Box Office Bulletin: "Fast Five" Obliterates the Competition...

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

The Summer Movie Season, which typically kicks off in the first weekend of May, hit early with a staggering and stunning record-setting opening for "Fast Five", the fifth film in "The Fast & The Furious" franchise. Hauling in a likely overestimated but still incredible $83.6 million, "Fast Five" not only had the biggest opening ever for the series, but delivered the largest April opening weekend of all time, breaking its own record-setting $71 million "Fast and Furious" entry in April 2009. People knew the film would deliver the biggest opening weekend of the year, but this debut, even when revised actuals drop the number a bit on Monday, far exceeded most expectations. Speculation turned from the worry of diminished box office returns to a tone of optimism that perhaps "Fast Five" could kickstart a wave of films which will have wide-ranging commercial appeal. We shall see.

While "Rio", "Rango", and "Hop" had delivered the biggest openings so far in 2011, "Fast Five" more than doubled the best of those openings and the film already ranks as the 7th biggest grossing film of 2011. "Fast Five"could reach $100 million in total receipts by next weekend when "Fast Five" lines up next to the eagerly anticipated "Thor". And what if "Fast Five" can hold off and outrun "Thor"? Stay tuned...

NEW OPENINGS:

The brutal reality of the other weekend's openings is that no one truly cared about any of the other offerings. The estimated per screen averages for Disney's "Prom" and The Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" were on par with films that have played for 4 or 5 weeks. Although in Disney's case, the poor performance may not be too disappointing in the long run.

"Prom", which was advertised as a non-musical "High School Musical" style film earned $5 million with a dismal $1,832 per screen average. Dismal that is, unless you are budgeted at $8 million, in which case the film may be profitable by the weekend. Nikki Finke at Deadline reports however that this is still going to be recognized as a major disappointment for Disney and raises questions as to why the film was not just morphed into a 4th "HSM" feature. Whether the film is a bomb or not can be left open to interpretation, but Disney execs are spinning this as a success. With the rush to DVD and probable multiple airings on the Disney Channel by the fall, "Prom" may not be as terrible a performer as many are speculating.

There really is no spin that can be leveraged at The Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" however. Opening to a paltry $4.1 million and $1,653 per screen average at 2,505 locations, "Hoodwinked Too!" delivered the worst 3-D opening of all time for a wide release. Budgeted at $30 million, this ill-conceived sequel will likely lose money and provide a reversal of fortunes when compared to the surprising $51 million haul of 2005's "Hoodwinked". Nikki Finke shared an insider's Email on the film, which stated: "Between Blue Valentine, Company Of Men, Scream 4, and this film, they are starting to give back all the money they made on The King's Speech." Ouch.

Although it opened at a scant 875 locations, the comic book adaptation, "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night" was a non-starter for OmniLab Media and Freestyle Releasing. Not screened for critics ahead of its release, this comedic/horror hybrid starring former "Superman", Brandon Routh, arrived with little in the way of promotion. Grossing $885k, fans of the supernatural horror series were reportedly not pleased at the film being more comedy and less chills and thrills. Italian audiences, where the comic originated from, were also less than thrilled last month when the film opened there.

Other notable trends and happenings after the cut!


ALSO OF NOTE

"Rio" became the fourth film to move past $100 million at the box office, joining "Rango", "Hop", and "Just Go With It" in reaching that plateau. Two other films, "The Green Hornet" and "Gnomeo And Juliet" continue to play in theaters and are desperately trying to reach that summit; however, both films are stuck in the $98 million range.

The expected post-Easter drop off came for "Hop" and the film was abandoned to the tune of shedding 79% of its Easter weekend audience. When actuals are tallied, "Hop" should secure one final week inside the Top 10.

Werner Herzog's G-rated 3-D documentary, "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", which has earned some early Oscar buzz had a strong start, scoring an impressive $25,400 per screen average at 5 sites for an estimated opening of $127k. Near unanimous reviews and Herzog's loyal fanbase paced this to a notable debut. If IFC can broaden the reach of this and market it effectively, this could turn into a pretty nice success.

Takashi Miike's ultra-violent and ultra-anticipated "13 Assassins" scored a projected $40k start at 4 locations. Many of Miike's features have arrived in the States without theatrical release, but this opening bests the first weekends of 2005's "Three...Extremes" and 2007's "Sukiyaki Western Django". Magnolia Pictures opened the film in New York, Los Angeles, and Texas (?!).

Elsewhere, the much-buzzed Tom Shadyac documentary, "I Am", gained another 10% as it widened to 46 locations, earning an approximate haul of $141k. The film looks to be well on its way in providing upstart studio Paladin with its first $1 million grossing feature.

Expansions for Foreign Language Film nominee "Incendies" and Oscar winner "In A Better World" were again gains for Sony Pictures Classics. At 10 screens, "Incendies" surged 42% while "...World" saw a more modest 8% increase playing at 41 locations.

Overall, the weekend box office earned an estimated $142 million grossed by the Top 12 films, a gain of an additional 17.1% from the previous weekend. The Top 12 from the same weekend in 2010 amassed just $91.7 million when "Nightmare On Elm Street" led the tally with a $33 million opening.

THE TOP 10 (Estimates, with Actuals reported on Monday)

1. "Fast Five" (Universal), $83.6 million, NEW
2. "Rio" (20th Century Fox), $14.4 million, $103.6 million, 3 wks
3. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" (Lionsgate), $10.1 million, $41.1 million, 2 wks
4. "Water For Elephants" (20th Century Fox), $9.1 million, $32.3 million, 2 wks
5. "Prom" (Buena Vista), $5.0 million, NEW
6. "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil" (Weinstein Co.), $4.1 million, NEW
7. "Soul Surfer" (TriStar/FilmDistrict), $3.3 million, $33.8 million, 4 wks
8. "Insidious" (FilmDistrict), $2.7 million, $48.3 million, 5 wks
9. "Hop" (Universal), $2.6 million, $105.3 million, 5 wks
10. "Source Code" (Summit), $2.5 million, $48.9 million, 5 wks

Box Office Bulletin: "Rio" holds off "Madea"...

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, and other sources:

Another strong weekend at the box office saw animated and family fare reap the benefits of a heavily attended Easter weekend. "Rio" retained the #1 spot in estimated box office figures, edging out Tyler Perry's latest Madea film, while "Hop" saw an expected Easter bump to cross the $100 million mark in gross earnings.

"Rio" dropped a modest 32% in estimated figures, moving its domestic 10-day box office gross to $81 million. Worldwide the film continues to have massive success, earning more than $202 million in 17 days. While tracking seems to indicate that "Fast Five", the fifth film in the "Fast & The Furious" franchise will debut strong in the April 29 box office weekend, "Rio" should hold on for a strong third weekend. No doubt about it, "Rio" is a bonafide smash.

The other animated feature in wide release, "Hop" saw an uptick of 16% in the Easter weekend, the holiday that the film is centered around. If estimates hold, "Hop" will become the third film to surpass $100 million so far in 2011, joining "Rango" and "Just Go With It" in achieving that milestone. Expectations are that "Hop" will freefall, perhaps as early as next weekend, with "Rio" delivering strong numbers and two other family films, "Hoodwinked Too..." and "Prom" attempting to pull dollars from the family audience.

NEW OPENINGS:

"Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" was not the director's best opening but performed on pace with many of his other offerings. "...Family", the sixth film to feature Perry's grandmotherly Madea character, opened on more screens than any other Perry feature (2,288) and pulled in an estimated $25.7 million. Tyler Perry's films typically have two strong weekends and then decline rapidly in attendance, so this opening could foresee a total gross of approximately $50-$55 million when all is said and done.

Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon's "Water For Elephants" performed better than anticipated, landing in third place with approximately $17.5 million on a budget of $38 million. Curiously, it was Witherspoon's name who came first in the marketing of the film, perhaps because Pattinson's last non-"Twilight" feature, "Remember Me" was a huge box office disappointment. Although Pattinson's performance was the focal point of the film's mixed reviews, the film reportedly played well overall with audiences and should land in the high-$40 to mid $50 million range. Certainly an acceptable return theatrically for 20th Century Fox's anticipations.

DisneyNature's third consecutive Easter film opening, "African Cats", landed a solid $6.4 million estimated opening, placing it behind "Earth" and just ahead of "Oceans" in terms of success with the DisneyNature brand of documentaries. A total gross around $20 million should be expected for the well-received film, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson.

A look at some notable indies and more after the cut!

ALSO OF NOTE

The heavily attended Easter weekend saw some Top 10 mainstays suffer only nominal to small drop offs, with one distinct exception.

"Source Code" continued to take slow and modest declines and only fell 18.5% in total estimated receipts. Elsewhere, "Insidious", "Soul Surfer", and "Hanna" lost just a quarter of their previous weekend's audience. All four films have been consistent draws and in all instances have eclipsed their budgets, utilizing strong word-of-mouth to stay relevant and in lots of locations.

"Scream 4" took an expected slide in its second weekend, earning an approximate $7.2 million. Although the film had a pretty sturdy week overall and gave rise to muted optimism for a decent second weekend, the film plummeted more than 61%. With a dropoff of more than 60%, the estimated final tally of $50-$55 million seems like it may be hard to hit, causing this to be an even further disappointment for all involved.

In smaller releases, the much talked about documentary, "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" had a solid start, earning $135k at 18 locations. The film, directed by Morgan Spurlock, was entirely funded by companies via product placement and analyzes the influence corporations have on today's entertainmen. Sony Pictures Classics looks to expand the film over the next few weeks. Spurlock's last film, 2008's "Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?" earned $148k on more than 100 locations in its opening weekend, so Spurlock has made a comeback of sorts with this opening. Spurlock's debut, "Super Size Me", earned over $11 million for comparisons.

The Canadian entry and nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at this past year's Oscar ceremony, "Incendies", finally hit the U.S. box office and had an impressive $54k opening at just 3 locations. The Sony Pictures Classics approach seems to mirror the rollout given to the Oscar winner in the same category, Denmark's "In A Better World". That film has earned approximately $300k in 4 weeks of release thus far.

Adding 13 locations and drawing some big buzz from an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, Tom Shadyac's introspective documentary "I Am" improved more than 570% and earned $141k, raising its total haul to more than $567k in 10 weeks.

Overall, the weekend box office surged to an estimated $124 million grossed by the Top 12 films, a gain of an additional 6.1% from the previous weekend, and earning the highest tally amongst the Top 12 since "Unknown" edged out "Gnomeo and Juliet" to win 2011's President's Day weekend.

THE TOP 10 (Estimates, with Actuals reported on Monday)

1. "Rio" (20th Century Fox), $26.8 million, 81.3 million, 2 wks
2. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" (Lionsgate), $25.8 million, NEW
3. "Water For Elephants" (20th Century Fox), $17.5 million, NEW
4. "Hop" (Universal), $12.5 million, $100.5 million, 4 wks
5. "Scream 4" (Weinstein Co./Dimension), $7.2 million, $31.2 million, 2 wks
6. "African Cats" (Buena Vista), $6.4 million, NEW
7. "Soul Surfer" (TriStar/FilmDistrict), $5.6 million, $28.7 million, 3 wks
8. "Insidious" (FilmDistrict), $5.4 million, $44.2 million, 4 wks
9. "Hanna" (Focus), $5.3 million, $31.7 million, 3 wks
10. "Source Code" (Summit), $5.1 million, $44.7 million, 4 wks