Box Office Update: Crowded at the Front

I very nearly let this slide, as my Sunday afternoon schedule is quite hazily packed. I have two reviews from yesterday still in the works, not to mention my work outside of this site. It's severely frustrating, so forgive me for not having much enthusiasm vested in the workings of a typical box office weekend. True, this weekend was a fond improvement from last, with three films hitting just above the $20 million mark. All of them opened to fine reviews, and I only expressed interest enough to see one of them, and barely at that. "The Lion King 3D" was not that film, and this being its last week in theaters, I won't be able to check the film out at all as things are currently.

The film still, appropriately, played well this weekend, falling slightly as audiences tried to rake in the film's last winnings while they still could. Falling just barely behind it was "Moneyball", which I gave a slight pass to on Friday. Just on its tail, pun most definitely not intended, was "Dolphin Tale", which somehow found and audience in young children. Who could have guessed that? "Abduction" and "Killer Elite" were a good $10 million down from their newer competitors, but they still managed to fill out the top five. "The Help" fell slightly. "Contagion" fell slightly more. "Drive" fell even more, sadly. We can't account for taste in this particular market, but it was up nearly 20% from last year.

1. "The Lion King 3D" (Second Weekend; $22.1 million)

2. "Moneyball" (First Weekend; $20.6 million)

3. "Dolphin Tale" (First Weekend; $20.3 million)

4. "Abduction" (First Weekend; $11.2 million)

5. "Killer Elite" (First Weekend; $9.5 million)

6. "Contagion" (Third Weekend; $8.6 million)

7. "Drive" (Second Weekend; $5.8 million)

8. "The Help" (Seventh Weekend; $4.4 million)

9. "Straw Dogs" (Second Weekend; $2.1 million)

10. "I Don't Know How She Does It" (Second Weekend; $2 million)

Box Office Update: The "King" has Returned

So anyone with measured doubt about how much a 3D re-release of a 2D animated feature from 1995 could really bring in is scratching their heads. Hell, I'm scratching my head at how much "The Lion King 3D" made this weekend. I know that it's kind of brilliant and all, but are people really that eager to revive that classic theater-going experience? I guess that will happen when you release a beloved title that's being re-released specifically for 3D. People aren't going to be interested in seeing it in 2D. They want the entire new experience of it, so maybe I'll end up checking it out later this week. I've heard the film's not bad either.

"Contagion" would've topped the weekend if "Lion King" didn't over-perform to such a degree, instead landing in second from a 35.4% drop. "Drive" topped the rest of the new releases, though still falling to third place. What's more, the mainstream audiences really didn't like this one. Ally that to the action heavy expectations, but I'll get more into that at another time. By the time we get to "The Help", the box office is resting in low digits that garner little to no attention. "Straw Dogs" and "I Don't Know How She Does It" both earned about $5 million apiece. This weekend was a fine improvement from last weekend, but a slight downgrade from last year, when "The Town" and "Easy A" rocked the box office.

1. "The Lion King 3D" (First Weekend; $29.3 million)

2. "Contagion" (Second Weekend; $14.5 million)

3. "Drive" (First Weekend; $11 million)

4. "The Help" (Sixth Weekend; $6.4 million)

5. "Straw Dogs" (First Weekend; $5 million)

6. "I Don't Know How She Does It" (First Weekend; $4.5 million)

7. "The Debt" (Third Weekend; $2.9 million)

8. "Warrior" (Second Weekend; $2.8 million)

9. "Rise of the Apes" (Seventh Weekend; $2.6 million)

10. "Columbiana" (Fourth Weekend; $2.3 million)

Weekend Report: Moving On...

So let's assume that the several weeks of disappointment are behind us. I'd like to get that sort of feeling, especially since this weekend brings us one of my most anticipated films of the fall circuit. That being said, with all the films coming out this weekend, and there are a lot, I don't expect one of them to crack $15 million over the course of the weekend. I'd like it if that happened, but it just won't. The top film of the weekend, and this is the optimist in me speaking, should be "Drive". Setting aside my own anticipation, as I'll have to the moment the film starts, the marketing for the film has been standard, yet seductive. I imagine enough people hoping for a simple action film will be there, and they'll probably get more than they expected.

I'd also expect people to head out to see "The Lion King 3D", because aside from the film's classic status amongst most people who grew up with it, it's just something we haven't seen before. Not the film, but a 3D conversion of 2D animation. I'll probably check it out sometime next weekend when I'm not busy at Telluride by the Sea. The rest of the film slate this weekend, I could care less about. "Straw Dogs" had a tiny shred of hope, but I'm honestly not sure how. I was never interested, and I'm not sure why I expected anything else than what the trailer alludes to. And there's also "I Don't Know How She Does It", for the female crowd. That's the only group I can imagine seeing that.

Films to see in 2011: September

I was rather disappointed to have nothing to recommend out of the August slate. Both "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "The Help" were better than I expected, and I suppose "My Idiot Brother" looks delightful enough. I guess if you still haven't seen anything from August, those are the three I'd suggest. However, now we're on to September, which has burgeoned into an amazingly successful slate in the past few years. Last year we were supplied with both "Easy A" and "The Town", and I think I remember liking "The American" more than the critics did. It didn't quite deserve the bashing it got.

As for this year, successful films seem to be much more widespread. It's not going to be all shelled out in one weekend, which I really do prefer it that way. Things start out in a really obligatory pattern, and I'm not sure why September usually kicks off with below-standard horror flicks. Do not expect me to spend any time or effort on "Shark Night 3D" or "Apollo 18", and I won't expect you to either. I saw a trailer for "Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star" in theaters, and I wanted to run as far away from that place as I could. It didn't put me in the right mood for "Bad Teacher" either. Or maybe it did. I'm not sure.

Things do pick up from there, although I still have no intention towards "Warrior", one way or another. It looks like they're milking the formula once again. I don't consign to Sarah Jessica Parker, nor do I consign to her latest film "I Don't Know How She Does It". "Straw Dogs" seems like your typical remake. "Abduction", "Dolphin Tale", "Killer Elite", and "What's Your Number?" all look dreadful. "Dream House" might be an interesting popcorn horror film, but not more than that. And "Moneyball" looks somewhat uninspired, and actually kind of boring. If you think I skipped a few films, you might want to continue to my top three films for this month, after the jump.