Weekend Wrap-Up
A Decent Holiday to Die Hard
By John Hamann
February 17, 2013
The Weinstein Company's new kid flick Escape to Planet Earth takes fourth place. Yes, before we get into numbers, we must remember that this one does not come from the animation hit factories like Disney, DreamWorks or even Fox. That’s why a weekend gross of $16.1 million is actually good news for this one, as it avoids the $4 million opening that the Weinstein animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil debuted to in 2011. Escape from Planet Earth cost a decent $40 million to make (versus $150 million for a Kung Fu Panda sequel). It received poor reviews (as expected), but will be akin to a discounted DreamWorks flick with lower production values. The Weinstein Company will end up spending as much as they earn on this one theatrically, before it finds some life in the world of home entertainment.
Fifth is Warm Bodies. As discussed above, the now three-weekend-old Warm Bodies took down the new Twilight wannabe Beautiful Creatures, and didn’t have to earn much to do so. Warm Bodies earned another $9 million this weekend, off a solid 21% from the previous frame. Teens seem to be warming up to the $30 million zom-rom-com, as it has now earned $50.2 million, helping it to move into the top ten biggest films ever list for Summit Entertainment.
Beautiful Creatures, the mostly ignored new teen feature from Warner Bros., finishes in sixth place. Beautiful Creatures could only find $7.5 million this weekend (and $10 million over four days), as marketing made this one look hokey. The addition of stars like Emma Thompson, Viola Davis and Jeremy Irons made it feel like the fix was in, too. This project cost Warner Bros. $60 million, a debt they will be paying off for a while.
Seventh is Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, one of the very few good movies released over the last few weeks. Side Effects earned $6.3 million in its second weekend and fell 32%. The $30 million film being distributed by Open Road has now earned a soft $19.1 million.
Silver Linings Playbook, which has now been in release for 14 weekends, takes eighth place. This time around, the Oscar nominated flick earned $6.1 million, off 5% from last weekend. The $21 million feature has now grossed an outstanding $98.5 million for the Weinstein Company, as it moves closer and closer to the $100 million mark. It has picked up an additional $40 million overseas.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is ninth. The $50 million action flick earned $3.5 million, as it inches closer to matching its production budget stateside. Revenue for Paramount will come from overseas markets, as this one has made $50 million on the domestic side and is approaching $150 million internationally.
Closing out the top ten is Zero Dark Thirty, and unless it surprises at the Oscars next weekend, will probably be nearing the end of its run in theaters. The movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden earned another $3.1 million, down 23% from the previous frame. The Sony project has now earned $88 million domestically and just over $20 million overseas.
Overall, the box office did okay, but for a President’s Day long weekend, the top 12 is somewhat soft. The top 12 films earned $126.4 million this weekend, which is the first time the top 12 has crossed the $100 million mark since mid-January, but compared to last year, the weekend didn’t stack up. Last year, five films earned between $17.4 million and $23 million, which led the top 12 to $143.3 million. Next weekend is Oscar weekend, and the choices are poor. Opening films include Snitch with The Rock and Dark Skies, a new thriller from the Weinstein Company.
| 1 |
A Good Day To Die Hard |
Fox |
$25,000,000 |
New |
$33,239,116 |
| 2 |
Identity Thief |
UNIVERSAL |
$23,436,825 |
- 32% |
$70,724,610 |
| 3 |
Safe Haven |
Relativity |
$21,430,000 |
New |
$30,258,918 |
| 4 |
Escape From Planet Earth |
Weinstein Co. |
$16,066,000 |
New |
$16,066,000 |
| 5 |
Warm Bodies |
Lionsgate |
$9,000,000 |
- 21% |
$50,220,531 |
| 6 |
Beautiful Creatures |
WARNER BROS. |
$7,460,000 |
New |
$10,002,000 |
| 7 |
Side Effects |
Open Road |
$6,307,000 |
- 32% |
$19,125,000 |
| 8 |
Silver Linings Playbook |
The Weinstein Company |
$6,088,000 |
- 5% |
$98,462,472 |
| 9 |
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters |
Paramount |
$3,470,000 |
- 40% |
$49,750,000 |
| 10 |
Zero Dark Thirty |
Sony/Columbia |
$3,100,000 |
- 23% |
$88,029,000 |
| 11 |
Mama |
UNIVERSAL |
$2,793,360 |
- 34% |
$68,273,535 |
| 12 |
Argo |
Warner Bros. |
$2,230,000 |
- 6% |
$126,893,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
No |
Sony Classics |
$74,476 |
New |
$74,476 |
| |
The Gatekeepers |
Sony Classics |
$46,914 |
+ 12% |
$218,360 |
| |
Quartet |
Weinstein Co. |
$1,333,000 |
+ 42% |
$6,909,017 |
| |
Django Unchained |
The Weinstein Company |
$1,491,000 |
- 35% |
$156,983,983 |
| |
Les Miserables |
UNIVERSAL |
$855,140 |
- 45% |
$145,521,120 |
| |
Amour |
Sony Classics |
$720,614 |
+ 92% |
$3,943,743 |
| |
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |
Warner Bros. |
$970,000 |
- 34% |
$299,855,000 |
| |
Life of Pi |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$1,515,000 |
- 13% |
$110,816,900 |
| |
Lincoln |
DreamWorks |
$1,683,000 |
- 10% |
$176,300,000 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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