Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #23 of 2013 looks like an okay $153 million for the top 12 films, down 14% from last year but 5% above the average for this weekend the past few years. The Purge is doing much better than forecast and is propping the weekend up.
Opening at 2,536 theaters Friday, The Purge from Universal grossed $16.7 million Friday and is on track for a $36.0 million opening weekend (blowing away the $20 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is averaging $14,200 per theater for the weekend (well above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years), and critical sentiment is soft: 41% positive at RottenTomatoes (with top critics a 21% positive). The Purge is headed for $102 million total domestic.
Opening at 3,365 theaters Friday, The Internship from 20th Century Fox grossed only $6.5 million Friday and is on track for an $18.5 million opening weekend (in line with the $16 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is averaging $5,500 per theater for the weekend, and critical sentiment is not kind: 33% positive at RottenTomatoes with all critics and 24% positive with top critics. The Internship is headed for a lame $56 million total domestic
| Weekend 23June 7-9, 2013 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| The Purge | Uni | [20.0] | 36.0 | 16.7 | 102 | |
| Now You See Me | Summit | [17.0] | 20.0 | 6.0 | 114 | |
| Fast & Furious 6 | Uni | [17.4] | 19.5 | 6.1 | 243 | |
| The Internship | Fox | [16.0] | 18.5 | 6.5 | 56 | |
| Epic | Fox | [10.8] | 13.2 | 3.6 | 115 | |
| Star Trek Into Darkness | Par | [9.5] | 11.5 | 3.2 | 235 | |
| After Earth | Sony | [13.3] | 10.8 | 3.3 | 64 | |
| The Hangover Part III | WB | [8.6] | 7.3 | 2.3 | 118 | |
| Iron Man 3 | Dis | [4.8] | 5.9 | 1.7 | 409 | |
| Great Gatsby | WB | [3.9] | 4.4 | 1.3 | 150 | |
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 $153 million total Friday-Sunday, up 5% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend but down 14% from the same weekend last year.
| WEEKEND #23 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2013 | $153 | The Purge $36.0, The Internship $18.5 | |
| 2012 | $174 | Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted $60.3, Prometheus $51.1 | |
| 2011 | $132 | Super 8 $35.5, Judy Moody $6.1 | |
| 2010 | $145 | The Karate Kid $55.7, The A-Team $25.7 | |
| 2009 | $132 | Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 $23.4, Imagine That $5.5 | |
| Avg 2009-12 | $146 | ||
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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