Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #25 of 2013 looks like an excellent $223 million for the top 12 films, up 32-42% from the same weekend in recent years. The two wide openers clicked with audiences, with Monsters University doing as well as we forecast but World War Z opening much stronger than expected.
Opening at 4,004 theaters Friday, Monsters University from Pixar and Disney grossed $30.5 million Friday and is on track for a $76.8 million opening weekend (a bit below the $80 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a three-day average of $19,200 per theater for the weekend (almost four times the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is positive (although nowhere near the universally positive Monsters, Inc. reviews): 76% positive at RottenTomatoes (with top critics a similar 74% positive). Monsters University is headed for $248 million total domestic, below the $289.9 million domestic gross for November 2001’s Monsters, Inc.
Opening at 3,607 theaters Friday, World War Z from Paramount grossed $25.0 million Friday and is on track for a $66.1 million opening weekend (blowing away the $44.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is averaging $18,300 per theater for the weekend, while critical sentiment is tilting positive: 66% positive at RottenTomatoes with all critics, compared to 71% positive with top critics. World War Z is headed for $192 million total domestic.
| Weekend 25:June 21-23, 2013 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| Monsters University | Dis | [80.0] | 76.8 | 30.5 | 248 | |
| World War Z | Par | [44.5] | 66.1 | 25.0 | 192 | |
| Man of Steel | WB | [50.5] | 40.0 | 12.7 | 297 | |
| This Is the End | Sony | [12.0] | 13.2 | 4.1 | 97 | |
| Now You See Me | Summit | [6.8] | 7.4 | 2.4 | 116 | |
| Fast & Furious 6 | Uni | [4.8] | 4.6 | 1.4 | 240 | |
| The Purge | Uni | [2.9] | 3.3 | 1.2 | 61 | |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | Par | [3.0] | 3.0 | .85 | 227 | |
| The Internship | Fox | [3.6] | 3.1 | 1.1 | 45 | |
| The Bling Ring | A24 | [2.5] | 2.1 | .68 | 9 | |
| Epic | Fox | [3.0] | 1.6 | .50 | 109 | |
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 looking like $223 million total Friday-Sunday, up 32% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and up 42% from the same weekend last year.
| WEEKEND #25 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2013 | $223 | Monsters University $76.8, World War Z $66.1, The Bling Ring $2.1 | |
| 2012 | $157 | Brave $66.3, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer $16.3 | |
| 2011 | $170 | Cars 2 $66.1, Bad Teacher $31.6 | |
| 2010 | $157 | Grown Ups $40.5, Knight & Day $20.1 | |
| 2009 | $193 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $109.0, My Sister’s Keeper $12.4 | |
| Avg 2009-12 | $169 | ||
Check back tomorrow for more complete Weekend Studio Estimates based on Saturday’s actual box office, as well as the International Box Office report.
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