Box-Office Report - Week of 6 May 2011

The week of May 6 had one thunderous new movie that was expected to conquer the top 10, "Thor". Unfortunately, although solid, I'm not sure the opening week-end was quite what Marvel had in mind for its superhero movie :

• Indeed, #1 is occupied by "Thor", with little competition to speak of. In its three-day run so far it has accumulated a spectacular $66M. The Kenneth Branagh directed comic book adaptation has done well, but, despite favorable reviews, heavy advertising and a cast that includes Academy Award winners Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins, it couldn't quite match last week's opening week-end of $83.6M scored by "Fast Five". I'm sure the God of Thunder is quite upset by that. But, don't cry for them Argentina, I'm sure the movie will end up grossing an obscene amount of money in the end.

• At #2, the aforementioned "Fast Five" drops considerably, losing more than half of its opening week-end gross. With $32.5M in the last three days, and a total of $140M, the Vin Diesel movie is still going strong and will probably come close to the $200M milestone by next week, becoming the most profitable "Fast & Furious" movie in the franchise.

• Another new entry in the top 10, at #3, is the wedding comedy "Jumping the Broom". With a sweet $13.7M the movie proved to be a suprise contender, considering its cast of unknowns and lukewarm critical response. Already, it has almost doubled its $7M budget. It remains to be seen if it's just beginner's luck.

• Opening at #4 and pullin in $13M is "Something Borrowed". Not a surprising amount, but certainly weaker than expected, considering it has received considerably more media attention than "Jumping the Broom", for example. The rom-com, with a budget of $35M, will probably recuperate its investment eventually, but should look forward to the DVD market for a profit.

• At #5 is an old customer, the animated feature "Rio". With $8M in the last three days, compared to $14M last week-end, "Rio" has started to lose traction. With a 24-day total of $115M, it will continue to slug its way to somwhere around $140M, but not necessarily within the top 10.

• "Water for Elephants" continues its journey, this time at #6. Taking baby-elephant steps downards, it has grossed $5.6M this week-end, dropping less than $4M from last week-end's $9M. Its 17-day total now stands at $41.6M, which means it has now recuperated its $40M budget. It will probably finish at around $55-60M by the end of its theatrical run. A very disappointing run for a promising movie.

• Abruptly falling from #3 to #7 is Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family". The movie has taken in $3.9M this week-end, losing $6-7M from its previous week-end. After 17 days in theaters, its total gross is now $46.8M, on a budget of $25M. It seems likely it will finish somewhere around $55M-60M, but this is quite possibly the last time we'll see it in the top 10.

• Disney's "Prom" is just bad business. After an opening week-end gross of $5M, this week-end it pulled in just $2,4M. The 10-day total is now at an embarrassing 7.8M. Not quite the Disney standard, I assume. Its $8M budget has been salvaged, as the movie spends its last week in the top 10.

• The inspirational true-story drama "Soul Surfer" proves to be quite stubborn when it comes to participating in the top 10. Grossing $2M this past week-end and pulling in $36M in its 31-day run so far, it proved that sometimes a small movie can be successful despite its modest means ($18M budget). This one too will leave the top 10 this week after an honorable run.

• At #10 lies "Hoodwinked Too!", one of the year's biggest flops. With a rotten $1.8M gross this week-end and an embarrassing 10-day total of $6.7M, this pointless sequel will exit the top 10 covered in shame. Its $30M budget is now a failed investment for the Weinstein brothers.

The movies that exited the Top 10 are : "Source Code", "Hop", and "Insidious".

Here is the Top 10 for the week of 6 May 2011 :

1. Thor
Weekend : $66M
Total : $66M

2. Fast Five
Weekend : $32.5M
Total : $140M

3. Jumping the Broom
Weekend : $13.7M  
Total : $13.7M

4. Something Borrowed
Weekend : $13M   
Total : $13M

5. Rio
Weekend : $8M  
Total : $115M

6. Water for Elephants
Weekend : $5.6M  
Total : $41.6M

7. Madea's Big Happy Family
Weekend : $3.9M    
Total : $46.8M

8. Prom
Weekend : $2M    
Total : $7.8

9. Soul Surfer
Weekend : $2M
Total : $36,7M

10. Hoodwinked Too!
Weekend : $1.9M  
Total : $6.7M

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