No clowning around, they're still number one.
Here are the numbers!
1. Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) Week 2 [4,263 Theaters] PG
Friday $9.9M, Saturday $13.3M, Weekend $35.0M (-42%), Cume $120.0M
2. Prometheus (Fox) Week 2 [3,442 Theaters] R
Friday $5.8M, Saturday $8.0M, Weekend $21.0M (-59%), Cume $89.6M
3. Rock Of Ages (New Line/Warner Bros) NEW [3,470 Theaters] PG13
Friday $5.3M, Saturday $5.4M, Weekend $15.0M
4. That’s My Boy (Columbia/Sony) NEW [3,030 Theaters] R
Friday $4.5M, Saturday $4.7M, Weekend $13.0M
5. Snow White & The Huntsman (Universal) Week 3 [3,701 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.0M, Saturday $4.8M, Weekend $13.0M, Cume $121.6M
[numbers courtesy of Deadline]
It was a bad mix–two highly publicized new movies that nevertheless were tracking softly vs. two movies in their second weeks that still had some legs, especially rare-this-year kids’ movie “Madagascar 3.” But despite about 9 months of steady beating the “Tom Cruise as a rock star!” drum, audiences still didn’t bite on “Rock of Ages.” I guess all that “Tom Cruise is back and can open any movie!!” junk we heard a lot of the entertainment press spout at the time of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.”
“Rock of Ages” only got a B Cinemascore and middling to bad reviews, so there goes any hope for a bounce from word of mouth. The premise didn’t sell to younger viewers, the cast didn’t draw in anyone (as noted many times here, Hollywood keeps overrating star names at the box office), and I don’t think Father’s Day weekend was great timing. How many dads were likely to say, “You know what I want to do this weekend? See an oldies rock musical!” If they had opened this movie in March, it would have done better, I bet.
Speaking of Father’s Day, that didn’t help sell “That’s My Boy.” I think the awful “Jack and Jill” finally killed Adam Sandler’s cred with audiences. It got a B- Cinemascore so again, those who did drag themselves out to see it didn’t like it much. Sandler’s well-worn schtick is, well, worn-out.
So yeah, another weekend where Hollywood is crying doom and gloom again. It is indeed a roller-coaster of fun, these summer box office results.
Next week! We have “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer” and Pixar’s “Brave” opening wide. The former will try to prove that it’s not a “Cowboys & Aliens” flop redux, the latter that it is still Pixar, despite a somewhat slippery premise and an unhelpful title. “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” with Steve Carell and Keira Knightley opens in 1400 locations. Good luck there–
