Weekend Wrap-Up
Rio, Scream 4 Fail to Ignite Box Office
By John Hamann
April 17, 2011
Sixth is Arthur, which is playing more like Arthur on the Rocks, the abandoned 1988 sequel to the 1981 original. After opening to an embarrassing third last weekend with only $12.2 million, the Russell Brand product continued its quick trip into obscurity with a $6.9 million second frame. That's a drop of 43% for what was thought to be a decent sized hit in the spring season. All of a sudden, it doesn't look like Arthur will even match its $40 million production budget at the domestic box office. Give it a rather disappointing $22.3 million so far.
Insidious, the leggy horror film from upstart FilmDistrict, finishes seventh. It earned $6.9 million this weekend, and has another small drop of 27%, despite Scream 4 showing up. This has become a decent small-sized hit, even though it's only in weekend three. Insidious opened to $13.3 million, but since then has blossomed, dropping only 29% last weekend when it earned $9.4 million. This is the opposite of the usual horror trend, and with the $1.5 million price tag, FilmDistrict is off to a very good start. Insidious has taken in $36 million so far.
Source Code drops only one spot to eighth this weekend, and has a better hold than the last frame when it fell 42%. The Summit release earned $6.3 million in its third weekend and dropped 27%. The $32 million Jake Gyllenhaal flick has now earned $37 million.
We have a big surprise in ninth place, as The Conspirator, a movie that had no marketing or presence whatsoever, takes in $3.9 million from 707 venues. The Roadside Attractions film was directed by Robert Redford and has a pretty solid cast that includes Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Evan Rachel Wood, Alexis Bledel, Justin Long, Tom Wilkinson and Kevin Kline. The film tells the story of Mary Surratt (Wright), the woman who was charged for conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. With the Redford name behind it, people were obviously interested and the film was able to break out much more strongly than anyone expected.
Tenth goes to Your Highness, as the failed opener becomes box office loser of the week in its second frame. After opening to a softer than expected $9.6 million, the Natalie Portman film drops 58% to $3.89 million this weekend. I guess everyone hates James Franco. The $50 million Universal flick has now earned only $16 million, and is going to be a decent sized flop for the studio.
Overall, the box office remains on the soft side, but still improves over last year. The top 12 films this weekend earned $120 million, a 7% increase over last year's top 12 total of $111.9 million. Now we enter the two weekends before summer where movies go to die. Next weekend brings Water For Elephants with Reese Witherspoon and Team Edward (she's in the circus! He's not!), African Cats, one of those super revenue flicks for Disney, and a Tyler Perry film with Madea in the title.
1 |
Rio |
20th Century Fox |
N/A |
$39,225,962 |
- 1.9% |
$39,225,962 |
2 |
Scream 4 |
Weinstein Co. |
N/A |
$18,692,090 |
- 3.0% |
$18,692,090 |
3 |
Hop |
Universal |
N/A |
$10,715,205 |
- 4.0% |
$82,157,605 |
4 |
Hanna |
Focus Features |
N/A |
$7,282,546 |
- 0.6% |
$23,282,858 |
5 |
Soul Surfer |
|
N/A |
$7,268,502 |
- 1.8% |
$19,865,129 |
6 |
Arthur |
Warner Bros. |
N/A |
$6,755,340 |
- 2.7% |
$22,163,757 |
7 |
Insidious |
FilmDistrict |
N/A |
$6,744,623 |
- 1.6% |
$35,870,891 |
8 |
Source Code |
|
N/A |
$6,209,058 |
- 1.4% |
$36,898,580 |
9 |
Your Highness |
Universal Pictures |
N/A |
$4,019,710 |
+ 3.2% |
$16,077,475 |
10 |
Limitless |
Relativity Media |
N/A |
$3,660,104 |
- 3.5% |
$69,589,322 |
11 |
The Conspirator |
Roadside Attractions |
N/A |
$3,509,048 |
New |
$3,509,048 |
12 |
The Lincoln Lawyer |
Lions Gate |
N/A |
$2,884,979 |
- 3.8% |
$50,454,640 |
|
Also Opening/Notables |
|
Atlus Shrugged: Part i |
Rocky Mountain Pictures |
N/A |
$1,686,347 |
New |
$1,686,347 |
|
The Double Hour |
Samuel Goldwyn |
N/A |
$30,246 |
New |
$30,246 |
|
The Princess of Montpensier |
IFC Films |
N/A |
$23,456 |
New |
$23,456 |
|
Armadillo |
Lorber Films |
N/A |
$3,958 |
New |
$3,958 |
|
The Imperialists Are Still Alive |
IFC Films |
N/A |
$2,832 |
New |
$2,832 |
|
A Screaming Man |
Film Movement |
N/A |
$2,421 |
New |
$3,115 |
|
Dumbstruck |
Truly Indie |
N/A |
$981 |
New |
$981 |
|
Born To Be Wild |
Warner Bros./imax |
N/A |
$625,014 |
New |
$1,840,529 |
|
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules |
Twentieth Century Fox |
N/A |
$2,081,944 |
- 3.2% |
$48,122,773 |
|
Win Win |
Fox Searchlight |
N/A |
$1,276,196 |
- 1.8% |
$5,033,567 |
|
Jane Eyre |
|
N/A |
$993,232 |
- 0.9% |
$6,605,035 |
Click here for all weekend data
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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