Weekend of May 4-6, 2012
The Avengers – $170,000,000 estimate – My prediction: Under – $207,438,708 actual – Over
It was an exciting record-breaking weekend with The Avengers out over the weekend. Over/Under was split 7/4 with all of the original playing members going with Under, which is very interesting. I think it goes to show how much we tend to overthink things with the experience we have.
(Before I get on a roll here, let me just say that I hate Blogger's new posting layout. This is my second attempt at writing the box office report as it did not save before I accidentally clicked on another link. I am literally fuming right now. I was 3/4 done with this post and lost all of my work. This write-up will probably not be as good as it could have been, but I gotta keep moving.)
I'm sure there were a few people who were completely confident that The Avengers would become the movie with the biggest opening weekend of all-time, but I don't think anyone quite expected it to reach $200+ mil levels. I didn't think it had a shot against Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 because HP is already a very well-established family franchise. I was expecting it to get close though. Somewhere in the $160-170 million range. While the marketing campaign was definitely a part of The Avenger's success, I think another big answer comes from the same reason that the movie only placed eighth in Friday midnight showings, but #1 for all-time weekend. I asked Jason about this on Saturday and he acknowledged that it largely has to do with the fact that Avengers brings in a broader audience while the Harry Potters, Twilights, and even Hunger Games have loyal fan bases. If you look at just Friday numbers, you'll notice that Deathly Hallows Part 2 made about $11 million more than The Avengers. Being in the school year still could have a little to do with that. But then if you look at Saturday, The Avengers beat DH2 by $27 mil. It also dominated Sunday, so it goes to show that The Avengers is more accessible and will likely have better legs. Now the question is how will it compare to The Dark Knight Rises? The previous film broke the opening weekend record when it came out in 2008, but that was four years ago with a stronger marketing campaign and the story around Heath Ledger's death.
The Avengers was not the only new release to be successful over the weekend. Fox Searchlight's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel came in at #2 in per-theatre average with $27,298 on 27 screens giving it a total gross of $737,051. They definitely capitalized on going after a different market over the weekend and it should expand in the upcoming weeks. Bernie stayed in the top three for PTA after expanding to five additional theatres with a $17,568 average.
This weekend's releases are sure to have trouble with The Avengers. Tim Burton's Dark Shadows will have the widest release this weekend being in about 3,700 theatres. Based on the 1966 soap opera of the same name, Johnny Depp will star as Barnabas Collins. Girl in Progress, starring Eva Mendes, will get a decent sized release in about 300 theatres. Bobcat Goldthwait's well-reviewed God Bless America will see a limited release. It currently has an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. El Gringo, an action/adventure movie starring Scott Adkins and Christian Slater, will have a small release, along with Hick, starring Chloë Moretz and Blake Lively. Finally, the documentary Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview will see some screens. Filmed in 1995, the interview sees Jobs discussing at length his early days, career battles, and vision for the future two years before retaking control of Apple.
No comments:
Post a Comment