A rare summer feat was accomplished this weekend. Neither a new release claimed the top spot for the weekend nor did last week’s number one holdover. Chalk that up to Disney giving The Help a small expansion this weekend (less than 200 new locations). Its release last week had some buzz. But that was mainly due to the success of the novel. It’s not like audiences were lining up to see it because they saw Jessica Chastain in Tree of Life this year or Viola Davis in Doubt from a few years ago. Its strong A+ CinemaScore rating from audiences plus word-of-mouth has helped it to earn $71 million in its first two weeks of release. The Help will likely go on to have a domestic total of $140 million. Not bad for a $25 million film with a built-in audience who want to see how Kathryn Stockett’s novel translates on the big screen.
Previous number one, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, had a minor dip in attendance, but the film is playing so well ($133.7 million after three weeks) that it could upstage the Tim Burton/Mark Wahlberg release from a decade ago. With a cost of less than $100 million to produce, Fox landed quite the hit despite not having a tentpole director, Rupert Wyatt, helming.
Aside from these two holdovers there wasn’t much to be excited for this weekend. Audiences pretty much avoided the new releases. Taking in a Friday night showing of Fright Night I counted a total of 18 people in attendance for a 7:15 p.m. start time. Ouch. That sucks. And not in a vampire way. It may make its production budget ($30 million) back, but will do little else when it is in theaters. That was just one ’80s remake that saw a release this weekend. The other, Conan the Barbarian, fared better but not by much. It will make its coin internationally where foreign rights have already been sold and audiences go nuts for sword-wielding action spectacles. The last major new release was the third sequel to a franchise that has been collecting dust for eight years. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World performed the best out of all three and its low cost plus parents’ willingness to fork out more money so their kids can see it in 3-D helped its earnings. But it’s opening is almost a third of what Spy Kids 3D: Game Over scored back in 2003.
Robert Rodriguez may have a “rebel without a crew” mentality, but when the core audience that enjoyed Spy Kids has grown out of those movies it is difficult to reintroduce the product to a new audience. Jessica Alba may have helped but she was buoyed by the likes of actors Joel McHale and Jeremy Piven, both noticed for their work on the small screen on the comedies Community and Entourage. Working in Rodriguez’s favor is his films routinely coming in at less than $30 million a piece. But he hasn’t had a certifiable hit since 2005’s Sin City.
Believe it or not but The Smurfs is a $329 million hit worldwide. That’s it – parents really don’t care what their children watch. Granted, there’s probably been more offensive children’s fare this year – Hoodwinked! Too springs to mind – but most of the stuff that comes out is just bad. It’s a shame that most parents skimped on taking their kids to see Winnie the Pooh, one of the better summer titles for kids of all ages. Outside of Pixar, Studio Ghibli and the occasional DreamWorks Animation flick what else is there? Here we have a studio that is still trying to move units of Guitar Hero (people still play this?) and give kids the incentive to want to go to the toy store afterward.
So what happened with Fright Night? The answer is that mainstream audiences weren’t familiar with the source material. And neither were the filmmakers. The original was a small hit in 1985, but that was 1985. Fans of the original may have enjoyed a nice cameo appearance, most were oblivious to the cameo. Plus, the summer seems the wrong time to market something called Fright Night. Just going by the title you would be inclined to think of a haunted house attraction of some kind. So an October release would have been ideal. This, plus the marketing couldn’t decide on a demographic. Colin Farrell, who has shown shades of brilliance in little-seen gems like In Bruges and Tigerland, hasn’t been a major star attraction. Yet his appearance in Horrible Bosses helped his visibility this summer which will likely factor into his starring in the Total Recall remake next year.
Final Destination 5 and 30 Minutes or Less lost males to Conan and Fright Night and their drops reflect it. They did just enough to stop the chick-friendly new release One Day, which performed the best of all the new releases considering it opened on less than 2000 screens and made $5.1 million. It finished just above Crazy, Stupid, Love, the other romance in the top ten. After four weeks it has earned $64.4 million. Way to go, Emma Stone. You’re two films are the bookends to this week’s top ten.
On the arthouse/indie side, three new titles saw their release. Amigo performed the strongest earning $40k on ten screens. Mozart’s Sister played in seven theaters and collected $33k. 5 Days of War managed a meager $6.4k on two screens. The bright side about the arthouse this weekend was the expansion of Sarah’s Key (which added 100 locations and earned $783k) and the Irish comedy The Guard. Starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, it had a $438k total and has accumulated $1.2 million after four weeks in theaters. Again, the biggest per-screen average for the second straight week belonged to the documentary Senna. Adding twelve theaters its per-screen average was $12k for a $169k take overall. While I can’t speak for the likes of Sarah’s Key or Senna, if you can find The Guard playing close to you, go out and see it. A damn fine comedy.
1. Emma Stone Bookend #1: The Help – $20.5 million ($72 million overall)
2. Honey, I Killed The Planet, Now Apes Have Taken Over – $16.3 million ($256 million worldwide)
3. Spy Kids: Waste of Time – $12 million
4. Conan the Librarian (If Only) – $10 million
5. Blue and White Comrades – $8 million ($329 million worldwide)
6. Fright Night – $7.9 million
7. Fival Destination – $7.7 million ($30 million overall)
8. 1800 Seconds or Less – $6.3 million ($26 million overall)
9. One Day x 20 Years = Twenty Days – $5.1 million
10. Emma Stone Bookend #2: Crazy Stupid Love – $4.9 million ($64 million overall)
