Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #38 of 2013 looks like a lame $72 million for the top 12 films, down 19% from the average for the same weekend the past few years.
Opening at 3,260 theaters Friday, Prisoners from Warner Brothers grossed $6.9 million Friday and is on track for a $20.2 million opening weekend (somewhat above the $18.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a three-day average of $6,200 per theater for the weekend (above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is solid (79% positive overall at RottenTomatoes and 84% positive with top critics). Prisoners is headed for $65 million total domestic.
Opening at 2,008 theaters Friday, Battle of the Year from Sony grossed $1.4 million Friday and is pacing toward a $4 million opening weekend (below our $6.5 million forecast). The film is pacing toward a very weak three-day average of $1,900 per theater for the weekend. Critical sentiment is quite low (only 6% positive overall at RottenTomatoes and 12% positive with top critics). Battle of the Year is headed for a quick exit from theaters and maybe $7 million total domestic.
The final domestic gross estimates for Instructions Not Included has been increased a bit to $48 million. Everything else remains pretty much on the previous tracks.
| Weekend 38: September 20-22, 2013 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| Prisoners | WB | [18.5] | 20.2 | 6.9 | 65 | |
| Insidious Chapter 2 | FilmDis | [15.5] | 13.6 | 4.7 | 83 | |
| Instructions Not Included | LG/Sum | [3.2] | 6.7 | 1.4 | 48 | |
| The Family | Rel | [7.1] | 6.5 | 2.1 | 38 | |
| We’re the Millers | WB | [3.8] | 4.5 | 1.4 | 149 | |
| Lee Daniels’ The Butler | Weins | [3.9] | 4.2 | 1.2 | 121 | |
| Battle of the Year | Sony | [6.5] | 4.0 | 1.4 | 7 | |
| Riddick | Uni | [3.2] | 3.6 | 1.0 | 43 | |
| Wizard of Oz 3D | WB | [—] | 2.6 | .75 | n/a | |
| Planes | Dis | [2.3] | 2.5 | .54 | 91 | |
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 $72 million total Friday-Sunday, down 19% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and down a more moderate 5% from the same weekend last year.
| WEEKEND 38 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2013 | $72 | Prisoners $20.2, Battle of the Year $4.0 | |
| 2012 | $75 | End of Watch $13.2, House at End of Street $12.3, Trouble with Curve $12.2, Dredd 3D $6.3 | |
| 2011 | $106 | Moneyball $19.5, Dolphin Tale $19.2, Abduction $10.9, Killer Elite $9.3 | |
| 2010 | $91 | Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps $19.0, Legend of the Guardians $16.1, You Again $8.4 | |
| 2009 | $83 | Surrogates $14.9, Fame $10.0, Pandorum $4.4 | |
| Avg 2009-12 | $89 | ||
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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