Overall box office was up 16% from last year when Snow White and the Huntsman outperformed expectations with a $56 million debut…
With no new movies managing over $30 million this weekend, it allowed Fast and Furious 6 to stay on top for a second-straight weekend. However, the film dropped pretty hard, off 64% to $35.2 million, for a 10-day tally of a huge $170.4 million. That’s the sharpest drop to date for a movie in the franchise, as both the fourth and fifth movies dipped 62%. But given the fact that 6 opened considerably higher than those two movies, this drop comes as no surprise. 6 also earned more than 5’s $32 million second weekend, and that film had earned $140 million through its’ 10th day. 6 is well-positioned to finish with around $250 million from the U.S. alone, which would be a nice bump-up from its’ predecessor, and an almost-guaranteed finish in the Top 5 for the summer. Overseas grosses have already added up to nearly $500 million worldwide, with still plenty of gas left to guzzle.
Surprisingly, pulling off an incredible upset, magician crime flick Now You See Me debuted in second place with a strong $29.3 million, way ahead of original expectations. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine, Isla Fisher, Mark Ruffalo, and Morgan Freeman, the film averaged a Top 10-best $10,002 from around 3,500 screens at 2,925 locations. That was the largest non-Twilight movie debut ever for distributor Summit Entertainment (who is now merged with Lionsgate), and considering it was opening at the back-end of one of the most crowded months in history, the debut is especially impressive. However, considering the films’ not big-budget eye candy-like premise, it seemed like solid counter-programming to all of the would-be blockbusters. Critical reception was mixed, while audiences gave it a great “A-“ CinemaScore, which should allow it to post solid holds in the next few weeks due to no real competition. Lionsgate was hoping for a $20 million debut, and they co-financed the pic for around $75 million.
Also surprisingly, Will Smith and Jaden Smith’s father-son sci-fi flick After Earth became the summer’s first major misfire and disappointed with just $27.5 million in third place. Playing in around 4,800 screens at 3,401 theaters, the per-theater average was only a so-so $8,092. Trying to come up with an official reason as to why the film bombed is completely mind-boggling. Bad reviews and opening at the back-end of the most crowded May ever seem like more obvious reasons than the film having an unappealing look and the rumored scientology-inspired plot controversy. Jaden Smith certainly wasn’t the reason either, as he already opened strong three years ago with The Karate Kid. But one thing’s for sure, you can’t score a blockbuster every single weekend in the summer, and maybe Earth might have fared better had it opened in late-July instead of the end of May. It was W. Smith’s least-grossing opening since his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days, and was the second-lowest debut ever for director M. Night Shyalaman, who’s movies are usually hated by critics (name being in the marketing campaign or not, there's no escaping awful reviews). Earth only got a “B” CinemaScore, so don’t expect it to hold well in the weeks ahead. Usually, this would result in a Battleship or John Carter level disaster, but After Earth only cost around half as much ($130 million), and especially with Smith’s amazing popularity overseas (Men in Black III earned nearly $450 million overseas last summer), it won’t be a total disaster. Distributor Columbia Pictures (and analysts) were forecasting a debut in the high-30s to low-40s’ millions.
With more competition added, Star Trek into Darkness was down 55% to $16.8 million, for a very solid $181.5 million gross in 17 days. That was much heavier than its’ predecessors’ third weekend, and the sequel is now about $10 million behind its’ predecessor through the same point. Though the added competition of After Earth was mostly the reason behind this drop, all holdovers, in general, took a beating outside the glow of Memorial Day Weekend. Into Darkness will likely fall short of its’ predecessors’ $260 million final gross, but considering the much more intense competition in comparison to 2009, its’ quite remarkable that the sequel retained majority of its’ predecessors' gross (and audience).
Fox's second animated effort for the year, Epic didn't fare well this weekend either. Off 50% to $16.6 million, the flick has picked up a decent $65.4 million in 10 days. The drop was the same as Kung Fu Panda 2 two years ago, but that one had earned roughly $100 million by that time. Epic should stabilize over the next couple of weeks, and will have no problem passing the century mark. But with only so-so numbers overseas, the chances at launching a franchise at this point look pretty bleak. Then again, considering the budget was around $90 million, it should still prove to be a decent-sized success for the studio.
Fox's second animated effort for the year, Epic didn't fare well this weekend either. Off 50% to $16.6 million, the flick has picked up a decent $65.4 million in 10 days. The drop was the same as Kung Fu Panda 2 two years ago, but that one had earned roughly $100 million by that time. Epic should stabilize over the next couple of weeks, and will have no problem passing the century mark. But with only so-so numbers overseas, the chances at launching a franchise at this point look pretty bleak. Then again, considering the budget was around $90 million, it should still prove to be a decent-sized success for the studio.
Dropping to sixth place, The Hangover – Part III dropped an even harsher 61% to $16.4 million, for a 10-day tally of a respectable, but far from great $88.5 million gross. Looks like the finale in this trilogy will probably finish with half of the second Hangover’s $255 million domestic gross. Thankfully, overseas grosses have been very strong, and will more than make up the underwhelming stateside figures.
The other two May holdovers didn’t quite hold themselves together either. Starting to wind down its’ run, Iron Man 3 was down 56% to $8.4 million, for a still-massive $385.2 million gross in one month of release. The threequel will still go past $400 million before its’ done. The Great Gatsby was off 52% to $6.5 million, for a very solid $128.5 million gross in 24 days, and will pass Identity Thief next weekend to become the years’ fifth-biggest movie (for now).
With no other real holdover, independent foreign release Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani managed a strong $1.6 million from just 161 locations, for a per-theater average of a strong $9,743. Rounding out the Top 10 was a more familiar arthouse release, Mud, which was off a light 38% to $1.2 million, for a six-week total of a respectable $16.8 million.
Overseas, The Hangover – Part III made its’ official foreign launch in 54 markets and came away with a stunning $82.3 million, for an early overseas total of $110 million. With already nearly $200 million worldwide, the final worldwide gross looks likely to pass $450 million, enough to put Part III as the third or fourth-biggest R-rated comedy of all-time worldwide. Fast and Furious 6 added another $75 million from majority of the international marketplace, and pushed its’ overseas tally past $300 million. Star Trek into Darkness opened to an amazing $25 million in China, and added $37.6 million overall, for an overseas tally of near $150 million (already ahead of its’ predecessors’ final overseas tally). Epic continued to perform modestly with another $28.3 million expanding to 56 territories. The overseas tally is at $85 million, and with a few more major territories to go, it could still finish with over $300 million worldwide. The Great Gatsby rounded out the Top 5 with another $22.6 million after solid openings in Mexico and Australia, and has its’ overseas gross at $120 million so far...
