Who will win the week? The horror movie, the cop drama, or the get off my lawn baseball movie?
Here’s how the closer than close, yet somewhat awful, race looks:
1. Trouble With The Curve (Warner Bros) NEW [3,212 Runs] PG13
Friday $4.1M, Saturday $5.5M, Weekend $13.2M
1. House At The End Of The Street (Relativity) NEW [3,083 Runs] PG13
Friday $4.6M, Saturday $5.4M, Weekend $13.2M
1. End Of Watch (Open Road) NEW [2,730 Runs] R
Friday $4.6M, Saturday $5.3M, Weekend $13.2M
4. Finding Nemo 3D (Disney) Week 2 [2,904 Runs] G
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $4.6M, Weekend $10.0 (-40%), Cume $30.5M
5. Resident Evil 5 3D (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 2 [3,016 Runs] R
Friday 1.9M, Saturday $2.9M, Weekend $6.7M (-68%), Cume $33.5M
[Numbers courtesy of Deadline]
As you can see, right now it’s too close to call. On Friday, “House at the End of the Street”and “End of Watch” were running neck and neck, with “Trouble with the Curve” lagging in third. But Clint’s fans appear to be Saturday night moviegoers, and the box office for “Curve” made a big jump, leaving us with a tight, yet very low earning race; the winner isn’t going to be celebrating that big a victory. “House” seems like it should have lapped the field, with popular Jennifer Lawrence as the star and the horror genre usually reliable, but film’s target audience didn’t turn out in droves; maybe they all have papers due on Monday. In the end, though, it probably didn’t cost that much and is sure to be profitable no matter what. “End of Watch” actually had a pretty good weekend, considering that it’s rated R and is playing in fewer theaters than the other contenders. If they come out on top, it’s a real coup; if they don’t, they’re probably still happy. “Curve” is the movie that needs a number one finish the most, to prove both that Clint is still a draw and that there still is room for mid-budget adult dramas at the box office. We’ll see tomorrow afternoon, I guess, which one came out on top.
Oh, yes, there was another new release this week: “Dredd 3D,” which earned only $6.3 million at the box office. That’s, well, dreadful. The movie’s not supposed to be bad for the genre; it was well-received at Comic-Con and the reviews were okay, certainly better than Stallone’s take on the material, the laughable “Judge Dredd.” But it just didn’t draw audiences’ attention here. So I guess “Dredd 3D 2: The Rising” is out of the question.
Next week! We have our first fall potential blockbuster, the much anticipated sci-fi action movie “Looper.” The real question here is whether there’s genuine audience interest in this movie, or if this is one of those times when there’s a lot of buzz amongst a small group of fans online that doesn’t translate into ticket sales. We also have “Hotel Transylvania” aiming for the kids and “Won’t Back Down,” the inspirational teacher drama that looks just dreadful. Can it possibly be as cringe-worthy as the ads make it seem? The good news is that it gives Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal paychecks that will allow them to go back and do more theater.
