Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #6 of 2014 looks like $132 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well ahead of last year’s disaster of a weekend but still 20% behind the usual pace for this weekend. The Lego Movie is a huge hit, but the rest of the box office is providing little support.
Opening at 3,775 theaters Friday, The Lego Movie from Warner Brothers grossed a big $17.1 million Friday, putting the film on track for a terrific $67.0 million opening weekend (well above our $48.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a stunning three-day average of $17,700 per theater for the weekend (3.5 times the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is full of love (96% positive overall at RottenTomatoes and 97% positive with top critics). The Lego Movie is headed for $275 million total domestic.
Opening at 3,083 theaters Friday, The Monuments Men from Sony grossed $7.0 million Friday, putting the film on track for a $21.0 million opening weekend (somewhat above our $19.0 million forecast). The film is pacing toward a decent three-day average of $6,800 per theater for the weekend. Critical sentiment however is not supportive (33% positive overall and also 33% positive with top critics). The Monuments Men is headed for around $59 million total domestic.
Opening at 2,676 theaters Friday, Vampire Academy from The Weinstein Company grossed a diminutive $1.4 million Friday, putting the film on track for a weak $3.8 million opening weekend (well below our very modest $8.5 million forecast). The film is headed for a truly awful three-day average of $1,400 per theater for the weekend. Critical sentiment is very weak (11% positive overall with a small number of reviews). Vampire Academy is headed for a quick exit from theaters and maybe $5 million total domestic.
| Weekend 6: February 7-9, 2014 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| The Lego Movie | WB | [48.5] | 67.0 | 17.1 | 275 | |
| The Monuments Men | Sony | [19.0] | 21.0 | 7.0 | 59 | |
| Ride Along | Uni | [7.5] | 9.0 | 2.6 | 123 | |
| Frozen 3D | Dis | [5.7] | 6.0 | 1.4 | 370 | |
| That Awkward Moment | Foc | [4.3] | 5.2 | 1.7 | 26 | |
| Lone Survivor | Uni | [4.6] | 5.0 | 1.4 | 127 | |
| Vampire Academy | Weins | [8.5] | 3.8 | 1.4 | 5 | |
| The Nut Job | OpenR | [3.7] | 3.3 | .72 | 61 | |
| Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Par | [3.4] | 3.3 | .92 | 51 | |
| Labor Day | Par | [3.0] | 3.2 | .91 | 16 | |
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.
Total Box Office Volume
The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like $132 million total Friday-Sunday, down 20% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend but up 53% from the same weekend last year (which was a true disaster)
| WEEKEND 6 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2014 | $132 | Lego Movie $67.0, Monuments Men $21.0, Vampire Academy $3.8 | |
| 2013 | $86 | Identity Thief $34.6, Side Effects $9.3 | |
| 2012 | $173 | The Vow $41.2, Safe House $40.2, Journey 2: Mysterious Island $27.3, Star Wars 3D $22.5 | |
| 2011 | $135 | Just Go With It $30.5, Gnomeo and Juliet $25.4, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never $29.5 | |
| 2010 | $189 | Valentine’s Day $56.3, Percy Jackson & The Olympians $31.5, The Wolfman $31.2 | |
| Avg 2010-13 | $166 | ||
Check back tomorrow for more complete Weekend Studio Estimates based on Saturday’s actual box office, as well as the International Box Office report.
About the Author
