This weekend, it was the same story, different characters. Again it was "The Hunger Games" that decidedly took the top spot, while the two new releases both settled into the two and three spots. This week however, those roles were played by "American Reunion" and "Titanic" in 3D.
"Wrath of the Titans" suffered the biggest decline of any films in the top eight from last weekend to this, but did still mange to stay in the top 5.
On contrasting ends of the spectrum, "21 Jump Street" broke the $100MM mark this weekend, while "John Carter" missed on getting to $1MM for the weekend.
Check out the full report after the break.
"The Hunger Games" was the big winner again this weekend, its third weekend in a row now. With its $33MM this weekend, it also passed the $300MM mark nationally. For many analysts expecting this film to top out around $350MM, I think it's safe to say it will hit that number with ease, and should even do considerable damage past that. As I've stated on the site multiple times, I saw the movie but never read the books. I liked the movie and thought it was an enjoyable experience, but the only way a movie puts up these kinds of numbers is with people returning for second, third, and even forth visits. I thought the film was solid, but regardless of the book material, this film just doesn't scream repeat viewings for me. Again, I'm not sure I'm the target demographic anyway, so that point may be moot, but I'm just surprised this movie continues to have this kind of steam (well, at this point not really surprised at all. Maybe just more befuddled). Good for it though. $300MM is a great feat, and it's now the 37th highest-grossing film of all time (nationally, without adjusting for inflation). Things are pretty crowded on that list for the next 20 spaces or so, and I expect it should be in the 25 range by next weekend.
The two new films this week, "American Reunion" and "Titanic" both fared pretty well. "American Reunion" came in second with $21.5MM, and "Titanic" made just over $17MM. I think both films probably hit right about where the studios expected. You'd like "American Reunion" to bring in a little more, but with the crudeness of the film, mixed with the overly negative reviews so far, that number isn't surprising. While I haven't got a review up yet, I did see the film, and thought it was great! It of course was overflowing with nostalgia, but also provided a great mix of humor and heart. I thought the efforts from both of those departments was solid, and I enjoyed every minute of that film. I hope word-of-mouth is strong for this film and people go watch it next weekend. "Titanic" isn't really a new release, but it was the first weekend in theaters for the 3D version. I went and saw this film as well, and while I'll talk about it at more length on tomorrow's CinemaCast, it was solid. Financially, since it cost the studio about $18MM to do the 3D conversion, I'd imagine they're all pretty happy with its take this weekend. From here on out, it's all extra.
"Wrath of the Titans" has a considerable let down this weekend, but one that can be expected with the terrible critical reception it's received. I personally thought the reviews were a little harsh, but it is what it is. It's an action movie that's semi-forgettable with nothing ground-breaking coming from the screenplay department, but it's also a lot of fun. And the visuals were really cool. It pulled in $15MM this weekend, but also had the largest percentage drop-off of any film in the top eight, dropping over 55%. It hasn't had particularly strong foreign box office numbers either, so at this point, this film is going to be happy if it can break even globally.
"Mirror Mirror" rounded out the top five with a total weekend gross of $11MM. Those numbers aren't incredibly spectacular, but after last weekend's results, that's right about where we expected it would be.
Outside of the top five, like I mentioned, "21 Jump Street" broke the $100MM mark with its total $10.2MM this weekend, which I was happy to see. I really enjoyed the movie, and I'm glad to see it doing so well. I'm generally not a big comedy guy - especially when it comes to theater viewings - but between this film and "American Reunion" there are two R-rated comedies out that I fully endorse seeing in theaters. Both are really enjoyable films, and should be experienced on the big screen, hopefully with a good crowd around you.
Nothing else broke the $10MM mark though, and everything else just kind of tried to cling-on to some last strands of hope before they're inevitably booted from theaters. And that seems especially true with "John Carter". Yes it's been out for five weeks now, but for a film with a reported $350MM+ total budget, bringing in just over $800,000 this weekend is pretty embarrassing for the film. You've seen our coverage of the film on the site, so you know we've always wanted it to do well. But at some point, you just gotta cut a man loose. Goodbye, "John Carter", this will probably be your last mention in the Box Office Report. Unfortunately, fittingly so, considering it's only being mentioned for its incredibly lack-luster showing.
Check out the full numbers below, courtesy of Box Office Mojo: