Box-Office Report - Week of 1 July 2011

There wasn't much room for competition with the release of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon". The sequel came into theaters on the 29th of June and pretty much rocked the house. New releases like "Larry Crowne" and "Monte Carlo" stood no chance against Michael Bay's mechanized behemoth. The movies that exited the top 10 since last week are : "The Hangover Part II", "X-Men: First Class" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides". Here is the top 10 for the week of July 1st. To read more about each movie, click on the titles.

• #1 - TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
• This Weekend : $97.4M
• Previous Weekend : N/A
• Domestic Total : $162M
• Foreign Total : $210M
• Observations : Of course, it should be noted that the movie was released on the 29th of June, which means its total gross so far was calculated over five days, but it's still a solid opening, behind only "Revenge of the Fallen" which opened with $200M, but somewhat better than the first "Transformers" - $155M. The low quality of part two of the robot saga diminished this last movie's chances for a better opening, but it doesn't mean it will fall behind too hard.
• Expectations : Should the word-of-mouth spread positive news about the sequel, it can expect to gross more money than both previous movies. The hardest to overthrow will be "Revenge of the Fallen" which ended its domestic run with a little over $400M and $836M worldwide.

• #2 - CARS 2
• This Weekend : $25M
• Previous Weekend : $68M (opening)
• Domestic Total : $116M
• Foreign Total : $82M
• Observations : This latest Disney-Pixar collaboration isn't doing very well. The abrupt drop in week-end earnings since last week is nothing but bad news for the filmmakers. It seems the negative reviews did impact the movie's box-office somewhat, although it could be that a lot of youngsters ages 13 and above prefered to go see "Transformers" instead. So far it's on par with the first "Cars", which had a total gross of $117M in its second week, but considering this is a sequel, it should have earned more money by now.
• Expectations : I don't expect this movie's business to improve. With a little bit of effort it might reach $200M, maybe even $220-230M, domestically.

• #3 - BAD TEACHER
• This Weekend : $14M
• Previous Weekend : $31M (opening)
• Domestic Total : $59M
• Foreign Total : $18M
• Observations : The R-rated comedy is doing good at the box-office, but don't let the teacher hear that. The numbers aren't huge but they get the job done for a movie with a $20M budget.
• Expectations : If it keeps it up, it could reach $100M and it has a good chance since "The Hangover Part II" is no longer present in the top 10 and "Bridesmaids" is on its way out, so there's little competition to stand in its way as far as R-rated comedies go.

• #4 - LARRY CROWNE
• This Weekend : $13M
• Previous Weekend : N/A
• Domestic Total : $13M
• Foreign Total : N/A
• Observations : The small romantic comedy written, directed by and starring Tom Hanks hasn't managed to stand up among the blockbusters. Probably intentionally released at the same time a "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", in order to give adults a chance to see a real movie with flesh and blood actors, it still failed to draw in moviegoers, despite having Hanks and Julia Roberts as its protagonists. Reviews called it dull and overly conventional, which may have turned audiences off.
• Expectations : Not an encouraging start, but seeing as it was made on a $30M budget, I'm sure they'll manage to recover that sum. The movie should be able to rake in about $40-45M. 

• #5 - MONTE CARLO
• This Weekend : $7.6M
• Previous Weekend : N/A
• Domestic Total : $7.6M
• Foreign Total : $1M
• Observations : Well, I'm not sure what exactly was Fox doing with this movie, but it sure failed. Made on a $20M budget, it might not manage to recover that sum while in theaters, neither domestically, nor internationally, which kind of makes it a flop. It might fare better on home video.
• Expectations : No expectations. The movie will probably exit the top 10 by next week, but if by some miracle it's still here, I don't see it going past $20M in a hurry, if at all.

• #6 - SUPER 8
• This Weekend : $7.5M
• Previous Weekend : $12M
• Domestic Total : $108M
• Foreign Total : $45M
• Observations : The sci-fi adventure directed by J.J. Abrams did okay in its domestic run so far, recovering its $50M budget and making a profit. Sure it doesn't even come close to Steven Spielberg's golden days, when "E.T." grossed $349M in the eighties, but it's nothing to cry about. Still, the foreign earnings are pretty slim, which means the hype didn't catch on outside the US, even with all the mystery surrounding the creature in the movie.
• Expectations : Still hanging on, it looks to go as far as $140-145M.

• #7 - GREEN LANTERN
• This Weekend : $6M
  
• Previous Weekend : $18M
• Domestic Total : $102M
• Foreign Total :$33M
• Observations : Warner Brothers' superhero movie "Green Lantern" is officially the summer's  biggest flop and possibly the greatest one ever. With a production that went way over-budget, costing somewhere between $200-300M, the domestic and foreign earnings barely make up for half that cost. Definitely not good business.
• Expectations : The movie is nearing its demise, preparing to exit the top 10 as soon as next week, putting its domestic cume at about $110M.

• #8 - MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS
• This Weekend : $5M
• Previous Weekend : $10M
• Domestic Total : $50M
• Foreign Total : $11M
• Observations : Not too high, not too low. It has almost recovered its $55M budget. Foreign earnings are pretty low, due to the movie not opening in a lot of countries. Home video will probably give the movie an extra boost. Maybe Fox should be blamed for a weak marketing campaign, although to be honest, I can't see how you could really sell this movie to a wider audience.
• Expectations : Looks to be headed for $65-70M, but not necessarily while inside the top 10.

• #9 - BRIDESMAIDS
• This Weekend : $3.5M
• Previous Weekend : $5M
• Domestic Total : $153M
• Foreign Total : $34M
• Observations : The movie has done an excellent job, despite being R-rated and has been in the top 10 since its release on May 13. Foreign earnings are pretty low as the movie was only released in a handful of countries, while the US box-office has been better than expected for this Judd Apatow produced comedy.
• Expectations : It still might have enough stamina to make it to $160-165M, but not within the top 10. It will probably manage to rake in small amounts of money every week for another month or so, which will solidify its total cume.

• #10 - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
• This Weekend : $3.4M
• Previous Weekend : $4M
• Domestic Total : $33M
• Foreign Total :  $27M
• Observations :The Woody Allen directed romantic comedy managed to maintain the same #10 position as last week, with only a small drop in earnings. The foreign total is strong, despite being released in only five other countries, while domestic earnings already covered its $30M budget.
• Expectations : It's a matter of luck whether or not the movie will still be present in the top 10 next week, but it will probably reach $45-50M in its domestic run. Not bad, considering it started out as a limited release.