FRIDAY MARCH 1 BOX OFFICE REPORT — A Terrible 2013 Continues

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Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #9 of 2013 is another clunker: only $87 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday (down around 40% from the same weekend the last few years).  Jack the Giant Slayer opened reasonably well, but there are no others films doing significant business (weekends over $10 million).  What a mess.        

Opening at 3,525 theaters Friday, Jack the Giant Slayer from Warner Brothers grossed $7.7 Friday and is on track for a $23.8 million opening weekend (close to the $25.8 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast earlier this week).   The film is averaging $6,700 per theater for the weekend (somewhat above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years).  Critics are mixed: 52% positive reviews at RottenTomatoes.  Jack should finish with $70 million total domestic.

Opening at 2,771 theaters, 21 and Over from Relativity grossed $3.3 million Friday and is on track for a $8.7 million opening weekend (well below the $15.1 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast).   The film is averaging a bad $3,100 per theater for the weekend, and critical sentiment is a weak 33% positive.  21 and Over is headed for maybe $24 million total domestic. 

Opening at 2,700 theaters, The Last Exorcism Part II from CBS Films grossed $3.2 million Friday and is on track for a $7.9 million opening weekend (below the already soft $9.6 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast).   The film is averaging a lame $2,900 per theater for the weekend, and critical sentiment is hostile (only 15% positive).  With all the signs of a quick exit from theaters, Last Exorcism Part II is on track for maybe $18 million total domestic.

Opening at 1,118 theaters, Phantom from RCR Media grossed $162,000 Friday and is on track for a $490,000 opening weekend (well below the hideous $1.3 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast).   The film is averaging $438 per theater for the weekend, and critical sentiment is a low 21% positive.  Phantom is headed for maybe $1 million total domestic.

Note: The table above summarizes an early look at the weekend.  The first column is a reminder of each film’s ShowBuzzDaily Forecast for the weekend (in brackets).  The second column, on which the films are sorted, displays the new weekend projection for each film, based on the Friday numbers (the third column).  The final column is a preliminary estimate of the ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Total number for the film’s total run in North America.  A “++” indicates the Domestic number has been upgraded; a “–” indicates a downgrade.

In case you missed them, click to see this week’s Weekend Predictions.

Total Box Office Volume

The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like $87 million total Friday-Sunday, down 38% from the average comparable weekend the last four years and down 43% from the same weekend last year.

Check back tomorrow for more complete Weekend Studio Estimates based on Saturday’s actual box office, as well as the International Box Office report.