Box Office Update: "Puss" Wins the Weekend

This weekend has just been a complete barrage against the box office that nobody could have foreseen before two days ago. There was bound to be some slight weakness in the pot, as there most definitely will be on Halloween weekend. But the freak snowstorm combined with Game 7 of the World Series just set things back colossally. I'd say if you give these films about 10% interest, you'll get what they would have made this weekend. Instead, we have this, and it's not all that inspiring. All that said, it still was a welcome increase upon where we were in 2010, which was with "Saw 3D" reaping its meager opening earnings.

And that's meager in comparison to the films this weekend, the top spot going unsurprisingly to "Puss in Boots", which was pushed forward a week to get the kiddie market who was all jazzed up for Halloween. That idea clearly backfired a bit. All the same, the film opened well-ish. But it's still worth noting that "Paranormal Activity 3" dropped as much as we expected it to, so perhaps the weekend box office wasn't totally affected by the onslaught of outlying elements this weekend. All the same, that doesn't ring too well for "In Time" or "The Rum Diary", the first of which performed admirably in comparison to its counterpart. Sure, this weekend was a success compared to last year, but the films are still in a dicey situation as far as the box office goes.

1. "Puss in Boots" (First Weekend; $34 million)

2. "Paranormal Activity 3" (Second weekend; $18.5 million)

3. "In Time" (First Weekend; $12 million)

4. "Footloose" (Third Weekend; $5.4 million)

5. "The Rum Diary" (First Weekend; $5 million)

6. "Real Steel" (Fourth Weekend; $4.7 million)

7. "The Three Musketeers" (Second Weekend; $3.5 million)

8. "The Ides of March" (Fourth Weekend; $2.7 million)

9. "Moneyball" (Sixth weekend; $2.4 million)

10. "Courageous" (Fifth Weekend; $1.8 million)

Box Office Update: "Steel" on Ice

It's a typically slow weekend at the box office, and it's sad that the word "typical" is part of that sentence. I'll say that this year has been one of massive disappointments more than anything, at least in my opinion. The dry spell of those first three months, and a continued stall from April, an unenthusiastic summer, and now a fall season that won't come soon enough. There's just nothing really seductive this year, at least comparative to last year. Color me discontented, and the box office figures do not help that disposition. Even less helpful is where most of the money is coming from.

Of the top ten films this weekend, I've only seen one, and that was on a minor whim. No opportunity to get to "50/50" or "The Ides of March", though they seem to do be doing well for themselves. Both had such small drops of less than 30% this weekend, which does bring a slight smile to me. Though I'll admit that the more time goes by, the less I'm really enthused about seeing them. Who was so fortunate to win the weekend but "Real Steel", once again protesting with loud bangs of cash streaming in. It just barely won out over "Footloose", which itself brought in the typical teen crowd to its door.

Box Office Update: "Steel" knocks out Clooney's "Ides"

Here we are, and exactly as was expected heading into this weekend. "Real Steel" won the end game, though not in an absolute runaway victory. Sure, it made a strong Columbus Day weekend opening, but how will it hold up in coming weeks? Well, actually quite well. Oddly enough, audiences get a real hard on for giant robot fighting movies. "The Ides of March", on the other hand, didn't fare so well. True, Clooney's dramas have never made huge bangs of openings. Still, this was a bit on the weaker side of that spectrum. Other than that, not much doing this weekend. Prosperous, though just 3.3% higher than last year when "Life As We Know It" and "Secretariat" failed to beat "The Social Network".

1. "Real Steel" (First Weekend; $27.3 million)

2. "The Ides of March" (First Weekend; $10.4 million)

3. "Dolphin Tale" (Third Weekend; $9.2 million)

4. "Moneyball" (Third Weekend; $7.5 million)

5. "50/50" (Second Weekend; $5.5 million)

6. "Courageous" (Second Weekend; $4.6 million)

7. "Lion King 3D" (Fourth Weekend; $4.5 million)

8. "Dream House" (Second Weekend; $4.4 million)

9. "What's Your Number" (Second Weekend; $3 million)

10. "Abduction" (Third Weekend; $2.9 million)

Box Office Update: "50/50" plays similarly as title

Weekends such as these are the most tedious to write about, not because it's a necessarily bad weekend for the box office. On the contrary, things were slightly up from last year, when "The Social Network" was the sole big winner. What I find so difficult about it is the low-key nature of the proceedings. With four new releases, one would expect at least one of them to be a hit. Unfortunately, they worked more to cancel each other out, each landing below the $10 million mark. It's great that "50/50" was the highest grossing new attraction, but it still deserved much more than it got.

I can't say that I wished better for "Dream House" or "What's My Number?", the latter of which hit the lowest of the new releases, as I'm very happy to report. "Courageous", on the other hand, I've never really heard of in my life, yet it had the highest per theater average of the (sort of) wide releases. Not at all sure why. The three films that won the weekend were repeats from past weekends. "Moneyball" and "Dolphin Tale" switched up places, but bumped up from #'s 2 and 3 to #'s 1 and 2. "The Lion King 3D" took a fall of nearly 50%, and fell to third. "Take Shelter" picked up $56,000 from three theaters, so that's clearly playing somewhat positively with audiences.