Box Office Actuals: April 29 - May 1, 2011

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

Box office estimates are typically overreaching, so it becomes rather noteworthy when a film as big as "Fast Five" comes in underreported. Missing the mark by roughly $3 million, "Fast Five" raised its opening haul to $86.2 million over the 3-day weekend, further shattering the all-time opening record for April releases. This staggering opening places the film as a strong contender to perhaps challenge "Thor" for the top spot next weekend, even with a steep dropoff anticipated.

The remaining new wide openings failed to register a blip with audiences. The public's disinterest in "Prom" ($4.7 million, #5) and "Hoodwinked Too!" ($4.1 million, #6) left "Rio" to settle in for the #2 slot and breeze past the $100 million plateau. "Rio" declined a fair 43.8% in its third weekend, earning another $14.8 million. "Rio" joined "Rango" and "Hop" as the third animated feature to hit the $100 million high mark in 2011.

Steady business during the weeknights allowed "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family" to cushion the nearly 61% slide in its second weekend. Banking nearly $41 million in 10 days is an acceptable success for Perry and Lionsgate and the film should finish in the $50-$55 million range by the time its run is completed.

Holding, with a respectable 44% decline for a period-piece romantic drama, "Water For Elephants" added $9.3 million to its total, coming to rest at $32.5 million thus far. Budgeted at $38 million, the film will be profitable by the weekend.

If response was weak for Disney/Buena Vista's "Prom", the news was even worse for The Weinstein Company's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil", which delivered the worst 3-D opening for a wide release ever. The surprise success of 2005's "Hoodwinked" has no chance of being replicated here, as this sequel, which came in at a reportedly light $30 million budget, may only generate a final tally of $12-$15 million when all is said and done.

A "Cave" nets some wonderful discoveries, not every "Dog" has its day, and more analysis after the cut:


Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", one of the first 3-D releases since "Avatar" to have critics praising the 3-D imagery, scored an impressive $139k opening at just 6 screens. Averaging a lofty $27,820 per screen average, "Cave" not only was the weekend's most attended film per showing, but became earned some early Oscar buzz, including a mention by Awards Circuit's own Robert Hamer. "Cave" provided Herzog with his second biggest opening, next to "Grizzly Man", his highly acclaimed 2005 documentary.

I temper these comments because I really do want the little guy to succeed, but OMNI Lab/Freestyle Releasing's "Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night" was a larger disappointment than initially estimated. The confounding project starring former Superman Brandon Routh, adapted from an Italian comic book series, shifted for a more comedic approach than the horror elements found in the source material. Italian audiences and fans of the series were angry, the PG-13 rating was a headscratcher, and the film, also not pre-screened for critics, never found an audience. Opening on more theaters (875) than your per screen average ($863) is never good news. "Dylan Dog..." hauled in $755k for a #18 opening.

Other notable openings included the directorial debut of Mark Ruffalo's "Sympathy For Delicious", which had a nice per screen attendance of $4,724 at its 2 New York locations.

Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins" drew an impressive $45,854 at a mere 4 locations. Miike's ultra-violent film had critics and attendees raving and the film has earned Miike the finest reviews of his career.

THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN

#1 Film - "Fast Five", earned $86.2 million

Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "Nightmare On Elm Street", earned $32.9 million

Biggest Per Screen Average: "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams", $27,820 at 5 locations ($139k cumulative)

Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "Mars Needs Moms", $428 at 52 locations ($22,227,
$20.9 million cumulative)

Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "The Adjustment Bureau", +86.0%

Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Sucker Punch", -79.8%

Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 16

Films Which Surpassed $100m: "Rio"

Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend: "Rio"

The Top 40, with other notables!

TW	LW	DAY	FILM (STUDIO)	WKD	TOTAL	% CHG
1	N	3	Fast Five (Universal)	$86.2m	$86.2m	New
2	1	17	Rio (20th Century Fox)	$14.8m	$104.0m	-43.8
3	2	10	Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family (Lionsgate)	$9.9m	$40.9m	-60.7
4	3	10	Water For Elephants (20th Century Fox)	$9.3m	$32.5m	-44.5
5	N	3	Prom (Buena Vista)	$4.7m	$4.7m	New
6	N	3	Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil (Weinstein Co.)	$4.1m	$4.1m	New
7	7	24	Soul Surfer (TriStar/FilmDistrict)	$3.4m	$33.8m	-38.1
8	9	31	Insidious (FilmDistrict)	$2.7m	$48.3m	-48.4
9	4	31	Hop (Universal)	$2.7m	$105.4m	-78.0
10	10	31	Source Code (Summit)	$2.5m	$48.9m	-50.7
11	6	10	African Cats (Buena Vista)	$2.4m	$10.7m	-60.0
12	8	24	Hanna (Focus)	$2.3m	$36.0m	-57.5
13	5	17	Scream 4 (Weinstein Co./Dimension)	$2.2m	$35.5m	-69.0
14	13	17	The Conspirator (Roadside Attractions)	$1.1m	$8.8m	-49.4
15	12	45	Limitless (Relativity)	$1.1m	$76.1m	-58.8
16	11	24	Arthur (Warner Bros.)	$1.0m	$31.7m	-75.2
17	14	45	The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate)	$789k	$55.0m	-55.9
18	N	3	Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night (Omni Lab/Freestyle)	$755k	$755k	New
19	16	45	Win Win (Fox Searchlight)	$666k	$7.6m	-39.9
20	15	24	Your Highness (Universal)	$629k	$21.1m	-63.1
21	19	52	Jane Eyre (Focus)	$512k	$8.7m	-30.6
22	25	59	The Adjustment Bureau (Universal)	$460k	$61.7m	+86.0
23	18	17	Atlas Shrugged Part I (Rocky Mountain)	$403k	$3.9m	-54.3
24	17	38	Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (20th Century Fox)	$383k	$51.0m	-59.0
25	26	45	Paul (Universal)	$299k	$36.9m	+23.3
26	22	80	Gnomeo And Juliet (Buena Vista)	$294k	$98.8m	-12.4
27	20	24	Born To Be Wild IMAX (Warner Bros.)	$290k	$3.7m	-55.8
28	21	59	Rango (Paramount)	$253k	$119.9m	-34.5
29	N	3	Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (IFC)	$139k	$139k	New
30	31	73	I Am Number Four (Buena Vista)	$138k	$54.5m	-25.2
31	30	52	Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros.)	$132k	$37.4m	-29.3
32	36	73	I Am (Paladin)	$129k	$733k	-1.3
33	28	80	Just Go With It (Sony)	$128k	$102.8m	-35.7
34	32	38	Potiche (Music Box)	$119k	$1.0m	-20.7
35	29	31	The King's Speech PG-13 (The Weinstein Co.)	$117k	$3.1m	-40.5
36	34	66	Of Gods And Men (Sony Classics)	$106k	$3.4m	-27.7
37	33	409	Hubble 3D (Warner Bros.)	$94k	$24.4m	-36.2
38	23	10	Dum Maaro Dum (Fox Searchlight)	$92k	$484k	-71.8
39	40	59	Beastly (CBS)	$90k	$27.7m	-0.3
40	37	10	POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Sony Classics)	$90k	$241k	-24.3

BUBBLING UNDER INCREASES AND OPENINGS:

44. “Incendies” (Sony Classics), $65k, $134k total, +27.5%

47. “Double Hour” (Samuel Goldwyn), $57k, $145k total, +91.3%

48. “13 Assassins” (Magnolia), $46k, NEW

50. “Kill The Irishman” (Anchor Bay), $41k, $1.1m total, +9.9%

51. "Winter In Wartime" (Sony Classics), $37k, $272k total, +21.5%

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