Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
August 21, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Vampires Suck
The best of the fairly sorry bunch of openers this weekend, Twilight spoof Vampires Suck, earned $4.4 million on Friday, good for second behind [tm:4768_]The Expendables[/tm]. That's on top of the $6.3 million it earned since its Wednesday release. The other movies by the writers/directors (Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Superhero Movie, Disaster Movie) have never been big winners in the multiplier department. By the way, the opening weekend will have earned more than Disaster Movie did in its entire run, so these guys will still continue to find work. The Wednesday opening and being pretty much despised by everyone who's seen it will contribute to a mediocre weekend multiplier. Give it an $11.8 million weekend, with $18.1 million over five days.
[tm:3863_]Lottery Ticket[/tm]
The urban comedy Lottery Ticket is second among this weekend's new releases (while being in the fewest amount of theaters) with $3.8 million on Friday. It might get knocked down a spot by [tm:4878_]Eat Pray Love[/tm] when the full weekend results are in but this is a pretty okay opening. A weekend of about $11 million is where it should end up.
[tm:2690_]Piranha 3D[/tm]
Your best reviewed movie of the weekend is fifth on Friday with $3.6 million. BOP's Dan Krovich will be very disappointed in you if you don't go and see this. The word-of-mouth has been oddly positive on top of the generally solid reviews, but at the end of the day, it's still a horror movie. Give it a weekend of $9.7 million.
[tm:3734_]The Switch[/tm]
The second artificial insemination comedy of 2010, The Switch throws under April's The Back-Up Plan with $2.7 million on Friday. The battle of the Jennifers (Lopez vs. Aniston) gives J-Lo the edge as The Switch has no chance of approaching the $12.2 million The Back-Up Plan opened to. Call it $7.3 million for the weekend.
[tm:5015_]Nanny McPhee Returns[/tm]
[bp:766_]Emma Thompson[/bp] returns as well and the result is $2.6 million, eighth place on Friday and the worst of the new releases on Friday. While this is a step back from the $3.5 million Nanny McPhee earned way back in January of 2006, it did manage a weekend multiplier of 4.0. On top of that, this has already been released in its native UK several months ago, so the North American release is really just gravy when it comes to the box office. This being summer and not January, a 4.0 weekend multiplier is probably out of the question, but it should still do pretty well. Look for a weekend of around $9 million.
Notable Holdovers
The Expendables actually holds on to the top spot for a second weekend despite falling 63.7% from last Friday, earning $4.9 million. Its only competition is Vampires Suck and the holdover will always outperform the newbie in this contest. $14 million is more than enough to win the weekend.
Eat Pray Love doesn't hold well either, down 58% from last Friday to $3.7 million. It's a toss up between this and The Lottery Ticket for third place for the weekend, as both look to end up with around $11 million.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World lands in tenth with $1.6 million, down 66% from last Friday. Again: cult hit. Give it $4.1 million in its second weekend.