Weekend Wrap-Up: Oscars Steal the Spotlight
February 25, 2013
The Oscars proved to be too much competition for the new releases as neither Snitch nor Dark Skies were able to find much success. Indeed, it was Identity Thief that rose to top spot in its third week of release. Most films in the top five were able to at least match expectations, but the overall box office still plummeted 27% from last weekend to just $103 million. The comparison to last year was not quite as bad, but it was still down by a stunning 23%. Ouch. 2013 is now behind 2012 by a full $100 million or 6.7% at $1.41 billion to $1.51 billion.
Identity Thief is cruising towards $100 million and should get there next weekend. This past weekend, it managed first place with $14.02 million, while its running tally rose to $93.62 million. This is excellent for this time of year, although it has benefited from weaker than expected competition.
Snitch was able to earn first place on Friday with $4.16 million, but by the end of the weekend, it had to settle for second place with $13.17 million. Its reviews were fine for an action film and are in fact the best in the top five. Even so, I don't expect it will have strong legs, so it is going to need some help internationally.
Escape From Planet Earth rose to third place with $10.68 million over the weekend for a total of $34.81 million after two. If it can reach $50 million to $60 million during its theatrical run, then it should have no problem breaking even on the home market, even if it struggles somewhat internationally.
Safe Haven came within a rounding error of expectations with $10.45 million over the past three days for an eleven-day total of $47.92 million. It too will break even on the home market.
A Good Day to Die Hard fell from first to fifth with just $10.17 million. So far it has pulled in $51.97 million, which is really weak, especially compared to the film's $92 million production budget. Fortunately for the studio, the film's international numbers are a lot brighter than the domestic numbers are and it should break even before too long. That said, unless the studio thinks it can market the franchise internationally well enough to make the domestic numbers unimportant, this will be the last Die Hard installment.
Dark Skies missed humble expectations with just $8.19 million during its opening weekend. Its reviews were not as bad as many had feared, but they weren't great either. Given its genre, it will likely disappear rather quickly.
Beautiful Creatures was the only sophomore film not in the top five, as it fell to ninth place with $3.61 million over the weekend for a total of $16.57 million after two. Any thought of a franchise is dead, unless the film earns well over $100 million internationally.
Filed under: Video Review, A Good Day to Die Hard, Safe Haven, Escape From Planet Earth, Beautiful Creatures, Identity Thief, Snitch, Dark Skies, Die Hard