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GREEN LANTERN cost at least as much as Thor ($350-400M with worldwide marketing), and will probably open around 15% lower–and Thor is no blockbuster hit. Which means that although intensive promos got bodies into theatres, Warners and DC aren’t out of the woods. The picture only scored a B on Cinemascore despite what must have been a ton of comic book movie fans buying tickets, so word of mouth may be painful on this one.
There was a time when the MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS number would have been OK, because DVD sales would have made up for lackluster boxoffice. But at a cost of at least $200M, and with the DVD market having cratered, it doesn’t look good. Big loser is Jim Carrey, who’s now clearly off the A-list.
SUPER 8 had a very solid hold, although considering where it started, it will still only be a modest grosser (and Paramount had to invest in heavy Week 2 marketing expense). The other holdovers continued pretty much as they had been, with all the franchises heading to series lows, X-MEN declining sharply (so much for good reviews) and BRIDESMAIDS holding like a champion.
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is starting to look like an indie juggernaut–it’s now certain to be Woody Allen’s highest grosser since Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986 (although a comparison of those two would require serious adjustment for ticket price inflation). TREE OF LIFE expanded again to 114 theatres, and it’s per-theatre number is starting to falter: compare its $10K/theatre to the $18K Midnight In Paris made when it hit 154 theatres. BEGINNERS is keeping its head above water, doubling to 44 theatres and heading for around $8K in each.
THE ART OF GETTING BY is a negligible picture that Fox Searchlight didn’t figure out how to market–with a disastrous $1500 per theatre, it’ll vanish quickly.
Next weekend is all CARS 2, and the only question is how it will compare to previous Pixar openings. the $110M Toy Story 3 made is unlikely, so it’ll be looking at the $60-70M earned by the original Cars and other recent Pixars like Wall-E and Up. BAD TEACHER is R-rated counterprogramming that should find a place in 2d; it’ll be interesting to see whether direct competition finally slows Bridesmaids down. Looking slightly farther down the road, Paramount announced that TRANSFORMERS 3 will start its 3D and IMAX engagements on Tuesday June 28, giving the movie a giant “July 4th weekend” that will last a full week.
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