Weekend Wrap-Up: Men are Back But Avengers Still Top Story
May 29, 2012
While the latest installment of the Men in Black franchise topped the box office over the Memorial Day long weekend, it was The Avengers that continued to be the big story of the year. Men in Black 3's opening was merely average given the release date, and well below average given the film's production budget. On the other hand, The Avengers continued to break records. Overall, the box office was up by 7% from last weekend reaching $153 million over the three day portion of the weekend. However, that's 31% lower than Memorial Day last year. Ouch. Over four days, the weekend pulled in $194 million, which was 30% lower than last year. Again, ouch. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011, but the lead is down to 12.5% at $4.28 billion to $3.85 billion.
Men in Black 3's debut was a little weaker than analysts' expectations at $54.59 million over the three-day portion of the weekend and $69.25 million after four. There are still some reasons for Sony to be happy. For instance, it's their fifth film of the year to debut in top spot. Also, the film was much stronger internationally than it was domestically. As long as its legs are halfway decent, and its reviews suggest they should be, the film could show a profit some time during its home market run. That said, don't expect them to make a MiB4 any time soon.
The Avengers was finally pushed into second place; however, it earned $36.68 million / $47.22 million over the weekend, which was better than expected. The Friday through Sunday figure was the second best fourth weekend of all time, while the film became the fastest to $500 million. It shaved nine days off the record previously held by Avatar. By the end of business on Monday, the movie had $523.91 million, putting it less than $10 million away from overtaking The Dark Knight for third place on the All Time domestic chart and it might have a shot at becoming only the third film to reach $600 million.
Battleship barely matched the low end of expectations with $11.05 million / $13.94 million over the weekend giving it a total of $47.44 million after two. This is a disaster for a film that cost more than $200 million to make. Fortunately, it performed a lot better internationally, but hopefully this will be the end of board game adaptations.
The Dictator was right behind with $9.28 million / $11.47 million over the weekend. It now has $43.31 million, which is lower than expected. However, its production budget was much more reasonable and assuming it can do relatively well internationally, it should breakeven either just before it reaches the home market, or shortly after that.
Chernobyl Diaries rounded out the top five, at least when you limit yourself to the Friday through Sunday portion of the weekend. Over three days, the film pulled in $7.96 million. However, including Monday, it only managed sixth place with $9.36 million, as Dark Shadows surpassed it with $9.44 million. Its reviews and its genre suggest it won't have strong legs at the box office. Fortunately, it didn't cost a lot to make, so if it is a bigger hit on the home market, it should still break even.
What to Expect When You're Expecting was the only member of the sophomore class to not place in the top five. It fell to seventh place with $7.13 million over the three-day portion of the weekend and $8.81 million over four. It has now made $23.83 million, which has to be much lower than the studio expected when they gave this film the greenlight.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Battleship, The Avengers, Dark Shadows, Men in Black 3, The Dictator, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Chernobyl Diaries