Friday Box Office Analysis
by Tim Briody
June 8, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The Purge is the big winner on Friday with a strong $16.7 million, with $3.4 million of that credited to late Thursday showings. Despite poor reviews, The Purge is in a bulletproof genre and its unique concept brought out viewers tired of franchise film after franchise film. By the end of the weekend, The Purge stands to be one of the most successful films of 2013 relative to budget: it only cost $3 million to make. Even if Friday ends up being its best day, which is very likely the case, a 2.6 multiplier (after removing the Thursday take) will help it to have a fantastic weekend of around $38 million.
The Internship
[bp:967_]Vince Vaughn[/bp] and [bp:965_]Owen Wilson[/bp] try to make the magic happen again with The Internship and fall flat with $6.6 million on Friday. That's good enough for second place on the day but it should be passed by Fast & Furious 6 and Now You See Me by the end of the weekend. With even worse reviews than The Purge, this is a genre that is most certainly not bulletproof and the lack of jokes in the previews just seem to scream "hey, remember when you liked Wedding Crashers eight(!) years ago?" And unfortunately for The Internship, the audience has long since moved on. Look for a weekend of $18.4 million.
Notable Holdovers
Last weekend's surprise, Now You See Me, drops 40% to $6 million. This is a very good hold and is already one of the surprises of the summer box office season as it's got a pretty good shot at reaching $100 million. Look for a weekend of $19.1 million.
Meanwhile, Will and Jaden Smith's (and [bp:4219_]M. Night Shyamalan[/bp]'s) After Earth collapses 66% from last Friday with $3.3 million. This has rapidly become standard operating procedure for Shyamalan's films. But he'll keep making them, I'm sure. Give After Earth $10 million for the weekend.