Moviegoers Flock to “OZ”

The 2013 box office has been pretty dismal with only the Oscar contenders and Identity Thief really doing much business. However, this weekend, things finally turned around with the opening of the ultra expensive Oz the Great and Powerful which had a powerful debut pulling in $80 million. That was easily the best opening of the year and a sharp contrast to last week’s incredibly disappointing debut for the another ultra-expensive movie Jack the Giant Slayer (which tumbled a big 63% in week two). Oz should hold up well in the weeks to come with few event films in its wake. Oz also eclipsed the latest action film of the year to tank on arrival as Collin Farrell‘s Dead Man Down barely managed a $ 5.3 million opening…. For more on all these 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 N Oz The Great and Powerful BV $80,278,000 – 3,912 – $20,521 $80,278,000 $215 1
2 1 Jack the Giant Slayer WB (NL) $10,020,000 -63.2% 3,525 – $2,843 $43,811,000 $195 2
3 2 Identity Thief Uni. $6,319,000 -34.9% 3,002 -228 $2,105 $116,530,000 $35 5
4 N Dead Man Down FD $5,350,000 – 2,188 – $2,445 $5,350,000 – 1
5 4 Snitch LG/S $5,100,000 -34.3% 2,340 -171 $2,179 $31,855,000 – 3
6 3 21 and Over Rela. $5,056,000 -42.2% 2,771 – $1,825 $16,840,000 $13 2
7 7 Safe Haven Rela. $3,800,000 -39.5% 2,541 -410 $1,495 $62,884,000 $28 4
8 8 Silver Linings Playbook Wein. $3,745,000 -34.6% 1,727 -109 $2,169 $120,749,000 $21 17
9 6 Escape From Planet Earth Wein. $3,207,000 -51.6% 2,549 -561 $1,258 $47,832,000 $40 4
10 5 The Last Exorcism Part II CBS $3,120,000 -59.6% 2,700 – $1,156 $12,083,000 $5 2

“The Dark Knight Rises” Continues to Crush the Competition

After quickly disposing of The Watch and Step Up Revolution last weekend, The Dark Knight Rises took out two more new releases as it crushed the competition with $36.4 million in its third weekend. That brought its domestic total to a big $354 million and I see at least another $80-100 million to come… Unfortunately with Knight continuing to do so well, the remake of Total Recall and the third film in the Wimpy Kid series faltered. Opening to $26 million, the uber-expensive remake of Recall with Collin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel landed under expectations and will have a real hard time making even half its production cost back. (I’m not surprised. I saw the film and give it a “C+” grade. It’s a humorless pointless remake that isn’t even fun or campy like the original. Beckinsale does kick some serious ass though and Farrell is pretty delish)… Luckily for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, the family film had a low production cost and its opening of $14.7 million wasn’t too bad. It just isn’t likely to match the success of its predecessors…. For more on all these numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here 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 The Dark Knight Rises WB $36,440,000 -41.3% 4,242 -162 $8,590 $354,638,000 $250 3
2 N Total Recall (2012) Sony $26,000,000 – 3,601 – $7,220 $26,000,000 $125 1
3 N Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Fox $14,700,000 – 3,391 – $4,335 $14,700,000 $22 1
4 2 Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $8,400,000 -37.1% 3,542 -327 $2,372 $131,863,000 – 4
5 3 The Watch Fox $6,350,000 -50.2% 3,168 – $2,004 $25,363,000 $68 2
6 5 Ted Uni. $5,479,000 -25.5% 2,767 -362 $1,980 $203,414,000 $50 6
7 4 Step Up Revolution Sum. $5,300,000 -54.8% 2,606 +39 $2,034 $23,097,000 $33 2
8 6 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $4,300,000 -35.8% 2,425 -735 $1,773 $250,640,000 $230 5
9 7 Brave BV $2,890,000 -32.9% 2,110 -441 $1,370 $223,324,000 $185 7
10 8 Magic Mike WB $1,380,000 -47.3% 1,202 -873 $1,148 $110,894,000 $7 6