As expected, fairy tale action twist Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters topped the box office with $19.7 million, for a per-theater average of a moderate $5,840 from around 6,200 screens at 3,372 theaters (3D accounted for 55% of business). While not an impressive start, the movie's opening did come in line with a vast majority of analysts' expectations (predictions were all over the place, with a mid-to-high teens opening forecasted on average). Hansel and Gretel ended up having a better start than last summer's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which opened in the typically safer summer season. Plus, despite critics panning it, the film did earn a more positive "B" CinemaScore, above-average for a movie of its' nature. Originally slated for March 2012, the movie was delayed to see how star Jeremy Renner would build his fanbase through his appearances in The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy. Apparently he isn't a strong box office draw yet. The amount of R-rated competition this weekend is insane, so to have the movie earn this much on opening weekend is somewhat of an accomplishment. Distributor Paramount/MGM produced the film for $50 million.After topping last weekend, Mama saw a bit of a plunge this weekend. The PG-13 hit was off 54% to $13.1 million, for a very solid $48.9 million tally in 10 days. The horror flick will take a bigger hit next weekend when Warm Bodies opens as competition.
Dropping harder than its' Oscar buzz would usually allow, Zero Dark Thirty was down 39% to $9.7 million, for a $69.8 million gross since its' limited debut six weeks ago. With strong Oscar buzz going on strong, The Silver Linings Playbook came close to repeating its' three-day gross last weekend, down just a minuscule 12% to $9.4 million. Since its' limited debut 11 weeks ago, the R-rated comedy has picked up a slightly less $68.9 million.
Debuting to DOA results in fifth place was action thriller Parker, which tallied $7 million, for a per-theater average of a mild $3,151 from 2,224 theaters. That was in line with Jason Statham's most recent effort Safe, but it marks his third-straight misfire after that film and Killer Elite. The main reason for the films' disappointing performance was due to a glut of R-rated films in the marketplace. Had it been delayed to March or April, the film may have taken in more moviegoers. Even the presence of Jennifer Lopez didn't help it. Distributor FilmDistrict co-financed the project for around $30 million, and they were hoping for an opening between $8 and $10 million.
Django Unchained stayed relevant and was up a spot to sixth. Quentin Tarantino's was down a light 36% to $4.9 million, for a strong $146.2 million gross in one month, and will probably earn another $15 million by the time the awards are all given out.
That leaves the final new release Movie 43 in seventh. The R-rated pic tanked with just $4.8 million, for a per-theater average of a dismal $2,472 from 2,023 locations. This is a mysterious case. Twitter activity for the ensemble pic (which featured the likes of Jason Bateman, Hallie Berry, Kristen Bell, Elizabeth Banks and others) was strong heading into Friday. Unfortunately, comparing the apparent heavy social network activity to the gross perhaps represents how inflated the films' relatively small fanbase was pushing the apparently high buzz (and the competition is too much). Distributor Relativity Media did have a small price tag on this, $6 million, which means that this won't wind up being a disaster (its' also already earned an incredible $8 million in Russia). Still though, this concept won't be pursued again, at least in this generation.
Gangster Squad continued to fall hard with so much competition, down 51% to $4.3 million, for a $39.7 million gross in 17 days. Making its' curtain call in this list, Les Miserables was down 44% to $4.2 million, for a strong $137.5 million cume in one month of release. Rounding out the Top 10 was Mark Wahlberg's flop Broken City, which was down 51% to $4 million, for a 10-day tally of an abysmal $15.3 million and will only add about $5 million by the time its' done.
Django Unchained continued to do huge business overseas, with an additional $42.8 million in 62 markets, topping the international box office for a second-straight week. Capping off an unbelievable foreign run, Skyfall netted a huge $34.6 million in its' final opening in China, catapulting it back into second place internationally. Since its' November opening, the film has earned $775 million overseas (!) and it looks likely that the film will probably close near $1.1 billion, and finish ahead of The Dark Knight Rises to take second place for 2012 behind The Avengers worldwide. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters saw a fairly strong foreign debut in third place, with a $25 million pick-up in 20 markets. Life of Pi continued its' successful foreign run with an additional $18.5 million in 60 markets, pushing its' overseas tally past $400 million (and worldwide tally at over $520 million). Rounding out the Top 5 is Les Miserables, which continued to slowly roll out with an additional $14.2 million from just 33 markets, lifting its' worldwide tally past $300 million.
