Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
August 13, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Opening on Wednesday for no discernible reason, best-seller adaptation The Help earned $7.6 million on Friday after a Wednesday-through-Thursday take of about $10 million. It's second on Friday, not very far behind [tm:5091_]Rise of the Planet of the Apes[/tm], and the Wednesday opening probably prevented it from opening on top. It'll still be pretty close when the weekend estimates come in, and there's been a surprising dearth of chick-lit adaptation this year, with Water for Elephants probably being the last good example. It should end up just behind Planet of the Apes with $22 million for the weekend, and about $32 million in five days.
[tm:5227_]Final Destination 5[/tm]
Final Destination 5: Now Even More Finaler is third on Friday with $7.2 million. This is a step back from 2009's The Final Destination, which opened with $10.8 million in the last weekend of August, which was probably fueled largely by a 3D gimmick. It's actually identical to the opening day of Final Destination 3, which was in February 2006. That had a 2.66 multiplier for its weekend and Final Destination 4 had a 2.52, so there's no reason to think this doesn't end up right in that wheelhouse as well. That would be a weekend of $18.7 million.
[tm:5228_]30 Minutes or Less[/tm]
Another R-rated comedy in a year full of them, 30 Minutes or Less comes in with $4.8 million, as box office for these movies continues to disappoint as the summer goes on, though it's just a hair better than [tm:5224_]The Change-Up[/tm] from last weekend. It should probably duplicate that film's performance over Saturday and Sunday, giving it $13.6 million for the weekend.
[tm:5229_]Glee the 3D Concert Movie[/tm]
Finally, the film adaptation of the TV show that literally dozens of people were asking for opened to $2.7 million on Friday. Justin Bieber this is not. Heck, it's not even the Jonas Brothers, who managed a $4.9 million opening night for their concert film. Give it about $7 million for the weekend, if it's lucky.
Notable Holdovers
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is still on top of Friday with $8 million, off 59% from last Friday. That's a little better than the 2001 version of the film did, when it dropped 66% in its second Friday. It's neck and neck with The Help right now, but I'm pretty sure the apes will stay on top for a second weekend with $24.4 million.