Weekend Wrap-Up: The Box Office Will Be Avenged
April 30, 2012
If someone were to describe the box office this weekend in just one word, that one word would be, "Yuck". Only one of the four wide releases matched expectations, and that was the film that was expected to do the worst. Think Like a Man easily repeated on top of the chart, despite falling nearly 50%. The overall box office fell 18% from last weekend to $110 million, which was 30% lower than the same weekend last year. Declines like this usually only happen due to a misalignment in holidays. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011, but the lead has shrunk to 14% at $3.29 billion to $2.88 billion. Fortunately, The Avengers is on track to break records, so 2012 should get back to its winning ways very soon.
Think Like a Man remained in top spot with $17.60 million over the weekend, which was perfectly in line with predictions. After ten days of release, the film has amassed $60.47 million and should finish with close to $100 million in total. Since it reportedly only cost $12 million to make, it likely has made enough money to pay for its production budget and the vast majority of its P&A budget. By this time next week, its running tally might be enough to break even.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits opened in second place, which was better than expected, but with just $11.14 million, which was on the low end of expectations. This is a real shame, as its reviews were among the best of the year and were head and shoulders above the other wide releases of the weekend. I just hope it performs better on the home market.
The Hunger Games remained in third place with $10.81 million over the weekend for a running tally of $372.02 million. Given its hold, I would say it is on pace for $400 million; however, The Avengers opens next weekend, and that film will likely crush the competition and vacuum up nearly every available box office dollar.
The Lucky One was in a virtual tie for third place, also with $10.81 million. Its two-week total was $39.41 million, which is more than it cost to make, so unless it bombs internationally and on the home market, it should make a profit sooner rather than later.
Five-Year Engagement only managed fifth place during its opening weekend with just $10.61 million. Its reviews were weaker than expected, but were still positive, while it definitely deserved to do better than this. The film didn't cost too much to make, so there's a chance it will break even sometime on the home market.
Safe was the only film to match predictions, but it only managed $7.89 million. Mixed reviews won't help its legs, but Jason Statham films tend to perform relatively better on the home market than they do at the box office.
The Raven opened in seventh place with just $7.29 million. Given its reviews, the less said, the better.
Chimpanzee fell to eighth place during its sophomore stint with $5.23 million over the weekend for a total of $18.92 million after two. It fell more than 50%, which is higher than anticipated, especially given its reviews.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Five-Year Engagement, The Hunger Games, The Lucky One, Safe, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Chimpanzee, Think Like a Man