March 16-18, 2012 Box Office Results

Weekend of March 16-18, 2012

21 Jump Street – $31,000,000 estimate – My prediction: Over – $36,302,612 actual – Over

Only two of us did not guess Over on 21 Jump Street. Since that was the only major release this weekend, overall box office was down 4% from this time last year.

While there was initially a lot of hesitation for a 21 Jump Street movie, the marketing seemed to be good enough to attract attention with the under 25 crowd. This is despite the series having ended over two decades ago. This largely had to do with recognizable stars, changing the genre from drama to comedy, and putting on a lot of screenings (one that I attended). Box Office Mojo pointed out that 53% of the audience was male, which is surprisingly low for an action comedy, but saw an increase in female audiences due to C-Tates. Half the audience was under 25.

The Cannes Grand Prix winner The Kid with a Bike scored the highest per theatre average over the weekend, followed by Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Gerhard Richter - Painting, and Juan of the Dead (not what you'd wish it would be). The Will Ferrell foreign language film Casa De Mi Padre actually broke the top ten box office gross for the weekend even though it only opened in less than 400 theatres. Still, its per theatre average was a weak $5,988.

Alright, we are finally at Hunger Games Weekend. This is a film that has a great chance at breaking $100 million over the weekend. The reviews and advanced screening reports have been incredibly positive, and it currently stands with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. On Feb. 22nd, The Hunger Games broke records for advanced ticket sales on Fandango. The sales were reported to be 83% of the site’s totals, toppling the previous record-holder, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. There are not any 3D showings, but it will be in IMAX for only one week before Wrath of the Titans kicks it out the following weekend. Also coming out this Friday is The Raid: Redemption, which is getting a limited release. It already has tons of buzz with a 94% on RT. There are some other films getting single digit releases, but nothing really worth mentioning right now.