Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
September 15, 2012
Resident Evil: Retribution
The fifth entry in the surprisingly consistent video game franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution starts with $8.4 million on Friday. This is a step back from the three previous entries, lower than 2010's Afterlife ($10.9 million), 2007's Extinction ($9.6 million) and 2004's Apocalypse ($9.3 million). Afterlife was boosted by being the first 3D entry, topping out at $60 million domestic but it seems we're seeing diminishing returns finally set in. It's winning the weekend fairly easily, but the box office is not nearly out of its September swoon just yet.
While Retribution will come in with the second lowest opening in the Resident Evil franchise, there's little reason to believe that it's the end of the franchise, as it's become wildly popular overseas. The film series will probably continue as long as director Paul W.S. Anderson and star Milla Jovovich (also husband and wife, by the way) are interested. And hey, Resident Evil 6 is out next month for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, so I'd expect a sixth film in the next two to three years. Resident Evil: Retribution should have a weekend of $20.8 million.
Finding Nemo 3D
The re-release of the most successful Pixar film not called Toy Story earned $5.1 million on Friday. As Disney re-releases go, January's Beauty and the Beast started with $5.6 million and finished with $17 million, while a year ago The Lion King stunned us by spending two weekends at the top, starting with a weekend of $30.1 million. Both had quite decent weekend multipliers, and I'd put Finding Nemo closer to The Lion King than Beauty and the Beast. The remainder of the weekend will tighten Resident Evil's lead but it won't quite get there. Give it a weekend of $17.2 million.
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