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The Three Stooges from 20th Century Fox opened with $5.625 million Friday and is headed for an $18 million weekend, beating the $14 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast. The Farrelly brothers’ comedy tribute to the stars of b-movie shorts should average about $5,200 per theater (just below the average for all films) in 3,477 theaters. Critics are mixed to slightly negative (currently 42% positive at RottenTomatoes). Mitch Salem feels its not good enough to see in the theater but is worth a home viewing. The Three Stooges is headed for a preliminary $62 million in North America.
The Cabin in the Woods from Lionsgate opened with $5.500 million Friday is headed for an estimated $13.5 million opening weekend, close to the $14.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast. The horror-comedy is currently standing at an excellent 93% positive reviews at RottenTomatoes and should average $4,800 this weekend at 2,811 theaters. Mitch Salem also liked the film but not enough to recommend buying a ticket to the theater. The Cabin in the Woods is headed for a preliminary $43 million total domestic.
The Hunger Games keeps getting it done, down only 37% in its fourth weekend to a projected $21 million weekend (even better than the $19 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast). If the fourth weekend number holds, The Hunger Games will move past $336 million on Sunday. Comparing it to movies with similar massive opening weekends, the 24-day total for The Hunger Games will still lag The Dark Knight ($441.6 million 24-day) but will be pacing ahead of Spider-Man 3 ($303.9 million 24-day), Twilight Saga: New Moon ($267.3 million 24-day) and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ($259.4 million 24-day). Our estimated final domestic for The Hunger Games is now $382 million.
In case you missed them, click to see this week’s Weekend Predictions
(millions) Showbuzz Early FRI Domestic
Forecast Proj. Actual Final
The Hunger Games (LG) [$19.0] $21.0 $ 6.5 $382
Three Stooges (Fox) [$14.0] $18.0 $ 5.6 $ 62
Cabin in the Woods (LG) [$14.5] $13.5 $ 5.5 $ 43
Titanic 3D (Par) [$10.0] $11.5 $ 3.4 $ 78+
American Reunion (Uni) [$11.5] $10.7 $ 3.4 $ 65-
Mirror Mirror (Rel) [$ 6.0] $ 7.0 $ 2.0 $ 69
21 Jump Street (Sony) [$ 6.2] $ 6.7 $ 2.1 $140
Wrath of the Titans (WB) [$ 7.2] $ 6.6 $ 1.9 $ 87
Lockout (FilmDis) [$ 7.5] $ 6.5 $ 2.2 $ 12
Total Box Office Volume
The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like an okay $109 million total Friday-Sunday, down 6% from the same calendar weekend last year (which was fueled by Rio) but up 6% from the more typical volume for this weekend in other years.
Top 12 Films: Weekend #15
2012 $109 Three Stooges $18 Cabin in the Woods $13 Lockout $6
2011 $117 Rio $39, Scream 4 $19, The Conspirator $3.5
2010 $112 Kick-Ass $20, Death at a Funeral $16
2009 $100 17 Again $24, State of Play $14 Crank High Voltage $7
2008 $ 83 Forbidden Kingdom $21, Forgetting Sarah Marshall $18
2008-11
Avg $103
Check back tomorrow for updated weekend figures and revised estimates for domestic final grosses.
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