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Every mainstream, big studio film has the hopes of landing at the top of the weekend box office and more often that not, landing that success is something to be celebrated. Rare is it that being the weekend's most popular movie can necessitate bad news and press; however, welcome to the weekend that was Universal's "Cowboys and Aliens".
Initially, talk focused on the ambitious "Cowboys and Aliens" falling right in line with other summer blockbusters, scoring a big opening weekend and a final box office gross somewhere in the $175-$200 million range domestic. Then, Universal would move on to their next project and perhaps entertain ideas of a sequel - essentially the standard "Wash-Rinse-Repeat" approach to summer blockbusters. The marketing approach implemented by all involved was a tried and true outline on how to deliver a big movie success.
The outline looked something like this:
- First, teaser the film before the most anticipated film of the year...in this case, 2010's "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1". Check.
- Then, deliver a high profile Super Bowl teaser. Check.
- Next, deliver stills and marketing materials to drum up excitement for the trailer's debut on television's highest rated series, "American Idol". Check.
- Debut the final trailer in theaters before the anticipated highest grossing film of the spring, "Fast Five". Check.
Columbia Pictures acquired the film in 2004 and never pursued production. Eventually, at the request of Robert Downey, Jr., director Jon Favreau moved into consideration for the project in the fall of 2009 and signed on to direct. In total, Universal and DreamWorks had the project, Columbia acquired it and then Universal and DreamWorks took it back. Jon Favreau was officially only the second director to sign on to the project, but a DOZEN writers were involved in the project, leading the WGA to hold an arbitration panel to determine who would receive credit on the film, and how they would be credited.
And finally, leading up to release day, Universal tempered down the initial opening week expectations when critics and word-of-mouth came in less than desirable. Still, at the start of last week, a $45-$50 million opening weekend was floated around as plausible. As preview screenings and further research indicated less than favorable reactions, Universal tried to claim a $40 million start would still work in with their expectations. However, "Cowboys and Aliens" scored a mere $36.4 million when all was said and done, locked in a virtual tie for first place with "The Smurfs" (more on that below...).
With this start, "Cowboys and Aliens" will likely land between $105-$110 million in its domestic haul and that is obviously a huge disappointment. Universal executives have tried to spin this as a positive in saying all the right things about the film having legs, international markets will be receptive, etc. All signs point to this being an expensive and snake-bitten project from the get-go.
"The Smurfs" nearly pull the upset, a flurry of independent releases try and stake a claim and how does "Crazy, Stupid, Love."'s opening stack up for its deep ensemble cast?
More analysis, The Weekend Breakdown and The Top 40 after the cut!
THE SMURFS
As "Cowboys and Aliens" saw its buzz (and audience) freefall into despair, those little blue "Smurfs" completely blew away predictions and debuted with a robust $35.6 million. Budgeted for approximately $110 million, the film could be on track to meet and/or exceed that total domestically, even with terrible reviews (19% on Rotten Tomatoes). The latest example of a disconnect between critics and moviegoers, CinemaScore tracked the film as a solid A- with audiences and exhibitors indicated screenings were selling out, as the film was positioned in smaller seated theaters.
Of course, the rub on all of this is that the film was exhibited in 3D and that led to 45% or so of its ticket sales. Notably, Sony clearly underestimated the draw that this would have, not just to young children, but to older kids and young adults who grew up on the Americanized version of the Smurfs.
All of this is great news for Sony, who are anticipating a big response internationally with the film. "The Smurfs", which was originally launched as a Belgian comic book series in 1959, was extremely popular throughout Europe for decades before it arrived stateside in 1981. Over the next few weeks, the film will rollout internationally and it will be interesting to see how it performs with the novelty film "Glee 3D" and exhausted franchise picture "Spy Kids 4" the only kids movies set to arrive in the month of August.
All in all, "The Smurfs" success came at the dismay of "Cowboys and Aliens". Anyone truly see that one coming?
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.
Featuring a rich ensemble of actors viewed at or near the top of their craft, romantic comedy "Crazy, Stupid, Love." opened with marketing steered towards the 25-54 demographic. All in all, Warner Bros. generated a nice $19.1 million start for the film, which looks like it will earn back its $50 million production budget with little trouble.
Starring Steve Carell and Julianne Moore as a married couple of 25 years suddenly facing infidelity and divorce, Ryan Gosling as the lothario of the local bar, Emma Stone as a law student looking for a fulfilling romance, and newcomer Analeigh Tipton as a babysitter seeking her soulmate, the film delivered some of the finest acting of the year, even if critics had issues with the sitcom-ish elements of the plot.
Gosling, in particular, drew high praise from not just critics, but audiences as well, and although the film scored a B+ CinemaScore rating, it saw steady traffic through its opening weekend. The individual results for the cast's box office track records were terrific, with one notable exception.
For star and co-producer Carell, the film scored the lowest opening he has had since his 2007 dramedy, "Dan In Real Life", opened with slightly more than $11 million. For Ryan Gosling, appearing in his first widely distributed film since 2007's "Fracture", he scored his biggest opening ever. For Julianne Moore, this was her biggest opening weekend since September 2004 when she helped bring "The Forgotten" to a $21.0 million start.
Emma Stone saw "Crazy..." deliver her largest opening yet as an A-list talent. Marisa Tomei reached heights not seen since 2007's panned but widely attended "Wild Hogs". And if you throw out "X-Men: First Class", this was Kevin Bacon's biggest opening in over a decade.
"Crazy, Stupid, Love." could land in the $60-$65 million range, and if it draws strong during the weekdays that it plays, that number could climb higher. Warner Bros. are reportedly quite happy with the film's debut.
SARAH'S KEY
After an impressive start on just 5 screens last weekend, The Weinstein Company moved "Sarah's Key" into 33 locations and saw a strong 216.9% increase in receipts. The World War II drama has a 70% Tomatometer carrying it forward and strong word-of-mouth buzz being generated amongst those who have seen it. Kristin Scott Thomas' performance has generated some small Oscar buzz, but moreover, the film is playing strong as a searing and thought-provoking drama, with another unique look at arguably the most storied element of world history.
ATTACK THE BLOCK
With "Super 8" and "Cowboys and Aliens" drawing most of the alien-centric attention this summer, along sneaks in "Attack The Block", a British-made comedic/science fiction/horror hybrid about a street gang fighting off some nasty alien invaders.
Directed by Joe Cornish, who is also a co-writer of the highly anticipated Steven Spielberg film, "The Adventures of Tintin..." later this year, "...Block" drew huge attention after its debut at the South By Southwest festival this past spring and Sony Pictures bought the film and distributed it through their Screen Gems imprint. Numerous pre-screenings occurred prior to the film's release with huge audience reactions, but Sony/Screen Gems dropped it in just 7 major markets to start - Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto. A wider rollout is planned for the weekend of August 19. Keep a watch on this one.
THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE / THE GUARD
Dominic Cooper drew rave reviews for his work in this Lionsgate indie which finds Cooper starring as Latif, an Iraqi hired to serve as the body double for Uday Hussein, also played by Cooper. Cooper, fresh off a well-received turn as Howard Stark in "Captain America" is perhaps front and center on a film that will have a strong art-house run and perhaps place him at a new level of attention for upcoming projects. Audiences were sure keenly aware of the film as Lionsgate drew a strong $19,283 per screen average at its 5 strategically selected locations.
The Brendan Gleeson connection to the McDonagh filmmaking family continues as Sony Pictures Classics delivered "The Guard." Marking the feature film debut of John Michael McDonagh, Gleeson previously starred in two films for John Michael's brother, Martin. Martin received an Oscar for his short film, "Six Shooter", and then saw his feature film debut, "In Bruges", secure Golden Globe nominations and an Oscar nod for Original Screenplay. Gleeson stars alongside Don Cheadle in this comedic thriller, which features Gleeson as a policeman teaming with Cheadle's FBI agent to find a vicious serial killer. The film opened to strong critical acclaim and in only 4 locations, grossed an impressive $76k.
REMAINING TOP 12 FILMS
"Captain America" took a massive punch in its second weekend, plummeting ticket sales downward of 60.7%. Among the five "Avengers" pre-release features, this was the steepest second weekend falloff yet, besting(?) the 60.1% slide of "The Incredible Hulk" in 2008. The film should be moving past profitability, in terms of its domestic totals, by the end of next weekend. However, with "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" looking to swing in on much of the same crowd who would be drawn to see this film, it will be interesting to see if the film can reach grosses closer to "Thor", which is now resting in the $180 million range.
"Friends With Benefits" moved into profitability despite a 50.2% slide in its second weekend. The film has earned $38.2 million in its first 10 days.
"Horrible Bosses" appears to be headed north of $100 million by the time the next weekend rolls around. At the close of this past weekend, the film had banked $96.3 million in 17 days.
Although dipping outside of the Top 12, "Bad Teacher" sees its domestic gross resting at $96.7 million through 38 days of release. Both films will clear $100 million, which bodes well for this weekend's latest R-rated comedy, "The Change Up", starring Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds.
THE DISCOUNT HOUSE
"Kung Fu Panda 2" saw its business ramp up 108% as it transitioned into its second-run life. "The Hangover Part II" also saw an uptick, albeit a smaller one of 33.6%. Although dates are not confirmed, "Hangover II" is expected to arrive on home video in mid-October, while "Kung Fu Panda 2" is scheduled for a late-November holiday home video release.
THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN
#1 Film - "Cowboys And Aliens", earned $36.4 million in its opening weekend.
Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "Inception", earned $27.5 million in its third weekend.
Biggest Per Screen Average (Multiple Sites): "The Devil's Double", $19,283 at 5 locations ($96k for the weekend)
Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "Judy Moody And The NOT Bummer Summer", $398 at 161 locations ($64k, $14.9 million cumulative)
Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "Kung Fu Panda 2", +108.6%
Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Larry Crowne", -74.2%
Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 12
Films Which Surpassed $100m: "Captain America: The First Avenger"
Films Which Surpassed $200m: N/A
Films Which Surpassed $300m: "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend (Domestic): "Friends With Benefits"
The Top 40 and other notables (Wkd Figures and % Chg, based on 3-day totals)!
| TW | LW | DAY | FILM | WKD | TOTAL | % CHG |
| 1 | N | 3 | Cowboys And Aliens | $36.4m | $36.4m | New |
| 2 | N | 3 | The Smurfs | $35.6m | $35.6m | New |
| 3 | 1 | 10 | Captain America: The First Avenger | $25.6m | $117.4m | -60.7 |
| 4 | 2 | 17 | Harry Potter/Deathly Hallows Part 2 | $22.0m | $318.5m | -53.7 |
| 5 | N | 3 | Crazy, Stupid, Love. | $19.1m | $19.1m | New |
| 6 | 3 | 10 | Friends With Benefits | $9.3m | $38.2m | -50.2 |
| 7 | 5 | 24 | Horrible Bosses | $7.2m | $96.3m | -39.5 |
| 8 | 4 | 33 | Transformers: Dark Of The Moon | $6.1m | $338.0m | -49.5 |
| 9 | 6 | 24 | Zookeeper | $4.3m | $68.8m | -50.6 |
| 10 | 7 | 38 | Cars 2 | $2.3m | $182.1m | -58.5 |
| 11 | 8 | 17 | Winnie The Pooh | $1.8m | $22.4m | -65.6 |
| 12 | 10 | 73 | Midnight In Paris | $1.2m | $46.9m | -35.9 |
| 13 | 11 | 80 | Bridesmaids | $859k | $165.5m | -35.2 |
| 14 | 9 | 38 | Bad Teacher | $843k | $96.7m | -67.7 |
| 15 | 22 | 67 | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $662k | $161.7m | +108.6 |
| 16 | 13 | 45 | Mr. Popper's Penguins | $468k | $64.6m | -50.0 |
| 17 | 25 | 67 | The Hangover Part II | $399k | $253.0m | +33.6 |
| 18 | 37 | 10 | Sarah's Key | $367k | $537k | +216.9 |
| 19 | 15 | 17 | Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara | $348k | $2.6m | -48.1 |
| 20 | 16 | 66 | The Tree Of Life | $333k | $11.7m | -40.1 |
| 21 | 14 | 52 | Super 8 | $304k | $125.0m | -60.0 |
| 22 | 20 | 59 | X-Men: First Class | $288k | $144.7m | -17.4 |
| 23 | 12 | 31 | Larry Crowne | $263k | $35.1m | -74.2 |
| 24 | 27 | 115 | Born To Be Wild IMAX | $246k | $10.3m | -0.5 |
| 25 | 18 | 59 | Beginners | $231k | $5.0m | -45.6 |
| 26 | 21 | 87 | Thor | $208k | $180.6m | -39.5 |
| 27 | 23 | 73 | Pirates Caribbean/On Stranger Tides | $205k | $238.4m | -34.1 |
| 28 | 24 | 108 | Rio | $184k | $143.0m | -39.5 |
| 29 | 29 | 17 | Snow Flower And The Secret Fan | $184k | $710k | -8.2 |
| 30 | 19 | 45 | Green Lantern | $184k | $114.3m | -51.9 |
| 31 | 26 | 45 | Buck | $179k | $3.0m | -32.9 |
| 32 | 30 | 94 | Fast Five | $138k | $209.7m | -18.6 |
| 33 | N | 3 | Attack The Block | $138k | $138k | New |
| 34 | 17 | 31 | Monte Carlo | $136k | $22.3m | -71.5 |
| 35 | 32 | 24 | Beats, Rhymes & Life | $118k | $792k | -19.1 |
| 36 | 35 | 500 | Hubble 3D | $117k | $27.3m | -3.7 |
| 37 | 40 | 10 | Another Earth | $109k | $221k | +40.5 |
| 38 | 34 | 52 | The Trip | $99k | $1.4m | 23.3 |
| 39 | N | 3 | The Devil's Double | $96k | $96k | New |
| 40 | N | 3 | The Guard | $77k | $77k | New |
BUBBLING UNDER INCREASES AND OPENINGS:
46. “Under The Sea 3D”, $47k, $28.0m total (899 days), ++1.0%
47. "Life In A Day", $45k, NEW
49. "Point Blank", $41k, NEW
54. “The Future”, $27k, NEW
55. “The Names Of Love”, $26k, $209k total (38 days), +161.7%
