The box office results for 2012’s Memorial Day Weekend sees the dethroning of The Avengers by the return of a Will Smith summer bomb (no pun intended). After four weeks of setting records, Marvel’s dream team dropped down to second-fiddle, but still ended up rewriting the record books. Here are the four-day studio estimates:
1. Men in Black 3 ($70 million)
2. Marvel’s The Avengers ($46.8 million)
3. Battleship ($13.7 million)
4. The Dictator ($11.7 million)
5. Dark Shadows ($9.4 million)
6. Chernobyl Diaries ($9.3 million)
7. What to Expect When You’re Expecting ($8.8 million)
8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ($8.2 million)
9. The Hunger Games ($2.8 million)
10. Think Like A Man ($1.8 million)
Analysis
Before we get to the big boys, Chernobyl Diaries, though having a seemingly crappy debut, will probably end up seeing the black ink thanks to its thrifty $8 million production budget. By marketing this around co-writer/producer Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity franchise), and enacting his cost-effective horror filmmaking methods, if the theatrical run doesn’t cross the profit line, the DVD/On-Demand run surely will. The critical and audience response has been deadly by the way.
The Avengers avoid yet another steep-decline in week #4; and by doing so, it became the fastest film to eclipse the $500 million mark, stateside (previous holder was Avatar at 32 days). Although this guy believed there would be a noticeable drop-off around week 4 or 5, this superhero dream team continues to exceed even the highest expectations.
Will Smith agreed to dust off the black suit and give it another go with Men in Black 3. Ten years removed from the last sequel (that needs to be neuralized from all of our minds), the installment no one was begging for performed slightly better than the original and sequel’s respective opening weekends (credit the 3D admission fee). Since it was released earlier overseas, the $215 million production remains in decent shape to justify why this franchise was unearthed.
The Hunger Games currently holds the longest streak in the top ten with a staggering 10 weeks. Domestically, the flick sits at $395 million and will probably have just two more weeks before the studio starts pulling it out of theaters and preps the DVD campaign in time for the holiday season. It has a legit shot to reach the $400 million domestic milestone.
Opening this Friday, Snow White and the Huntsman plays in nearly 4000 theaters while a few limited releases in Battlefield America, For Greater Glory, and Piranha 3DD attempt to pick up the scraps. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!
