Other Films....
Besides all the comedies, family flicks, and blockbusters, there were other films necessary to review this year....
The biggest wild card of the summer was The Help. The period drama opened to a solid $26 million and has performed a lot like Bridesmaids with already $128 million in the bank, and a weekend-to-run multiplier of 5.0 already and still going. It also has gone five times its' $25 million budget, and is just getting started in foreign territories.
Moving onto the horror genre, the five entries failed to attract much attention. Final Destination 5 fell far short of its' predecessor with its' $18.3 million opening, but is the highest-grossing horror flick of the summer with $42 million so far and has earned more overseas (benefited from 3-D). Fright Night didn't even prove that a remake was a good decision, with just $7.8 million on its' opening and is short of $15 million through today. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark will be lucky to finish at about half of distributor FilmDistrict's other horror hit Insidious, as it earned $8.5 million on its' debut and has $19 million so far. Apollo 18 and Shark Night 3-D both didn't quite strike high notes with just $10 million four-day starts, even though Apollo had a small budget. They both have $11 and $10 million so far, and will be lucky to finish at $20 million.
Zoe Saldana certainly was no Angelina Jolie with Colombiana. But it still looks to become a decent success after its' $10.4 million opening and has $26 million so far, and will probably finish at its' $40 million budget, which is higher than Saldana's other recent flick, The Losers ($26 million). It would qualify as an action pic, but is different because of its' revenge basis (Salt would've landed on this same page).
Combining action with comedy, 30 Minutes or Less was barely able to get higher than its' number on the title. The Jesse Eisenberg flick opened to just $13 million and has picked up $35 million so far, which doesn't make it a disaster (against a $28 million budget) but still disappointing compared to what analysts were expecting.
Conan The Barbarian couldn't spark hardly any interest, with just a $10 million opening and has crashed to $20 million through today, and will be lucky to hit $25 million. Fellow weekend release One Day wasn't able to go past typical adult dramas with just a $5.1 million opening and has a total of $13 million so far. It will likely make close to that in the U.K., which is where th book was written. On the other hand, The Debt is a success story, wrapping the summer season on a high note, with $15 million in five days and looks to finish near $40 million.
Finally, Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie failed to live up to other concert pics, with a $6 million opening and just $12 million through today. While concert pics tend to have limited runs and be very front-loaded, Glee was a fraction of Hannah Montana, Michael Jackson, and Justin Bieber, as well as a little over half of the Jonas Brothers concert pic, which was also in 3-D. However, it was produced for just $9 million, and worldwide grosses have helped it yield at least reasonable returns.
