Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:Despite being one of the few films to have its weekend totals overestimated, "Thor" cruised to a strong opening of $65.7 million to win the box office derby by a slightly more than 2:1 margin of last week's chart topper, "Fast Five". While "Thor"'s opening pales when compared to the comparable "Iron Man" or "Iron Man 2" (which opened the same weekend in 2010), the Marvel Comics adaptation landed the second biggest opening of 2011 thus far.
In some circles, the more impressive story may center on the TriStar/Sony release, "Jumping The Broom", which was underestimated by nearly $1.5 million when initial counts were taken. Made for a mere $6.6 million, "...Broom" surged to a $15.2 million start and had a big Mother's Day attendance, padding its numbers. For Pastor T.D. Jakes, a co-producer on the film, this is already Jakes' highest grossing film, exceeding the $10+ million gross for 2009's "Not Easily Broken" and the $6+ million take for 2004's "Woman Thou Art Loosed!". "...Broom" also had the third highest per screen average for wide releases, netting almost $7,500 per site.
Also underestimated but equally overshadowed is the romantic comedy, "Something Borrowed", which also drew a better than anticipated Sunday attendance and finished the weekend grossing $13.9 million. If the film can hold a decent second weekend, the film should finish near $40 million for its overall gross, exceeding its reported $35 million budget. Critics lambasted the film and audiences were reportedly not too enamored with the film however and it will be interesting to see if female audiences jump to the edgier R-rated "Bridesmaids" and what the effect on "Something Borrowed"'s second weekend will be.
Two other holdovers fared well Mother's Day weekend and saw smaller than expected dropoffs. "Water For Elephants" became profitable this weekend, losing just 35% of its audience in the third weekend and raising its bar to $42.1 million. As audiences shift their attention to bigger and bolder summer fare, it will be interesting to see if "Water...'" can retain its appeal with audiences. "Elephants" looks likely to hit its projected $55 million final gross at this point.
Hanging in the lower reaches of the Top 10, "Soul Surfer" slid just 31.5 % and retained a #8 ranking, with $2.3 million earned and a cumulative $36.9 million gross. People are returning to this film again and again and it has developed a loyal and passionate base of support. "Soul Surfer" has now doubled its production budget, making it a surprising and breakout success.
Within the rest of the Top 10, every other film except "Rio" lost more than 50% of its previous weekend's attendance, largely due to theater counts being slashed with the arrivals of "Thor" and "Fast Five". Then again, it is the transition from spring to summer and large amounts of screens were slashed from films such as "Source Code", "Insidious", "Hanna", and "Scream 4".
"The Beaver" debuts, a "Cave" continues to amaze, contrary to reports - there were no dragons after all, and a possible new record in infamy may have been set. More analysis after the cut:
Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", continued to turn heads as it increased its visibility from 5 sites to 50 and gained a stunning 189.7% uptick in receipts. Directed by the inimitable Werner Herzog, "Cave..." has started to generate Documentary Oscar talk and its 3-D presentation is drawing raves. Earning a much larger than estimated $403k, "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" has rolled up $672k in 10 days of platform release. The film in many ways is already a tremendous success.
The eagerly anticipated Jodie Foster directed and Mel Gibson starring comeback film, "The Beaver" disappointed with a rather dismal $108k earned at 22 strategically selected markets. Summit Entertainment are still planning on going ahead with a large scale release of the picture on May 20 as counterprogramming to Disney's fourth "Pirates Of The Caribbean" film. It will be interesting to see if the film can gain any traction whatsoever, as it scheduled for a high profile play at the Cannes Film Festival. The poor returns likely spell doom for any Best Actor talk for Mel Gibson as the film may be a distant memory by the middle of summer.
The religious themed "There Be Dragons" not only had no dragons but had no audience either, earning a paltry $706k at 269 locations. Budgeted for $36 million, the film is another non-starter for the Samuel Goldwyn Company and earned a mere $2,724 per screen average.
Last week we looked at "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night", a comic book adaptation starring Brandon Routh which earned a mere $755k in its opening weekend. We noted that the film has the unique distinction of opening at more locations (875) than its per screen average ($863). Freestyle Releasing slashed the film's theater counts nearly in half and as a result, "Dylan Dog" may have set a dubious record for the largest second weekend drop for a wide release in history.
Box Office Mojo did not have the film listed in the applicable rankings at press time, but the film's $95k second weekend resulted in a bloodletting of 87.1% from Weekend 1 to Weekend 2. If this is in fact accurate, it eclipses the 86.4% decline of the Ashlee Simpson drama, "Undiscovered", released in August 2005. From Superman to Dylan Dog and a unwanted place in the records book...it is safe to say that Brandon Routh's career is definitely at a crossroads.
The much talked about and critically acclaimed "Hobo With A Shotgun", the latest in grindhouse-style throwback cinema, had an impressive $6,023 average at its 2 screens and started north of $12k.
On the contrary, the romantic drama, "Last Night" starring Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington earned a disappointing $32k from its 10 locations. TriBeCa Films had released the film ahead of its theatrical run through select On Demand Pay-Per-View outlets.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
"Meek's Cutoff", identified this week as a Best Picture Oscar contender by Awards Circuit Editor, Clayton Davis, continued its steady and measured growth as Oscilloscope expanded to just 19 locations for the film, but saw tickets increase almost 77%, raising its total sum to $217k. Steady is the plan as the $2 million indie is amassing a following around it.
In the "What?" department, the film "Passion Play", a strange mafia movie with Megan Fox playing an angel (?!?) and Mickey Rourke and Bill Murray in prominent roles, scored a ridiculous $2,100 at two screens. Directed by Kelly Lynch's husband, Mitch Glazer, the film has reportedly sat for a long stretch of time and Mickey Rourke recently ripped Fox's performance and the picture as a whole in a recent interview. The film arrives on DVD on May 31.
THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN
#1 Film - "Thor", earned $65.7 million
Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "Iron Man 2", opened at $128.1 million
Biggest Per Screen Average: "Thor", $16,618 at 3,955 locations ($65.7 million cumulative)
Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night", $206 at 464 locations ($95k, $1.1 million cumulative)
Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams", +189.7%
Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night", -87.4%
Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 13
Films Which Surpassed $100m: N/A
Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend: "Fast Five", "Jumping The Broom", "Water For Elephants"
The Top 40, with other notables!
| TW | LW | DAY | FILM (STUDIO) | WKD | TOTAL | % CHG |
| 1 | N | 3 | Thor (Paramount) | $65.7m | $65.7m | New |
| 2 | 1 | 10 | Fast Five (Universal) | $32.4m | $139.8m | -62.4 |
| 3 | N | 3 | Jumping The Broom (TriStar/Sony) | $15.2m | $15.2m | New |
| 4 | N | 3 | Something Borrowed (Warner Bros.) | $13.9m | $13.9m | New |
| 5 | 2 | 24 | Rio (20th Century Fox) | $8.5m | $115.2m | -42.5 |
| 6 | 4 | 17 | Water For Elephants (20th Century Fox) | $6.1m | $42.1m | -35.0 |
| 7 | 3 | 17 | Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family (Lionsgate) | $4.2m | $47.1m | -57.6 |
| 8 | 7 | 31 | Soul Surfer (TriStar/FilmDistrict) | $2.3m | $36.9m | -31.5 |
| 9 | 5 | 10 | Prom (Buena Vista) | $2.2m | $7.6m | -53.0 |
| 10 | 6 | 10 | Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil (Weinstein Co.) | $2.0m | $6.9m | -50.2 |
| 11 | 8 | 38 | Insidious (FilmDistrict) | $1.3m | $50.3m | -50.2 |
| 12 | 10 | 38 | Source Code (Summit) | $1.2m | $50.9m | -50.4 |
| 13 | 11 | 17 | African Cats (Buena Vista) | $1.1m | $12.9m | -55.6 |
| 14 | 12 | 31 | Hanna (Focus) | $836k | $37.6m | -62.9 |
| 15 | N | 3 | There Be Dragons (Samuel Goldwyn) | $706k | $706k | New |
| 16 | 13 | 24 | Scream 4 (Weinstein Co./Dimension) | $701k | $36.9m | --67.8 |
| 17 | 14 | 24 | The Conspirator (Roadside Attractions) | $591k | $9.8m | -46.4 |
| 18 | 19 | 52 | Win Win (Fox Searchlight) | $529k | $8.4m | -20.6 |
| 19 | 9 | 38 | Hop (Universal) | $496k | $106.4m | -81.5 |
| 20 | 15 | 52 | Limitless (Relativity) | $487k | $77.0m | -55.7 |
| 21 | 17 | 52 | The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate) | $465k | $55.5m | -41.0 |
| 22 | 28 | 66 | Rango (Paramount) | $434k | $120.4m | +71.7 |
| 23 | 21 | 59 | Jane Eyre (Focus) | $427k | $9.4m | -16.5 |
| 24 | 29 | 10 | Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (IFC) | $403k | $627k | +189.7 |
| 25 | 26 | 31 | Born To Be Wild IMAX (Warner Bros.) | $290k | $4.3m | -3.0 |
| 26 | 23 | 66 | The Adjustment Bureau (Universal) | $281k | $62.1m | -38.8 |
| 27 | 24 | 45 | Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (20th Century Fox) | $220k | $51.3m | -42.4 |
| 28 | 16 | 31 | Arthur (Warner Bros.) | $218k | $32.2m | -78.3 |
| 29 | 27 | 87 | Gnomeo And Juliet (Buena Vista) | $215k | $99.0m | -26.7 |
| 30 | 25 | 52 | Paul (Universal) | $202k | $37.2m | -32.5 |
| 31 | 22 | 24 | Atlas Shrugged Part I (Rocky Mountain) | $198k | $4.3m | -57.8 |
| 32 | 42 | 59 | Battle: Los Angeles (Sony) | $188k | $83.0m | +162.5 |
| 33 | 32 | 80 | I Am (Paladin) | $188k | $942k | +45.6 |
| 34 | 20 | 31 | Your Highness (Universal) | $180k | $21.4m | -71.5 |
| 35 | 34 | 45 | Potiche (Music Box) | $110k | $1.2m | -7.7 |
| 36 | N | 3 | The Beaver (Summit) | $108k | $108k | New |
| 37 | 50 | 45 | Sucker Punch (Warner Bros.) | $99k | $36.2m | +76.7 |
| 38 | 18 | 10 | Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night (Omni Lab/Freestyle) | $95k | $1.1m | -87.4 |
| 39 | 33 | 87 | Just Go With It (Sony) | $87k | $102.9m | -31.5 |
| 40 | 36 | 73 | Of Gods And Men (Sony Classics) | $87k | $3.6m | -18.1 |
BUBBLING UNDER INCREASES AND OPENINGS:
43. “Double Hour” (Samuel Goldwyn), $80k, $246k total, +40.2%
45. “In A Better World” (Sony Classics), $74k, $512k total, +3.8%
49. “Meek's Cutoff” (Oscilloscope), $61k, $217k, +76.6%
52. “13 Assassins” (Magnolia), $48k, $120k total, +5.5%
