“Ice Age” Keeps Sequels atop the Box Office

With an opening of $46 million, Ice Age: Continental Drift, did pretty well for a fourth film in the franchise. However, the new animated comedy came up a little short of this summer’s other family films Brave and Madagascar 3. Nonetheless, the latest sequel to top the box office this summer should end up a profitable venture especially with big grosses overseas. It also will present a nice counter-programming choice to next weekend’s expected behemoth, The Dark Knight Rises…. Ice was the only new film hitting the top ten this weekend as the holdovers continued to do well with decent drops for Spiderman, Ted, Brave and even Magic Mike. For more on all the 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 N Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $46,000,000 – 3,881 – $11,853 $46,000,000 – 1
2 1 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $35,000,000 -43.6% 4,318 – $8,106 $200,900,000 $230 2
3 2 Ted Uni. $22,147,000 -31.2% 3,303 +47 $6,705 $158,993,000 $50 3
4 3 Brave BV $10,695,000 -45.5% 3,392 -499 $3,153 $195,596,000 $185 4
5 5 Magic Mike WB $9,030,000 -42.3% 3,090 -30 $2,922 $91,850,000 $7 3
6 4 Savages (2012) Uni. $8,735,000 -45.5% 2,635 +7 $3,315 $31,466,000 $45 2
7 6 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection LGF $5,600,000 -45.0% 2,004 -157 $2,794 $55,628,000 $20 3
8 8 Katy Perry: Part of Me Par. $3,735,000 -47.7% 2,732 +2 $1,367 $18,588,000 $12 2
9 9 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $3,662,000 -19.0% 924 +40 $3,963 $32,427,000 $16 8
10 7 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted P/DW $3,500,000 -53.5% 2,285 -576 $1,532 $203,732,000 $145 6

It’s Bombs Away at the Box Office Again

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

Snow White and the Huntsman breaks the Box Office Curse… Sort of…

The 2012 summer box office has been pretty dismal so far. While The Avengers is a unequivocated smash and now the 3rd highest grossing film of all time (passing The Dark Knight), the rest of May’s releases all bombed (Battleship, The Dictator, The Chernobyl Diaries) or underperformed (Men in Black 3, Dark Shadows). So, studio heads can breathe a tiny sigh of relief that Universal’s new film Snow White and the Huntsman performed ahead of projections for a good $56 million opening. The question is can the film hold on and make some money back as it will face off against Prometheus and Madagascar 3 next week. The expensive (over $170 million budget) tentpole suffered mixed audience reaction and tepid critical response, so it will be an uphill climb. That said, it was a nice start…. As for the holdovers, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel continues to hang on the best only dropping 27% and now the indie has totaled a nice $25 million and $106 million worldwide. 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 N Snow White and the Huntsman Uni. $56,255,000 – 3,773 – $14,910 $56,255,000 $170 1
2 1 MIB 3 Sony $29,300,000 -46.3% 4,248 – $6,897 $112,300,000 $225 2
3 2 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $20,273,000 -44.7% 3,670 -248 $5,524 $552,737,000 $220 5
4 3 Battleship Uni. $4,810,000 -56.5% 3,144 -558 $1,530 $55,123,000 $209 3
5 4 The Dictator Par. $4,725,000 -49.1% 2,649 -365 $1,784 $50,835,000 $65 3
6 8 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel FoxS $4,600,000 -27.9% 1,294 +61 $3,555 $25,497,000 – 5
7 7 What to Expect When You’re Expecting LGF $4,430,000 -37.9% 2,907 -114 $1,524 $30,723,000 – 3
8 6 Dark Shadows WB $3,860,000 -48.6% 3,002 -402 $1,286 $70,834,000 $150 4
9 5 Chernobyl Diaries WB $3,045,000 -61.7% 2,433 – $1,252 $14,416,000 – 2
10 N For Greater Glory ArcEnt $1,800,000 – 757 – $2,378 $1,800,000 – 1