OPENINGS: NOW YOU SEE ME (Summit/Lionsgate) had a fine $28.1M opening weekend considering its moderate cost ($75M plus marketing, but with 2/3 of that covered by foreign pre-sales), and with little competition coming next week, it could have a solid hold–plus it’s exactly the kind of light entertainment that thrives on home viewing platforms. If the film stays buoyant, don’t be surprised if there’s talk of a sequel.
AFTER EARTH (Sony) was very nearly the lowest “non-serious” opening of Will Smith’s career with what the studio claims is a $27M weekend, only managing to beat Enemy Of the State (1998) and the original Bad Boys (1995). Next weekend the picture opens worldwide, and that will write the book on just how much of a disaster this is.
HOLDOVERS: As expected, the post-holiday weekend pulverized just about everyone, with MUD (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate) the only title in the Top 10 to fall less than 50%–although of course Mud, with a mere 37% slip, is at a much lower level than the other holdovers, fighting to make its way to a $20M total. Among the tentpoles, FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Universal) took the biggest hit at 65%, falling to $34.5M, but it’s already at $170M in the US plus $310M overseas ($75M of it this weekend), and should hit $700M worldwide before it’s done. THE HANGOVER PART III (Warners) fell 62% this weekend to $15.9M for $86.1M in the US so far, but it eased Warners’ ulcers by taking in $82.3M overseas. That should guarantee a profit for the movie, although we don’t know yet if word of mouth will hurt the international totals as time goes on. EPIC (20th) is looking problematic. Although it fell a fairly mild 51% in the US to $16.4M, it’s still on track to reach only $100M here, and it made a lackluster $28.8M overseas ($86.3M total). A worldwide result of $250M would probably mean breakeven at best for the film.
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (Paramount) fell 56% to $16.4M (a $181.2M US total), plus $37.6M overseas (a $147.4M total). It’s now playing globally, and a $450M worldwide total, while better than the 2009 Star Trek‘s $385.7M, would only keep pace with increased production and marketing costs this time around. IRON MAN 3 (Disney) fell 59% to $8M in the US, continuing its climb to $1.2B worldwide, and we haven’t yet seen the crucial international numbers for THE GREAT GATSBY (Warners), which fell 54% to $6.3M in the US ($128.3M total) and needs big overseas results to earn back its huge cost.
LIMITED RELEASE: Both THE EAST (Fox Searchlight) and THE KINGS OF SUMMER (CBS) debuted at 4 NY/LA theatres, and despite hyping via in-theatre Q&As, neither had a breakout number. East pulled ahead with a $19K per-theatre average, while Kings had a $15K average. FRANCES HA (IFC) more than doubled its theatre count to 133, but basically held even on its weekend total, with a blah $4200 average. BEFORE MIDNIGHT (Sony Pictures Classics) widened to 31 theatres with a solid $14K average. WHAT MAISIE KNEW (Millenium) expanded weakly to 101 theatres with a $2K average. FILL THE VOID (Sony Pictures Classics) doubled to 6 theatres with a $8K average.
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