Takers Take Top Spot
August 30, 2010
There was an upset at the box office with Takers pulling out a last minute win. However, it wasn't enough for the overall box office, as that sunk 12% from last weekend to $113 million. More importantly, it was down nearly 10% from last year. 2010 still has a $300 million lead over 2009 at $7.53 billion to $7.23 billion and I'm not concerned about the big picture, yet.
Takers opened almost $2 million behind The Last Exorcism on Friday, but thanks to better legs, by Sunday it had taken the lead with an opening weekend box office of $20.51 million. Since some reports have the film costing just $20 million to make, this is a fantastic start. Even with horrible reviews, the movie should have no trouble showing a profit, even though it might take till the home market to get there.
The Last Exorcism, on the other hand, started out better, earned reviews that were stellar in comparison, but still managed such a low internal multiplier that it had to settle for second place over the weekend with $20.37 million. However, the studio should still be ecstatic for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is a horror film and these films tend to have shorter legs than most other genres. Secondly, this is still more than predicted on Thursday. And finally, the film reportedly only cost $1.8 million to make. Granted, the studio probably spent $20 million or more on advertising, but it could break even just on its domestic box office alone. And if the DVD / Blu-ray comes out before Halloween, it could be a bigger hit on the home market.
The Expendables continues its march to $100 million adding $9.53 million over the weekend for a total of $82.04 million after three. Thanks to its better than expected performance over the weekend, $100 million became a real possibility, but it will be close.
On the other hand, Eat Love Pray will fall short. This past weekend it managed $6.82 million giving it a running tally of $60.53 million. Its final tally should be around $75 million, maybe a few million more, which is enough to call it a midlevel hit.
Meanwhile, The Other Guys just missed out on $100 million with $6.29 million over the weekend and $99.02 million after four. It won't reach $100 million tonight, but it should get there tomorrow.
The last "new" relase was the Special Edition of Avatar, which just missed the top ten with $4.01 million in 812 theaters for a total of $753.77 million. Its per theater average was $4,936, which is right on the border between being successful enough to expand or not. However, it might be enough to convince the studio to open the movie in a few major international markets in hopes of crossing $2 billion internationally.
Finally we get to the sophomore class, which is busy this week, as none of the five wide releases that opened last week managed to place in the top five this week. Vampires Suck came the closest with $5.22 million over the weekend and $27.83 million after two. That's a 57% drop-off, which is even worse than it first looks, as it was a Wednesday release. Nanny McPhee Returns held on the best down 44% to $4.71 million over the weekend and $16.99 million after two. It might reach $25 million, but even that's not a sure thing. The Switch was right behind with $4.58 million over the weekend and $14.83 million after two. Maybe it will find an audience on the home market, but it will likely be mostly forgotten by the time it gets there. Piranha 3D was right behind that with $4.30 million over the past three days and $18.27 million after ten. An Unrated DVD / Blu-ray release would practically guarantee home market success, at least when compared to its production budget. The Lottery Ticket plummeted from 4th place to 12th with just $3.85 million over the weekend and $17.28 million after two. It will be practically forgotten by next weekend.
Filed under: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, The Expendables, Lottery Ticket, Piranha 3D, Avatar, Takers, The Other Guys, The Last Exorcism, The Switch, Eat Pray Love, Vampires Suck