Overall box office was and down just 1% from last year when Transformers: Dark of the Moon attacked multiplexes with a huge $97.9 million...
It didn't appear that this weekend's releases were going to make much noise. But looks can be deceiving, and even though he looked like just a little, inappropiate teddy bear, Ted became a box office giant. The theatrical debut of Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane took the top spot with a huge estimated $54.1 million, for a per-theater average of a stunning $16,800 from around 4,100 screens at 3,239 theaters. That claimed the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for an original R-rated comedy (including all sequels and adaptations, Ted would rank third behind The Hangover - Part II and S** and the City). Anticipation had been solid, and Ted's weekend gross was in line with action blockbusters such as Men in Black III, Prometheus, and Snow White and the Huntsman, and distributor Universal Pictures has to be thrilled with this result. They produced it for just a tidy $50 million, and critics and audiences really liked it (69% on Rotten Tomatoes, "A-" CinemaScore). With no competition until the end of the month, Ted is set for a really solid run. Universal had forecasted a debut near $30 million.
But that wasn't the only major hit of the weekend. Warner Bros. also scored big with its' stripper flick Magic Mike. Channing Tatum is becoming the most reliable draw this year, as his latest flick scored a big $39.1 million on its' debut, for a per-theater average of a large $13,354 from around 3,200 screens at 2,930 theaters. With huge pre-sales and anticipation over the past week, it seemed imminent for this film to open huge, but no one expected it to go this high in the face of Ted. However, despite positive critical reception (80% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences were slightly mixed ("B" CinemaScore), and it showed as the films' weekend performance was very front-loaded (it was down 41% from $19.4 million to $11.4 million on Saturday). Still though, with no additional competition to the end of the month, expect this to still do solid business throughout the rest of the month. For Tatum, this was his second biggest debut behind The Vow and was director Steven Soderbergh's largest opening of his career. Warner Bros. acquired the distribution rights for only $7 million, and had modestly predicted a mid-teens millions debut.
Originally expected to win a second-straight weekend, Brave took a beating. Pixar's latest was down 49% from last weekend to $34.1 million, for a 10-day tally of a nice $131.7 million. It is officially the 12th movie of 2012 to reach the $100 million milestone. Still, despite still being a potent force, its' drop was still pretty steep for a animated film, as it was steeper than Madagascar 3, Toy Story 3 and The Lorax's second weekend drops, though it was much lighter than Cars 2's 62% plunge. With the 4th of July holiday coming, Brave should experience a much stronger hold next weekend, before flinching in the face of Ice Age: Continental Drift.
Debuting to good results in fourth place was Tyler Perry's latest cross-dressing endeavor, Madea's Witness Protection, which scored $25.4 million, for a per-theater average of a strong $12,193 from around 2,900 screens at just 2,161 theaters. The weekend performance was on par with Big Happy Family's $25 million debut. Critics slapped it with negative reviews, while audiences seemed to enjoy it ("A-" CinemaScore). However, regardless of word-of-mouth, this will likely be front-loaded just like Perry's other films. The good news is that it was produced for just $20 million by distributor Lionsgate, who had predicted a high-teens millions opening.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted slid to fifth place, but continued to post solid staying power. The animated threequel eased 40% from last weekend to $11.8 million, for a $180 million gross in 24 days, surpassing Escape 2 Africa's final gross in the process. Look for another solid hold next weekend before losing a lot of its' theaters to Ice Age 4 the following weekend. Following its' underwhelming debut last weekend, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter plunged 63% to sixth place and $6 million. In 10 days, the book adaptation has earned a stale $29 million, and will be lucky to reach $40 million by the time it leaves theaters. Limited release Moonrise Kingdom jumped back into the Top 10 in its' sixth weekend, and expanded to 854 locations. Wes Anderson's latest earned $4.9 million, for a $18.5 million gross in 38 days and is looking to expand further over the next several weeks.
Just $5,000 behind Moonrise Kingdom in eighth place is Prometheus, which was down another 50% to $4.9 million in its' fourth weekend, for a 24-day total of a solid $118.3 million, along with close to $300 million worldwide. Another action holdover, Snow White and the Huntsman followed in ninth place, dropping 46% to an estimated $4.4 million, for a $145.6 million gross in one month of release, and has earned over $300 million worldwide.
In its' ninth weekend, The Avengers rounded out the Top 10 with one last hurrah (before The Amazing Spider-Man steals its' audience next weekend), down just 38% to $4.4 million, for a spectacular $606.5 million gross in 63 days of release. The superhero blockbuster became just the third movie in history to pass $600 million stateside behind Avatar and Titanic. (Not including re-releases, Avengers would rank second to Avatar on the domestic list).
The last new release found itself in eleventh place. Disney (through its Touchstone banner) and DreamWorks had hoped that People Like Us would become the next The Help, but they failed to get it to strong numbers with just $4.25 million, for a per-theater average of a dismal $2,071 from just 2,055 theaters. That performance nearly mirrors last weekend's disappointment Seeking A Friend for the End of the World. Despite a "B+" CinemaScore and good reception from critics, this film was unable to successfully counter-program a crowded market. Touchstone and DreamWorks had originally forecasted a $6-$7 million debut and produced the film for $16 million.
Overseas, Ice Age: Continental Drift and The Amazing Spider-Man rolled out to overseas markets early and found sensational results. The fourquel in the hit animated franchise debuted in 34 markets, taking the top spot in every one of them and finding a huge $78 million in sales, while the superhero reboot earned an impressive $50.2 million from just 15 markets (14 of them being in Asia). Madagascar 3 slid to third place with another $16.2 million from 44 territories, bringing its' foreign total to a strong $244 million, while Snow White and the Huntsman took fourth place with an additional $14.5 million from 60 territories, for a robust $189 million overseas tally. International blockbuster Men in Black III rounded out the Top 5 with another $6.4 million from about 80% of the foreign market. The threequel is about to pass $600 million worldwide, and has become the highest-grossing entry in the series on a worldwide note.
