Just when you thought the summer box office was turning itself around, Hollywood drops two more stink bombs on audiences as Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy both tanked in their opening weekends. You can add those bombs to this seasons list of underachievers like Dark Shadows and The Dictator and disasters like Battleship and The Chernobyl Diaries. In fact, only The Avengers and Madagascar 3 (which won the weekend again with a strong $35 million for $120 million after only 2 weeks) can be considered big summer successes. Prometheus and Snow White which both opened well don’t look like they will gross more than their production costs and MIB3 will be saved with international grosses. So, it’s been pretty bad news all around… Heading back to this week’s releases Adam Sandler has his worst opener in ages with the dreadful That’s My Boy which took in a paltry $13 million while the delightfully fun and incredibly entertaining if rather slight rock musical Rock of Ages nabbed an underwhelming $15 million. I’m sad for Rock as I truly enjoyed the film with fantastic performances from Tom Cruise and Catherine Zeta Jones and gave it an overall “B+” grade. Maybe I’m just partial to that amazing 80′s music. We’ll see if it can hold up in the weeks ahead as musicals sometimes have good legs, but this auspicious start is not a good one…. For more on all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo and check out the new top ten below.
TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 1 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $35,500,000 -41.1% 4,263 +5 $8,327 $120,451,000 $145 2
2 2 Prometheus Fox $20,200,000 -60.4% 3,442 +46 $5,869 $88,858,000 – 2
3 N Rock of Ages WB (NL) $15,060,000 – 3,470 – $4,340 $15,060,000 $75 1
4 3 Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $13,805,000 -40.1% 3,701 -76 $3,730 $122,602,000 $170 3
5 N That’s My Boy Sony $13,000,000 – 3,030 – $4,290 $13,000,000 $70 1
6 4 MIB 3 Sony $10,000,000 -28.0% 3,135 -657 $3,190 $152,679,000 $225 4
7 5 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $8,848,000 -21.3% 2,582 -547 $3,427 $586,737,000 $220 7
8 6 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $2,200,000 -32.7% 1,184 -114 $1,858 $35,133,000 – 7
9 10 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $2,181,000 +39.8% 178 +82 $12,253 $6,779,000 – 4
10 7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $1,330,000 -52.3% 1,216 -871 $1,094 $38,766,000 – 5
Tags: Adam Sandler, Battleship, Box Office Mojo, Catharine Zeta-Jones, Dark Shadows, Madagascar 3, Prometheus, Rock of Ages, Snow White and the Huntsman, That's My Boy, The Avengers, The Dictator, Tom Cruise
