THE AVENGERS: Simply spectacular. The 50% drop in Weekend 2 ripped past the $75M record to an amazing $103M. The level of the weekly decline isn’t unprecedented (Avatar dropped an insane 2%, Shrek 2 33%, the original Spider-Man 38%, Alice In Wonderland and Toy Story 3 46% each), but it’s better than the falls for The Dark Knight (53%), Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (54%), The Hunger Games and Spider-Man 3 (both 62%). Avengers is on track to become the 2d or 3rd highest domestic grosser ever, depending on whether it can beat Titanic‘s $658M.
Avengers also made another $95M overseas, giving it a $629M total outside the domestic market. That puts it over $1 billion after 10 days of release in the US and 17 days in most international territories, which means it should pass the final Harry Potter‘s $1.3B total to become the highest grossing film in history not directed by James Cameron. (So much for Joss Whedon being a “cult” director…)
OPENINGS: DARK SHADOWS (Warners) couldn’t begin to cope with that kind of competition, and even its $28.8M estimate seems high (the studio is assuming a better Sunday hold than Disney’s estimate for Avengers). Assuming the number holds, that’s still a blah start (less than John Carter‘s much-ridiculed $30M opening) for a movie that cost $250M with worldwide marketing. Shadows also grossed around $37M in 42 territories overseas, not a great number. It’s likely to see ink as red as Barnabas Collins’ beverage of choice. GIRL IN PROGRESS (Lionsgate/Summit) opened at only 322 theatres, and had an OK $4200 per-theatre average.
HOLDOVERS: THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (Fox Searchlight0 continues to play the counterprogramming card extremely well, expanding to 178 theatres with a $15K average. Generally, the holdover business was quite strong, with nothing in the Top 10 dropping more than 42%–that’s THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS (Sony)–and most declines considerably less. Even with all the new competition in the market, THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) is down only 21%, with a shot of reaching $400M if it can hold on to its screens.
LIMITED RELEASE: BERNIE (Millenium) expanded to 36 theatres and emerged with an OK $6K per-theatre average. Searchlight’s THE SOUND OF MY VOICE, though, had only a $1200 average after expanding to 46 theatres. Sony Classics‘ DARLING COMPANION and DAMSELS IN DISTRESS are both dropping fast, neither likely to reach $1M in total boxoffice. The same studio’s WHERE DO WE GO NOW? is off to an unpromising start with a $1900 average at 3 theatres.
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