This Weekend @ The Boxoffice: 2011_Aug.08

[Hand of Evil]

Interesting numbers at the boxoffice, we may be seeing the fall of the "R" rated comdey...or Ryan Reynolds but I say bring on more Olivia Wilde!

Weekend Report: Hail the Conquering 'Apes'
by Brandon Gray -- August 7, 2011

Over the weekend, Rise of the Planet of the Apes swung in with a chest-beating debut, while The Change-Up was flung aside and The Smurfs stretched its lead over Cowboys & Aliens.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes climbed to the top with an estimated $54 million on approximately 5,400 screens at 3,648 locations, which ranked as the fifth highest-grossing August opening ever (but ninth normalized for ticket-price inflation). Among comparable movies, the franchise reboot's launch was superior to District 9's $37.4 million and Terminator Salvation's $42.6 million and close to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra's $54.7 million (on the same weekend in 2009). It even grossed more than I, Robot's $52.2 million (though sold fewer tickets) and was just a hair lower than X-Men: First Class's $55.1 million earlier this summer.

Though Rise was beneath Planet of the Apes (2001)'s $68.5 million ($96.5 million adjusted for ticket price inflation), that was to be expected considering it didn't cover the franchise's most iconic territory and was essentially a remake of one of the fractionally popular sequels, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Rise also had to overcome a ten-year franchise dormancy and the taint of audiences' mixed reaction to the Planet remake, but it was propelled by an on-point marketing campaign that packed plenty of ape thrills and recalled recent successes like I, Robot, District 9 and even Avatar. Distributor 20th Century Fox's exit polling indicated that 54 percent of Rise's audience was male and 56 percent was age 25 years and older.

It was a freaky weekend for The Change-Up, and not in a good way. The comedy opened in fourth with a soft estimated $13.5 million on around 3,300 screens at 2,913 locations. That was a far cry from the summer's other R-rated comedies, including Friends with Benefits ($18.6 million). Despite the attempt at a raunchy twist on the body switch comedy, Change-Up also fell far short of the recent body-switch comedies 17 Again ($23.7 million), 13 Going on 30 ($21.1 million) and Freaky Friday ($22.2 million) even before normalizing for ticket-price inflation. Distributor Universal Pictures' research showed that 59 percent of Change-Up's audience was female and 50 percent was age 30 years and older.

Ranking second, The Smurfs dipped 41 percent to an estimated $21 million (41 percent of which from 3D presentations), holding better than G-Force, Hop and others at the same point. Cowboys & Aliens wrangled third place with an estimated $15.7 million, collapsing by 57 percent. The two movies' respective ten-day tallies were $76.2 million and $67.4 million.

Captain American: The First Avenger's neck-and-neck battle with Thor for summer superhero supremacy continued. Captain gained ground on the weekdays, but Thor's mightier weekend numbers have kept it slightly ahead. Rounding out the Top Five, Captain was off 49 percent to an estimated $13 million for a $143.2 million sum in 17 days, compared to Thor's $145.4 million through the same point.

In sixth, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 held better than the previous July Potters, Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, for the first time. Slowing 45 percent, Harry's last stand generated an estimated $12.16 million for a whopping $342.8 million tally in 24 days, and it will surpass Transformers: Dark of the Moon by Tuesday at the latest to become the top-grossing movie of 2011.

Meanwhile, Crazy, Stupid, Love. had a decent hold, easing 37 percent to an estimated $12.1 million for a $42.2 million total in ten days.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Rank 9/10

• X-Men: First Class
• Harry Potter Deathly Hollows 2

Rank 8/10

• Fast Five (strong)
• Captain America
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Transformers (weak)

Rank 7/10

• Pirates (strong)
• Cowboys & Aliens
• The Change-Up
• Hangover 2
• THOR (weak)

Rank 6/10

• Green Lantern (weak)
• Priest (weak)

__________________​

 

[Mark CMG]

Interesting numbers at the boxoffice, we may be seeing the fall of the "R" rated comdey...or Ryan Reynolds but I say bring on more Olivia Wilde!

I think many now see non-blockbusters as small screen fodder for later viewing.


Loved the new Apes movie.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I think many now see non-blockbusters as small screen fodder for later viewing.

I think the last movie I saw in a theater may have been Star Trek.

There are a few possibilities I might check out; Apes or Conan maybe.

 

[Mark CMG]

I think the last movie I saw in a theater may have been Star Trek.

There are a few possibilities I might check out; Apes or Conan maybe.

I have difficulty imagining any of the three you mention as being small-screen-only pics. I recently re-watched portions of ST streamed from Netflix on my computer and was thinking to myself that it really needed the big screen to get the full effect. I'm not sure if Apes needs it, but I enjoyed it that way. I think Conan is going to need it, though it is also the one I will probably like the most of the three. I wouldn't want to say much more until you've seen Apes, if you do.


I've recently sworn off shelling out for the "enhanced" or 3D box office price upgrade unless the movie was filmed in 3D from start to finish, FWIW, since Green Lantern. So far, I haven't felt I have missed anything and paying just five bucks for the early show again has been appreciated by my wallet. I thought Transformers probably needed the enhanced viewing, but Thor, X-Men, Green Lantern (except for the opening sequences), Harry Potter, Priest, and Pirates would all have been fine, IMO, without the extra boost. Fast Five perhaps gained something in the experience, though I might not have guessed that would be one I would have singled out in that way. I had actually skipped Fast Five but heard so much good from friends that I reluctantly went the week following opening, IIRC. It's a remarkably well directed film that uses the technology to full advantage.