Underworld"

This was a weekend of massive drops that somehow managed to keep up with the pace last weekend had set. The returning films undertook massive drops, as to be expected after a holiday weekend. The greater wealth was spread amongst the films on the opening slate. "Underworld: Awakening" was quite obviously the strongest debut, benefiting from the critics being away at Sundance, and therefore not coming in on a wave of hate. Same can be said for "Red Tails" as well, which did not fare well with critics, but did solidly with audiences. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"s expansion yielded some small gains, but if the film fades out of mind by next week, don't be surprised. It could turn out to get a surprise heap of Oscar nods that push it to greater success, but don't count on it.