The young, fanatically committed audience for ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (Sony) is the very definition of probable frontloading, so it’s no surprise that the concert doc debuted with a strong $2.7M last night at 7PM, the best Thursday night result since The Conjuring a month ago. That’s almost as much as the full first day ($3.1M) that the Katy Perry concert movie Part of Me made in July 2012. Business should remain strong on Friday and Saturday matinees, and after that, prospects may depend on repeat viewing–which could be substantial.
The weekend’s other wide opening GETAWAY (Warners) began shows at 10PM Thursday but hasn’t reported any numbers, probably because they’re dismal. (The movie has a weirdly impressive 2% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes, which equates to 2 good reviews out of 83.) Last weekend’s openings The World’s End and You’re Next also didn’t break out Thursday night results.
| TITLE | THURSDAY NIGHT BOX OFFICE | WEEKEND BOX OFFICE | THURS AS % OF WEEKEND |
| IRON MAN 3 | 15.6M | 174.1M | 9% |
| THE GREAT GATSBY | 3.3M | 50.1M | 6.6% |
| STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS | 3.3M (Wed screenings pre-Thurs opening) |
70.2M | 4.7% |
| FAST & FURIOUS 6 | 6.5M | 97.4M | 6.7% |
| THE HANGOVER PART III | 3.1M | 41.7M | 7.4% |
| NOW YOU SEE ME | 1.5M | 29.4M | 5.1% |
| AFTER EARTH | 1M | 27.5M | 3.6% |
| THE PURGE | 3.4M | 34.1M | 10% |
| THE INTERNSHIP | 800K | 17.3M | 4.6% |
| THIS IS THE END | 2.2M (Tues screenings pre -Wed opening) |
20.7 | 10.6% |
| MAN OF STEEL | 12M (Wal-mart sponsored screenings) |
128.6M | 9.3% |
| WORLD WAR Z | 3.6M | 66.4M | 5.4% |
| MONSTERS UNIVERSITY | 2.6M | 82.4M | 3.2% |
| THE HEAT | 1M | 39.1M | 2.5% |
| WHITE HOUSE DOWN | 1.35M | 24.9M | 5.4% |
| DESPICABLE ME 2 | 4.7M (Tues screenings pre-Wed opening) |
83.5M | 5.6% |
| THE LONE RANGER | 2M (Tues screenings pre-Wed opening) | 29.2M | 6.8% |
| PACIFIC RIM | 3.6M | 37.3M | 9.7% |
| GROWN UPS 2 | 2.3M | 41.5M | 5.5% |
| THE CONJURING | 3.3M | 41.9M | 7.9% |
| R.I.P.D. | 773K | 12.7M | 6.1% |
| THE WOLVERINE | 4M | 53.1M | 7.5% |
| 2 GUNS | 1.2M | 27.1M | 4.4% |
| WE’RE THE MILLERS | 1.7M (Tues screenings pre-Wed opening) | 26.4M | 6.4% |
| PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS | 850K (Tues screenings pre-Wed opening) | 14.4M | 5.9% |
| ELYSIUM | 1.7M | 29.8M | 5.7% |
| KICK-ASS 2 | 1.3M | 13.3M | 9.8% |
| ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US | 2.7M | ??? | ??? |
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