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THERE IS A GOD! Adam Sandler’s latest movie in which he plays a brother and a sister will not be the #1 movie of the weekend. While not a flop, it failed to open to the $30-35 million his fans usually pony up. Best of all, the film will not come close to the $100 million usually generated by his work in North America. An end to an era? Not at all. But at least a significant portion of the audience is coming to their senses. Immortals was the big surprise, on track to take the weekend crown by a mile, and Puss in Boots rolls on, down only 20% or so again this weekend. Total volume for the weekend is looking like $135 million, up 21% from the same weekend last year and up 15% from the weekend’s average the last four years.
J. Edgar will open at expectations ($4.25 million Friday for an estimated $11.5 million opening weekend, compared to a $12.0 million prediction). Playing in far fewer theaters (1,910) than the other openers (over 3,000+ each), this movie really should have had a solid per theater number (Clint Eastwood, diCaprio, historical drama, Oscar hopes). But J. Edgar will average a little over $6,000 per theater, far below the $11,500 figure for Immortals and below even Jack and Jill‘s $7,700 average. Yikes.
Down a preliminary 20% from last weekend (another very good hold), Puss in Boots is still very much in the mix, with its Domestic Final estimate upgraded yet again to $149 million.
In case you missed them, click to see this week’s Weekend Predictions
November 11-13, 2011 Pre-Wknd Wknd Showbuzz
(millions) Showbuzz Early Friday Domestic
Forecast Proj. Actual Final*
Puss In Boots (DW/Par) [$25.0] $28.0 $ 9.0 $149+
Jack and Jill (Sony) [$22.5] $26.5 $ 9.8 $ 79
Immortals (Rel) [$22.5] $36.0 $15.0 $102
Tower Heist (Uni) [$13.0] $13.7 $ 4.9 $ 80
J. Edgar (WB) [$12.0] $11.5 $ 4.2 $ 33
A Very Harold & Kumar WB [$ 6.0] $ 5.7 $ 2.3 $ 38-
In Time (Fox) [$ 4.5] $ 4.2 $ $ 40
Paranormal Activity 3 Par[$ 4.0] $ 3.7 $ 1.4 $106-
Footloose (Par) [$ 3.2] $ 2.8 $ 1.0 $ 56
Real Steel (DW/DIS) [$ 2.2] $ 1.9 $ 0.7 $ 87
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 a weak $135 million total, up 21% from the same calendar weekend last year (when Unstoppable opened to $23 million and two others opened to a combined $21 million).
Top 12 Films: Weekend #45
Volume Movies Opening Each Weekend (millions)
2011 $135 Immortals $36, Jack and Jill $26, J. Edgar $12
2010 $112 Unstoppable $23, Skyline $12, Morning Glory $9
2009 $129 2012 $65, Pirate Radio $3
2008 $138 Quantum of Solace $68
2007 $ 93 Beowulf $28, Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium $10
2007-10
Avg $118
Next Weekend
Opening next week are Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One) from Summit, Happy Feet Two from Warner Brothers and The Descendants from Fox Searchlight. Those movies will be compared to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 ($125 million opening weekend) and The Next Three Days ($6.5 million).
Look for updates of the weekend box office on Sunday, based on the Saturday actual numbers.
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