But how will the toys sell?
Okay, we know that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was first place at the box office this weekend; the only question is how much and where does it stand in comparison to other openings?
Right now the answer to the first question is an estimated $126 million for the four day holiday weekend, and an overall take of $151 million when last Thursday’s numbers are added in (numbers from Variety). This puts Crystal Skull in second place for best Memorial Day weekend opening, after last year’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Overseas audiences were just as Indy-curious. The film took in $143 million from 8300 theaters in 56 markets (sorry Communists, Russia contributed $8.4 million to that total).
So none of this is a surprise. Let’s check in with the other movies.
Prince Caspian dropped to number two this week, declining 58.2% from last week to $23 million (Disney is only reporting Friday-Sunday). That’s not bad, considering the juggernaut it had to face this weekend; as I said last week, I think this is a film that’ll stick around for a while. Iron Man landed in third place, dropping only 37% from last week for $20.1 million (this is also only Friday-Sunday). This has been an impressively steady run for the superhero/rich guy in the fancy suit; each week Iron Man has declined less than 40%, which is unusual for the big movie with the huge opening. Word of mouth has helped this one a lot. See what happens Hollywood, when you make a good movie?
Fourth place went to the modest hanger-on What Happens in Vegas with $9 million and box office embarrassment Speed Racer rounded out the top five with $4 million. Its total take since it opened? $36.2 million. Hint: if you’re an exec involved in that one, skip your boss’s invite to a Memorial Day weekend barbecue, because chances are you’re the one who’s going to get grilled.
So next week, what will happen to Indy? Are the big numbers a product of it just being “the” movie to see this weekend? Or will it hang on and continue to do well? Will its audiences plummet? Or will it hold on like this year’s other (so far) big hit, Iron Man? We’ll see…
