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April 10, 2013
 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS April 12-14

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Written by: Mitch Metcalf
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The box office this weekend should be slightly off the pace for this weekend the last few years, cooling off a bit after a few solid weekends.  Two new films open, and it appears 42 will lead the way with just under $20 million.

Opening at around 2,900 theaters Friday (a very average number), 42 from Warner Brothers should average a respectable but not that impressive $6,500 per theater for the weekend (for a $19 million opening weekend).  [The average wide-release film the past two years has had an opening weekend of $5,300 per theater.]  Early reviews at RottenTomatoes are mixed: 56% positive reviews so far.  Read Mitch Salem’s review here.  42 should be on course for $57 million domestic.

Opening at approximately 3,000 theaters Friday, Scary Movie V from Weinstein should average a middling $5,500 per theater for the weekend (for a $16.5 million opening weekend).  No reviews for the movie — it’s being hidden until the last minute.  Scary Movie V is on track for about $35 million domestic (a touch below the $43 million for Scary Movie 4 two years ago this weekend).

NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND 

April 12-14, 2013

Critics Positive ($ millions)
Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection
42 WB PG13 56% 19.0 57
Scary Movie V Weins PG13 n/a 16.5 35

Note: Although critic reviews are not related to the size of the opening weekend, they are significantly correlated with the size of the declines in the opening weeks of a movie.

* The Domestic Total is a very early ShowBuzzDaily projection of the total North American gross, based on the Weekend Forecasts.

 

A look at the holdovers this weekend.    

RETURNING FILMS

April 12-14, 2013

 Change vs Last Weekend ($ millions)
Weekend Forecast Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj.
The Croods Fox -31% 14.3 185
G.I. Joe: Retaliation Par -43% 11.8 137
Evil Dead Sony -60% 10.4 72
Jurassic Park 3D Uni -50% 9.3 57
Olympus Has Fallen FilmDis -36% 6.6 94
Oz the Great and Powerful Dis -37% 5.1 240
Tyler Perry’s Temptation LG -53% 4.7 59
The Host OpenRoad -52% 2.5 25

 

Box Office Volume

For the past four years, the top 12 films in this comparable weekend have averaged $109 million total, ranking 38th of 52 weeks.  Last year, this weekend’s total was $107 million (while 2011 was $117 million and 2010 was $112 million.  This Friday-Sunday is looking like $105 million, down 3% from the multi-year average for the comparable weekend and down a negligible 1% from the same weekend last year.   

 

This Weekend Last Two Years

4.13.2012

Three Stooges FOX PG Sean Hayes Will Sasso
Opening Weekend — Forecast: $14 Actual: $17
Domestic Gross — Estimate: $52 Actual: $44
International — Estimate: n/a Actual: $2

Cabin in the Woods LG R Chris Hemsworth Richard Jenkins
Opening Weekend — Forecast: $15 Actual: $15
Domestic Gross — Estimate: $52 Actual: $42
International — Estimate: n/a Actual: $24

Lockout FILMDIS PG13 Guy Pearce Maggie Grace
Opening Weekend — Forecast: $10 Actual: $6
Domestic Gross — Estimate: $17 Actual: $14
International — Estimate: n/a Actual: $14

4.15.2011

Rio FOX G
Opening Weekend — Forecast: $44 Actual: $39
Domestic Gross — Estimate: $152 Actual: $143
International — Estimate: n/a Actual: $340

Scream 4 WEINS R David Arquette Neve Campbell
Opening Weekend — Forecast: $36 Actual: $19
Domestic Gross — Estimate: $47 Actual: $38
International — Estimate: n/a Actual: $59

The Conspirator ROAD PG13 James McAvoy Robin Wright Penn
Opening Weekend — Forecast: $2 Actual: $4
Domestic Gross — Estimate: $13 Actual: $11
International — Estimate: n/a Actual: $0

 

Check back throughout the weekend for box office updates as the actual numbers come in.

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About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.