Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #10 of 2014 looks like $133 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, slightly ahead of the the average for this weekend the past few years.
Opening at 3,470 theaters Friday, 300: Rise of an Empire from Warner Brothers grossed $17.4 million Friday, putting the film on track for a $44.3 million opening weekend (above our $36.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a three-day average of $12,800 per theater for the weekend (well above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is pretty soft (43% positive overall and 41% positive with top critics). 300: Rise of an Empire is headed for $126 million total domestic, below $210.6 million domestic gross for 300 (released March 9, 2007).
Opening at 3,934 theaters Friday, Mr. Peabody & Sherman from Fox and DreamWorks Animation grossed $7.9 million Friday, putting the film on track for a $29.7 million opening weekend (very close to our $30.0 million forecast). The film is pacing toward a three-day average of $7,500 per theater for the weekend. Critical sentiment is supportive (77% positive overall at RottenTomatoes and only 67% positive with top critics). Mr. Peabody & Sherman is headed for around $115 million total domestic, in between the recent DreamWorks Animation films: $83.0 million domestic for Turbo (released July 17, 2013) and $187.2 million for The Croods (released March 22, 2013).
| Weekend 10: March 7-9, 2014 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| 300: Rise of an Empire | WB | [36.5] | 44.3 | 17.4 | 126 | |
| Mr Peabody & Sherman | Fox/DWA | [30.0] | 29.7 | 7.9 | 115 | |
| Non-Stop | Uni | [15.6] | 15.1 | 4.7 | 89 | |
| The LEGO Movie | WB | [14.1] | 11.5 | 2.5 | 265 | |
| Son of God | Fox | [12.8] | 9.2 | 2.7 | 57 | |
| Frozen 3D | Dis | [3.1] | 3.2 | .63 | 399 | |
| 3 Days to Kill | Rel | [2.3] | 2.9 | .87 | 29 | |
| The Monuments Men | Sony | [3.7] | 2.9 | .85 | 79 | |
| 12 Years a Slave | Fox | [2.9] | 2.3 | .58 | 58 | |
| Ride Along | Uni | [—] | 2.0 | .57 | 135 | |
| RoboCop | Sony | [2.2] | 2.0 | .51 | 60 | |
| Pompeii | Sony | [2.0] | 1.7 | .46 | 23 | |
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 $133 million total Friday-Sunday, up 7% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and up 4% from the same weekend last year.
| WEEKEND 10 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2014 | $133 | 300: Rise of an Empire $44.3, Mr. Peabody & Sherman $29.7 | |
| 2013 | $128 | Oz the Great and Powerful $79.1, Dead Man Down $5.3 | |
| 2012 | $121 | John Carter $30.2, Silent House $6.7, A Thousand Words $6.2 | |
| 2011 | $118 | Battle: Los Angeles $35.6, Red Riding Hood $14.0, Mars Needs Moms $6.9 | |
| 2010 | $136 | Green Zone $14.3, She’s Out of My League $9.8, Remember Me $8.1 | |
| Avg 2010-13 | $125 | ||
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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