SUNDAY 1 45 PM 6TH UPDATE It s already crowded at the pre Fourth Of July domestic box office which will need to expand in time to accommodate so many movies playing during the holiday. True total filmgoing this weekend went down 11% from a year ago for only $180M. But studios are scrambling to see when the last time all Top Five movies made more than $20 M for the 3 day weekend. On Friday the order of finish changed hour by hour but then fixed firmly for Saturday and apparently Sunday. Pixar/Disney s huge hit from a week ago Monsters University is still the strong 1 as families crave toons. But the real story is this weekend s newcomers Twentieth Century Fox s The Heat debuted a big 2 as fan favorite Melissa McCarthy again sets off R rated fireworks with audiences. But Sony Pictures White House Down really disappointed in 4 opening a third less than Hollywood expected and ensuring its high cost will make it impossible to earn out. But the studio is still hoping for a 4x holiday aided multiple. Both pics received A CinemaScores from audiences to help word of mouth. Top Ten numbers for the weekend are
1. Monsters University 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 2 Runs 4 004 G Friday $14.2M Saturday $17.0M Weekend $44.5M ( 46%) Cume $169.0M
Great weekend hold. Easily stayed 1 after the 19% Saturday kiddie bump. But window for family fare will be fleeting once Universal s sequel Despicable Me 2 hits North American marketplace wide on July 3rd. Foreign grosses still to come Sunday and no doubt will be just as huge.
2. The Heat (Fox) NEW Runs 3 181 R Friday $13.6M Saturday $13.1M Weekend $40.0M
Can t help but praise how the women brought the heat for this $41M budget estrogen fueled buddy comedy. Even more impressive considering pic is R rated. Chalk up another strong box office performance for Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock who began with $1M from Thursday s 10 PM shows and Friday s midnights and then increased grosses 4% from Friday to Saturday after audiences liked the pic. Look for word of mouth to really kick in now and The Heat to be hot for a good long while this summer a Fox exec gushed to me tonight. Fandango recognized first that the gals were bullying the guys reporting it was the 1 ticketseller among new releases. The Heat even sold 50% more advance tickets than at the same time for director Paul Feig s previous hit Bridesmaids. This one opened bigger than Melissa s last biggie Identity Thief which opened with $34.5M and went on to do $134.5M all in domestic. And yet Fox still felt the need to photo shop McCarthy almost beyond recognition for the movie s previous one sheet. (When will Hollywood ever learn ) Interesting that a Fandango survey showed 88% of ticketbuyers want more female oriented laughers. Because Chernin Entertainment and Fox already are giving them the sequel. You can always tell if a studio is bullish over the tracking of an upcoming film by whether they start the wheels moving on the second installment before the original pic even comes out. Chernin Entertainment and Fox already made a pricey deal with Parks And Recreation TV writer and co producer Katie Dippold to script the sequel after they already paid her low 7 figures for her spec script (and her first feature) about these mismatched female FBI agents. That s the kind of low brow high concept which marketing pros like Tony Sella and Oren Aviv can do successfully in their sleep. Which is why Fox was so convinced this pic would be a hit that it was moved directly into the fireworks of the July 4th holiday corridor. All in all a neat fit for the studio which finances Chernin produced films and also has a first look deal with Feig. That director recently noted during a Cinema Con panel that casting women in lead roles was always shut down so quickly it was almost a rule . Chernin Entertainment s film president Jenno Topping who produced The Heat with Peter Chernin has a track record for female centric pics.
3. World War Z 3D (Paramount) Week 2 Runs 3 607 PG13 Friday $9.0M Saturday $11.4M Weekend $29.2M ( 56%) Cume $123.0M
After last week s surprise success Pic had new audiences checking it out as shown by the 26% grosses from Friday to Saturday. Very decent 56% weekend hold. Expect big international numbers too.
4. White House Down (Sony) NEW Runs 3 222 Friday $8.8M Saturday $9.2M Weekend $26.0M
The Channing Tatum/Jamie Foxx actioner on Friday went from 4 to 3 and then back down to 4 again. At least the two stars did their job and opened the film above $20M even if they were bullied by the broads. Unfortunately earlier release Olympus Has Fallen had a similar plot and scooped up $30.3M in opening weekend grosses during the weekend of March 22nd. Sony admits White House Down was released in a tough Summer 2013 slot after WWZ opened surprisingly strong last weekend and Lone Ranger releases this coming holiday week. WHD did $1.35M in Thursday late shows/Friday midnights which was soft and proved a harbinger of bad news to come. Studio claims budget was $150M which is way too expensive despite tax incentives by shooting in Montreal. Problem was all the above the line costs for the two marquee actors plus director Roland Emmerich. It would have all been fine if we didn t come out two months after Olympus Has Fallen. Their gross plus ours would have been a big hit a Sony exec explains to me. No way this pic earns out and could even be one of the studio s worst losses of the year depending on how it does overseas. For White House Down we open Friday in 3 222 locations. On background we expect to take in about $30 million in North America this weekend. We also open in about two dozen small countries this weekend (ie Aruba Ethiopia Kenya Iraq etc) The first major international territory will not open until mid July.
We positioned the movie as an action packed fun popcorn movie for all moviegoers. When it comes to this kind of entertainment there s no one better than Roland Emmerich. He was the perfect director for this movie from the moment we started developing this project and he delivered everything audiences expect.
As you know there s no hotter star right now than Channing Tatum and in this movie we emphasized the great characters and chemistry our two lead actors shared. Along with Tatum the film showcases Jamie Foxx who portrays the president of the United States.
Early on we had Channing and Jamie visit Kimmel s After Oscar show to start giving audiences a feel for the look style and action in the movie. And last week they riffed on that appearance as Kimmel debuted Jamie s hilarious song Channing All Over Your Tatum in a star studded video that went viral (closing in on 3 million views on YouTube as I write this).
In media we had a healthy presence in the NBA playoffs (including a promotion during the Finals) and season finales including Survivor American Idol and Saturday Night Live. Over Memorial Day weekend we launched in a big way with a multi media blitz. We also later ran a four minute special look within NBC s hit show The Voice.
In addition to the NBA/ESPN Sports partnership our other media promotional partners included MTV History Channel AE BET Comedy Discovery ESPN Deportes USA and Univision.
Our NBA Finals partnership continued online where we sponsored video replays on Twitter. Also in Digital we had a Yahoo partnership across the homepage OMG Sportacular and Yahoo Movies a YouTube channel for the character Emily Cale (Channing Tatum s daughter in the film played by Joey King) a Facebook game a mobile game and an MTV and an Alloy sweepstakes.
In publicity we began with a trailer launch event in late March as Roland Emmerich and Jamie Foxx in New York joined Channing Tatum in London to introduce the first footage from the film. We held our film junket in Washington DC where we did a red carpet screening for dignitaries and politicos. Around the country we got out the word of mouth on the film with a series of word of mouth events and military screenings.
In terms of the coverage we have arranged great features on The Beast (the president s limo) and many features about the craftsmanship and work that went into recreating the White House. We had multiple hits on late night (Kimmel as noted above) and of course Leno Letterman Chelsea Lately Ferguson Daily Show GMA Kelly and Michael Today Good Day NY The Talk Seacrest etc. Opens day and date in about two dozen small countries this weekend (ie Aruba Ethiopia Kenya Iraq). The first major international territory will not debut until mid July.
5. Man Of Steel 3D ( egendary/Warner Bros) Week 3 Runs 4 131 Friday $5.9M Saturday $8.2M Weekend $20.5M Cume $248.3M
Look at that impressive 36% bounce from Friday to Saturday still indicating tremendous wannasee. But there s stiff box office competition for Superman right now continuing into the Fourth Of July holiday.
6. This Is The End (Columbia/Sony) Week 3 Runs 2 710 R Friday $2.5M Weekend $8.3M Cume $74.3M
7. Now You See Me (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 5 Runs 2 564 PG13 Friday $1.7M Weekend $5.5M Cume $104.7M
8. Fast Furious 6 (Universal) Week 6 Runs 1 550 PG13 Friday $705K Weekend $2.3M Cume $233.2M
9. Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount) Week 7 Runs 1 035 PG13 Friday $535K Weekend $1.9M Cume $220.3M
10. The Internship (New Regency/Fox) Week 4 Runs 1 008 Friday $415K Weekend $1.3M Cume $41.6M
For more estimates listed by title see box office results here...Editor in Chief Nikki Finke tip her here.
Get Deadline news and alerts FREE to your inbox...Your information is safe and secure.
No comments:
Post a Comment