The box office results for the weekend of March 11th – 13th sees audiences buying to raw action, rather than rip-offs and over-priced animations. “Battle: Los Angeles” easily takes the top spot while “Rango” holds up relatively strong in its second outing. and Here are the studio estimates:
1. Battle: Los Angeles ($36 million)
2. Rango ($23 million)
3. Red Riding Hood ($14.1 million)
4. The Adjustment Bureau ($11.5 million)
5. Mars Needs Moms ($6.8 million)
6. Hall Pass ($5.1 million)
7. Beastly ($5 million)
8. Just Go With It ($4 million)
9. The King‘s Speech ($3.6 million)
10. Gnomeo and Juliet ($3.5 million)
Analysis
The overall box office is maintaining fairly well during these last few weeks. Higher debuts coupled with steady declines (as opposed to freefalls) are keeping things together. If this pattern holds up for the next two months, the industry will be set-up for a monster boost with the stellar looking summer line-up.
Speaking of summer, “Battle: Los Angeles” came in this past Friday posing as a summer blockbuster. Having a plot of man versus alien and ushering in tons of action, enticed moviegoers to catch the popcorn flick typically released during the summer season. Columbia Pictures should be very pleased with the debut and the initial negative reviews have tempered off, as a slew of positive ones came in on Friday. Factoring in all that, the $70 million production is the only item that could hold this flick back from reaching profitability at the theaters. If it avoids a steep tumble this coming weekend, things are looking up.
In contrast, things are looking down for “Red Riding Hood.” Warner Bros’ “Twilight” knock-off attempt, in adapting the famed Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, is being declared the second worthless movie of 2011 by critics (Beastly is first). The modest start puts this product in danger of flopping when considering the $42 million production bill this sucker rang up. Whether this opening is a reflection on Amanda Seyfried as a leading lady, or the lackluster horror genre is up for debate.
The other new release brings up to this…
Flop Alert: More like flop certainty. Disney’s“Mars Needs Moms” is getting destroyed. Critics hate it. Audiences are being letdown, especially when shelling out extra cast to see this in a 3D IMAX theater. The terrible opening just exacerbates the $150 million price tag to produce this CG animation. Anyone else remember the days when a Disney product was sure thing? This will be the second animated flick the studio released this year that failed to cross the $100 million mark on the domestic front.
Sleeper Hit: “The Adjustment Bureau.” Sure it’s not lighting up the domestic charts, but if the overseas totals manage to stay consistent, they should lead Universal to finally putting away the red pens (which they’ve used a lot lately) and break out the black ink.
This Friday, another slate of three potential gems of entertainment enter the box office fray. “Limitless” with try to amuse in the action/thriller department. The “Lincoln Lawyer” will go with the engaging crime drama approach. And to please the fan boys (a.k.a. my fellow geeks), there will be the sci-fi comedy in “Paul.”
Reviews will be right here my loyal Shockers.
Report by Joe Belcastro
