This Weekend @ the Boxoffice: 2009.06.29

[Hand of Evil]

Well, we sort of knew it would be number 1.

Weekend Report: ‘Revenge of the Fallen' Rises with Optimal Debut
by Brandon Gray --- June 28, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen sent shock waves with the first mega-blockbuster launch of the year, rocketing to an estimated $112 million over the weekend. With such a massive movie debuting, overall weekend business surged past $200 million, which was up nine percent from the same weekend last year and was a new high for a June weekend.

Ravaging approximately 10,000 screens at 4,234 sites, Revenge of the Fallen logged the biggest June opening weekend ever as well as the highest-grossing non-holiday, non-Friday opening weekend, and it ranked seventh overall. With $201.2 million since its Wednesday debut, the picture scored the second-largest five-day start of all time behind The Dark Knight's $203.8 million. The first Transformers' opening weekend came in at $70.5 million, and it didn't cross $200 million until its 12th day. What's more, Revenge had the biggest IMAX weekend ever: included in its grosses was $11.7 million at 169 IMAX locations (for $14.4 million in five days), topping former title holder Star Trek's $8.5 million at 138 venues.

The prime reason for Revenge of the Fallen's success was its predecessor, as was the case with Pirates of the Caribbean and other major franchises. Regardless of its actual quality, the first Transformers was a crowd pleaser, drawing $319.2 million by the end of its run. It built on the 1980s toy and cartoon brand with the human entry point of a kid and his first car and with the spectacle and adventure of an alien invasion and disaster event movie. The good will equity for that movie was so high that about all the marketing for the sequel had to do was promise more giant-sized robot mayhem. Distributor Paramount Pictures' research indicated that 54 percent of the audience was male, compared to 60 percent male for the first movie's opening.

On the foreign front, Revenge of the Fallen invaded 58 countries over the weekend and raked in an estimated $106 million Friday-to-Sunday on 9,910 screens, highlighted by an English language record in China. It has accumulated $186.1 million thus far, bringing the worldwide total to $387.3 million. The first movie's final haul was $389 million overseas for a worldwide total of $708.3 million.

Counter-programming Transformers was My Sister's Keeper. The family drama, which isn't the typical summer fare with its story of a family dealing with a cancer-stricken daughter, garnered an estimated $12 million at 2,606 sites. That was decent relative to past similar disease-oriented pictures. The picture was promoted as a life-affirming drama from the director of The Notebook in which the younger daughter sues her parents for the right to her own body, though the poster featuring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin having a gay old time together was perhaps tonally incongruous with the movie itself. Distributor Warner Bros.' exit polling showed that 86 percent of the audience was female and was evenly split over and under 25 years old.

Amidst the Transformers onslaught, The Hangover and Star Trek had the best holds among nationwide releases, down around 35 percent apiece. Hangover bagged an estimated $17.2 million for $183.2 million in 24 days, surpassing X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Star Trek beamed in an estimated $3.6 million, lifting its total to $246.2 million in 52 days. That nudged the Star Trek franchise total past the $1 billion mark (unadjusted).

Up eclipsed Star Trek as the top grossing picture of 2009, a temporary standing until Revenge of the Fallen blazes past both in a matter of days. Pixar's latest pulled in an estimated $13 million over the weekend, off 44 percent, and its tally climbed to $250.2 million. Among Pixar movies, it inched past the final grosses of Toy Story 2 and Cars, though still trails them in terms of attendance.

Last weekend's top grossing picture, The Proposal ranked second for the weekend with an estimated $18.5 million, slipping a standard-issue 45 percent for a $69.1 million tally in ten days. Year One, on the other hand, collapsed by 70 percent, gathering an estimated $5.8 million for a $32.2 million total in ten days, or less than Land of the Lost at the same point. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 also continued to derail, slowing 55 percent to an estimated $5.4 million for $53.4 million in 17 days.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Oh, some stats for Transformers.

Budget: $200,000,000
Domestic: $201,246,000 (52.0%) + Foreign: $186,100,000 (48.0%) = Worldwide: $387,346,000

 

[Mark]

I'm waiting to see the robots until I have time to make it to an IMAX. I did go and see Pelham over the weekend, which wasn't bad but doesn't really require a bigscreen viewing, IMO. I wonder if Potter will surpass the robots or if we have now seen the opening of the biggest Summer movie of 2009?

 

[Hand of Evil]

I'm waiting to see the robots until I have time to make it to an IMAX. I did go and see Pelham over the weekend, which wasn't bad but doesn't really require a bigscreen viewing, IMO. I wonder if Potter will surpass the robots or if we have now seen the opening of the biggest Summer movie of 2009?

This Wednesday: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, while this movie opens around 65 million on opening weekend that has been in March, so it may be close, remember the 1st Transformers had an opening weekend of 70 million.

Harry Potter: I don't know, just feels aged to me with the kids now moving to Twlight but as this is getting into the darker side of Harry may play well.

 

[Mark]

Has there been a tailing off in support of the Potter franchise over the course of the series of movies?

 

[EricNoah]

I saw a Harry Potter trailer in front of a screening of Public Enemies tonight - I am not a fan, but I thought it looked pretty cool and scary.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Has there been a tailing off in support of the Potter franchise over the course of the series of movies?

Not that I can tell, the last had the lowest opening but did very well worldwide, ranking number 2 in take.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Harry worldwide

 

[Mark]

Public Enemies should get good support from Chicago area folk, myself included.


Thanks for the extra spreadsheets, Trace.


I wonder if Azkaban's lower numbers are attributable Chamber, to contemporary factors or just chance?


I agree that the darker tone shows in the trailer and that that might help appeal to the maturing core fans.

 

[EricNoah]

As there was a lot of fliming in Wisconsin (and in Madison) I think Public Enemies will get some support here as well. We went with a group of Kara's friends, one of whom was an extra (she got to see herself for a split second in a scene filmed outside the state capitol building; apparently in the same shots one can make out a Quizno's sign in the background...). I personally did not think the film was all that great - I did not care about any of the characters, could not keep the various criminals straight, and Kara and I both noticed we didn't know the leading lady character's name until the end of the movie when it was too late for it to matter.