The box office results for the weekend of January 14th-16th was not only Green for The Hornet. Oscar favorites are still attracting audiences and continue to rake in revenue. Meanwhile, the stacked Dilemma roster fails to entice the masses. Here are the studio estimates:
1. The Green Hornet ($34 million)
2. The Dilemma ($17.4 million)
3. True Grit 2010 ($11.2 million)
4. The King ‘s Speech ($9 million)
5. Black Swan ($8.2 million)
6. Little Fockers ($7.1 million)
7. TRON: Legacy ($5.6 million)
8. Yogi Bear ($5.3 million)
9. The Fighter ($5.1 million)
10. Season of the Witch ($4.8 million)
Analysis
Usually the new releases would open this steadfast professional report, but the impressive rise of the Oscar hopefuls needs to be addressed right away. Black Swan maintained its position (again) after invading about 750 new theaters this past weekend. With all the award shows beginning to air on television and the pure curiosity being generated from word-of-mouth, Swan has now grossed (pun intended for those who have seen this) $73 million domestically. Fox Searchlight has made bank off the $13 million production budget.
The King ‘s Speech also rose up the ranks from last weekend by finding its way onto 785 new screens. Speech leaped 41% and brought its domestic total up to $44 million. The Weinstein Company can now officially use the black ink on the financial reports, for the $15 million investment was well worth it. Critics along with audiences are urging people just to see this bio-pic based on Colin Firth ‘s award winning performance. Both Swan and Speech could eclipse the $100 million plateau by the end of award season.
Now to the new guys. The Green Hornet is off to a solid start after matching its forecasted opening weekend. First off, this proves that Rogen is still a legit box office draw. Second, superhero/comic books will always attract enough fan-boys – even second-tier properties such as this one – to give the respective flick a puncher ‘s chance at recouping its production budget. In this case, around $130 million. Having said all that, Hornet ‘s profitability will become crystal clear depending on next weekend ‘s output. Tough to see this one having the endurance to make a profit at the theaters.
So this team should work. Ron Howard directing. Vince Vaughn and Kevin James starring. Jennifer Connelly and Winona supporting. And a young prospect in Channing Tatum having fun with his character. Nope, sorry Universal, another dud with The Dilemma. Aside from last year ‘s Despicable Me, this studio is struggling to make any noise at the box office. Strange to see, for it is not as if all their releases have been getting hammered on by critics and moviegoers. Even with this pedigree, people outside of fans of Vaughn and company, decided to stay way. This time around, the critics were not so receptive either. There is no dilemma, this one ‘s a stinker.
The Fighter currently holds the longest streak in the top ten with 6 weeks. Although it would seem that Swan and Speech have been there longer, they did not reach the top ten until a few weeks after their release. And spare me the argument Fighter actually released in NY and LA one week early. (Are you really that bored?). Fighter is now up to $65 million domestically.
Flop Alert: Season of the Witch. Plummeting 56% from its lackluster opening weekend and having failed to cross the $20 million mark, reveals this one is already on life-support. Production budget was $40 million. Sleeper Hit: All the award contenders in the top ten. Each of them are over-achieving.
This Friday only has one wide release coming to the cinemas. The rom-com No Strings Attached will try to do what The Dilemma could not and win the weekend. In limited fashion, drama The Way Back hits select markets. Reviews will be right here kids!
Report by Joe Belcastro
