It was another surprisingly big weekend as Act of Valor marked the eighth-straight weekend that a different movie topped the box office (no repeats at #1), and the eighth-straight weekend that a new release earned more than $20 million on its' opening weekend. This one was the latest success story, as the war action flick won the weekend with $24.5 million, for a per-theater average of a sweet $8,054 from around 3,800 screens at 3,039 theaters. Considering the fact that the war genre in particular has struggled in recent memory and that this film had been tracking softly and had some mild controversy, this is a nice comeback. Its' also a rare hit for upstart distributor Relativity Media, who has seen their third hit out of seven films released since the beginning of last year. The films' budget was $12 million (with an additional $30 million on marketing), critical reception was negative and the film recieved a "A-" CinemaScore, which could signal good legs in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, in second, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds earned good, but not great numbers. The drama took home $15.6 million, for a per-theater average of a good $7,310 from just 2,132 theaters. That was the second-lowest debut of the multi-tasker's career, but, that was to be expected given that this is not a Madea film or a different kind of comedy that Perry usually offers. As usual, critics were negative towards this, but, it did recieve an "A" grade by CinemaScore users. But Tyler Perry films are very front-loaded, so its' a good thing that the budget was just $15 million. And on a brighter note, the film landed in line with expectations and will be profitable for distributor Lionsgate.
With no competition for families, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island held onto the third spot for the third-straight weekend (this time ahead of its' two third-weekend competitors) with just a 33% ease to $13.4 million, for a strong $76.6 million gross in 17 days, which is nearly $17 million ahead of the first Journey through the same point. Due to the presence of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a good amount of promotion, and a nice release date, Journey 2 has become that rare family sequel that has done better business than its' predecessor, and undoubtedly, distributor Warner Bros. has successfully revived this franchise.
Last weekend's winner Safe House dropped to fourth place with a 54% ease to $10.9 million, for a $97.6 million gross in 17 days, trailing American Gangster by just $2.5 million through the same point. The film will be the second film of 2011 to cross the $100 million mark by the end of this week. Meanwhile, The Vow became the years' first film to cross that barrier, but dropped 57% to fifth place to $9.9 million. The romance drama has picked up $102.9 million in 10 days, and has become the first film distributed by Screen Gems to go past $100 million.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance slid from fourth to sixth, and as expected, collapsed 59% to $9 million, for a stale $38 million in 10 days. While the drop was a bit lighter than expected, and was just slightly larger of a drop than the original Ghost Rider, its' still only a bit less than half of its' predecessor's $78 million gross through the same point, and the sequel will likely burn out at around $50 million. This Means War didn't benefit from its' "A-" CinemaScore grade, and dropped 52% to seventh place with $8.4 million, for a 10-day total of a mild $33.5 million. Unless if it shows strong stability after this, I can't see this doing much more business than $50 million.
Meanwhile, Wanderlust was unable to take off, as the romance comedy debuted in eighth place with just $6.5 million, for a per-theater average of a mild $3,260 from just 2,002 theaters. That was probably the weakest debut in Jennifer Aniston's career, but was on par with Paul Rudd's last comedy Our Idiot Brother, which went on to gross $25 million domestic. It was also much lower than what analysts were expecting, and audiences were mixed, giving it a "B-" CinemaScore. The film was produced for $35 million by distributor Universal Pictures.
Faring even worse, not even a draw like Amanda Seyfried could keep Gone from bombing in ninth place, with just $4.8 million, the worst start for a nationwide release this year so far, and averaging a dismal $2,182 from 2,186 theaters. Audiences generally didn't like the film, as it earned a discouraging "C+" CinemaScore, and was even below the most modest of expectations. Produced for $27 million by distributor Summit Entertainment, this marks their second bomb in a row, after Man on a Ledge.
The Secret World of Arrietty rounded out the Top 10 in its' second weekend with the best hold out of the entire list, down just 32% to $4.4 million, for a $14.5 million gross in 10 days. Its' about to eclipse the final gross of Ponyo to become the largest-grossing Studio Ghibli film in the U.S. The film won't hold well next weekend with The Lorax coming out, but it should still close north of $20 million, near its' $23 million budget, and higher than expectations.
Overall box office was up 21% from the same time last year when R-rated comedy Hall Pass narrowly took down holdover Gnomeo and Juliet for first place with $13.5 million, on its' way to a mild $45 million stateside and over $80 million worldwide.. The animated hit eased just 30% to $13.4 million, while Unknown dropped to the third spot with a 43% slip to $12.6 million. I Am Number Four and Just Go with It rounded out the Top 5, both dropping 43% to $11 million and $10.5 million. The other new release, Nicolas Cage action thriller Drive Angry debuted to miniscule results in ninth place with $5.2 million, ultimately grossing just north of $10 million stateside and nearly $40 million worldwide.
Here is the final Top 10:
# Movie Final Numbers Studio Estimates My Predictions
1 Act of Valor $24,476,632 $24,700,000 $13,000,000
2 Good Deeds $15,583,924 $16,000,000 $18,000,000
3 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island $13,389,102 $13,475,000 $14,000,000
4 Safe House $10,926,145 $11,400,000 $12,500,000
5 The Vow $9,916,774 $10,000,000 $12,000,000
6 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance $9,006,135 $8,800,000 $8,000,000
7 This Means War $8,425,010 $8,500,000 $10,000,000
8 Wanderlust $6,526,650 $6,600,000 $10,500,000
9 Gone $4,770,360 $5,000,000 $7,000,000
10 The Secret World of Arrietty $4,351,115 $4,500,000 $4,800,000
