March 9-11, 2012 Box Office Results

Weekend of March 9-11, 2012

John Carter – $25,000,000 estimate – My prediction: Over – $30,180,188 actual – Over
Silent House – $11,000,000 estimate – My prediction: Under – $6,661,234 actual – Under
A Thousand Words – $4,000,000 estimate – My prediction: Over – $6,176,280 actual – Over

The Lorax passed The Vow to become 2012's highest-grossing movie this weekend as it also defeated newcomer John Carter, but JC still did better than early estimates. The box office is still up 6% from last year. Randy missed the turkey and I got out of my horrible slump, along with Laura who also got the predictions correct.

I stated earlier that John Carter is a bomb for Disney. They'll be lucky to come out even with this film as the budget was $250 million and marketing was another $100 mil. Reviews have been cold and most of the blame has been put on the director. I believe marketing can be to blame as well as they were never able to sell the movie to me or anyone that I know.

Silent House barely beat out A Thousand Words for the number 5 spot even though it occupied over 230 more screens. Some point out the lack of a clear antagonist in the film (like the devil, or Freddy Krueger, or... piranhas), but I think it's more simply a deficiency in star power and bad marketing. Elizabeth Olsen is still a young star who is on the rise and the previews focused too much on the fact that the movie looked like one long tracking shot. People generally don't care about those things and it can be often seen as a gimmick. Considering that Martha Marcy May Marlene (another Olsen movie) didn't do too well at the box office and that it had better reviews than Silent House, this was not a surprise to me.

A Thousand Words came out. It flopped.

Topping out the per theatre average category were three limited releases. First was Footnote, which is an Israeli film about dueling father and son professors. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film earlier this year, but lost to A Separation. The second highest PTA went to Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the documentary on one of the most famous sushi masters currently living in Japan. Keeping myself updated on Japanese culture, I know a lot about Jiro Ono and want to see this doc very badly. Didn't know it came out (only in two theatres though). Third in PTA was Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which I was going to see, but then my wife got sick and needed help that night. So, I requested new screening tickets and now I'm going on March 19th, hopefully.

Alright, as much as everyone wants to call this weekend "The Weekend Before Hunger Games," we can't overlook 21 Jump Street. Yes, the trailers look dumb and the whole idea of rebooting this dramatic series is silly, but I've seen the movie and I loved it. It reminded me of Superbad, but with undercover cops. You can read my full review for 21 Jump Street here. Without a doubt, it is worth seeing. Next is Casa de mi Padre, the Spanish-language American comedy starring Will Ferrell. It's getting a limited release, but reviews have been lukewarm at best for the film anyway. The Duplass Brothers indie comedy Jeff Who Lives at Home will also be getting a limited release, as well as Seeking Justice, the Nicolas Cage movie that nobody has heard of. Tony Kaye, the director of American History X has his latest film, Detachment, seeing a few theatres. The insanely offbeat futuristic comedy The FP will be released in America through Drafthouse Films. If you haven't heard of this film, imagine if gang fights were played out on Dance Dance Revolution. Yep... weird. Last, but certainly not least, The Kid with a Bike will see a small release. Stupid title, but this is the movie that won Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes earlier this year, so...