Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #22 of 2013 now looks like a solid $157 million for the top 12 films, up over 10% from comparable weekends the past few years. Now You See Me is the one film that exceeded our forecast earlier this week, while the other opener (After Earth) and all of the major holdovers remain below our forecasts.
Opening at 2,925 theaters Friday, Now You See Me from Summit grossed $10.0 million Friday and $10.6 million Saturday and is on track for a $28.1 million opening weekend (somewhat above the $22.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is averaging $9,600 per theater for the weekend (above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years), and critical sentiment is mediocre at best: 43% positive at RottenTomatoes (with top critics however a tepid 26% positive). Now You See Me is headed for $81 million total domestic.
Opening at 3,401 theaters Friday, After Earth from Sony opened with $9.8 million Friday and $10.2 million Saturday and is on track for a $27.0 million opening weekend (well below the $36.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is averaging $7,900 per theater for the weekend, and critical sentiment is brutal: 12% positive at RottenTomatoes with all critics and a similar 11% positive with top critics. After Earth is headed for a forgettable $65 million total domestic
| Weekend 22
May 31-June 2, 2013 |
($ millions) | ||||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Weekend Studio Estimate | Actual Fri–Sat Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| Fast & Furious 6 | Uni | [40.0] | 35.1 | 34.5 | 10.6–13.8 | 249 | |
| Now You See Me | Summit | [22.5] | 27.9 | 28.1 | 10.0–10.6 | 81 | |
| After Earth | Sony | [36.5] | 27.3 | 27.0 | 9.8–10.2 | 65 | |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | Par | [19.0] | 15.4 | 16.4 | 4.4–7.0 | 243 | |
| Epic | Fox | [19.1] | 15.2 | 16.4 | 4.1–7.7 | 106 | |
| The Hangover Part III | WB | [15.6] | 15.1 | 15.9 | 5.2–6.5 | 123 | |
| Iron Man 3 | Dis | [10.4] | 7.9 | 8.0 | 2.2–n/a | 415 | |
| Great Gatsby | WB | [7.3] | 6.2 | 6.3 | 1.9–2.6 | 149 | |
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 now looking like $157 million total Friday-Sunday, up 10% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and up 17% from the same weekend last year (and up slightly from yesterday’s $154 million estimate).
| WEEKEND #22 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2013 | $157 | Now You See Me $28.1, After Earth $27.0 | |
| 2012 | $135 | Snow White and the Huntsman $56.2 | |
| 2011 | $154 | X-Men: First Class $55.1 | |
| 2010 | $122 | Get Him to the Greek $17.6, Killer $15.8, Marmaduke $11.6, Splice $7.4 | |
| 2009 | $161 | The Hangover $45.0, Land of the Lost $18.8, My Life in Ruins $3.2 | |
| Avg 2009-12 | $143 | ||
Check back later for the International Box Office report and the Studio Scorecard.
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