I know New York City is enjoying the fantastic weather this holiday, but is the same true for the entire country? Apparently few have opted to spend some of their extended weekend in the theater because, according to Box Office Mojo, business is down big time. This Memorial Day weekend is on its way to becoming one of the lowest grossing in nine years.
Newcomer Sex and the City 2 and Prince of Persia couldn’t outperform last week’s big release, Shrek Forever After. The franchise’s fourth film remains #1 for a second week, dropping 38.8%, and earning another $43 million bringing the grand total to $133 million. Lagging far behind is Sex and the City 2, which pulled in just $32 million. Tacking on the Thursday haul brings its total up to $46 million, but that’s still far less than the original, which amassed $57 million during its first weekend. Right behind SATC 2 is the Jake Gyllenhaal muscle show, Prince of Persia snatching up $30 million, which is pretty harsh for a film that cost $200 million to make.
On the other hand, Iron Man 2 already blew away its $200 million cost earning another $16 million brining its domestic gross to $274 million. Tack on the foreign haul and that brings the worldwide total to a massive $550 million. Robin Hood comes in at #5 with $10.3 million followed by Letters to Juliet with $5.9 million. Taking the seventh spot is Just Wright with $2.2 million in its third weekend followed by Date Night with $1.75 in its eighth. Earning a solid bomb status is MacGruber, which took a whopping 63.5% hit only earning $1.48 million. Lastly, rounding out the top ten is How to Train Your Dragon with $1.03 million.
With SATC 2 and Prince of Persia not living up to the blockbuster expectations, next weekend will really be a toss up. Being let lose on June 4th is Killers, Get Him to the Greek, Marmaduke and Splice, none of which are likely to make a killing. I’ve barely seen any promo material for Marmaduke, so the other three are seemingly ahead of the game. Killers and Get Him to the Greek will likely split the ticket sales for comedy seekers and Splice will clean up with those looking for something with a darker side. As for the old timers, Shrek and SATC 2 should hold up, but I’m guessing Prince of Persia will fall hard in week two.
By Perri Nemiroff
