With no Thor or Fast Five-sized openings this weekend, it’ll be the old timers’ weekend to lose. The only two newcomers hitting theaters are Bridesmaids and Priest, both of which are set to debut in less than 3,000 theaters. Hopefully Bridesmaids won’t be MacGruber all over again for Kristen Wiig as that one opened with a mere $4 million. On the other hand, a double take for Bridesmaids star Rose Byrne wouldn’t be half bad as her last comedy, Get Him to the Greek took in $17.6 million its opening weekend. While both that and Bridesmaids have Judd Apatow’s name attached, Bridesmaids might not be able to catch Get Him to the Greek as the latter benefited from being well into the summer movie season. In the end, Bridesmaids should wind up with about $15 million in the bank.
As for Priest, it’s not looking too good. Paul Bettany just isn’t enough to pull in a big audience and neither is the Korean comic upon which the film is based. Folks looking to take in some 3D action will likely opt for Thor, even if that means checking out the God of Thunders’ adventure a second time. Priest will be lucky to match The Rite’s opening of $14 million.
So, what’s the fate of Thor? Even though it opened with about $10 million less than Chris Hemsworth’s last big budget production, Star Trek, it should see a similar decline, losing about 40% of its week one earnings this time around. Should that be the case, Thor will add $39 million to the pot. As for Fast Five, it’s 62.4% week-two drop puts it right in line with its predecessor, Fast and Furious. Should the trend continue and Fast Five lose 56% in week three, that’ll give it another $14 million.
While both Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed had decent openings, the forecast is gloomy for week two. Jumping the Broom opened on par with last year’s Death at a Funeral, so, should the parallel hold steady, it’ll see a 50% drop leaving it with about $8 million. In Something Borrowed’s case, it could see a 44% loss, similar to Kate Hudson’s last wedding production, Bride Wars and that’ll give it about $8 million as well for week two.
It looks as though Rio is making a swifter exit than Rango, its losses increasing the slightest bit each week. However, this is the weekend that could separate the two. In week five, Rango took a hefty 53.9% hit. Should Rio continue to lose just a little more each week, it should only see a 45% loss, giving it another $4 or $5 million. Following right behind should be Water for Elephants, which is poised to lose at least 45% of its week three profits, giving it $3 million for week four. As usual, Madea is on a steep decline, however, Big Happy Family’s fall should level out the slightest bit, perhaps only losing 40% this time around. That would give it a little more than $2 million, just beating out Soul Surfer for the ninth spot. This will certainly be Soul Surfer’s last appearance in the top ten after a stellar six-week run, the film never losing more than 38.1% in a single weekend.
Shockya.com Predictions
1. Thor
2. Bridesmaids
3. Fast Five
4. Priest
5. Jumping the Broom
6. Something Borrowed
7. Rio
8. Water for Elephants
9. Madea’s Big Happy Family
10. Soul Surfer
By Perri Nemiroff (via Box Office Mojo)