Toys Remain Brisk Sellers
June 28, 2010
It was no surprise that Toy Story 3 was able to remain on top of the box office chart for the second weekend in a row. Also, the new releases combined did about as well as expected. Unfortunately, "as well as expected" still left the box office down 17% from last weekend at $165 million. Coincidentally, it was also down 17% from last year. 2010 is still leading 2009, but its margin is slipping and, as of the end of the weekend, it is just 2.1% ahead at $5.22 billion to $5.11 billion.
On the one hand, Toy Story 3 is a family film and these usually have very strong legs at the box office. On the other hand, it is a Pixar film and these tend to have a bit of a Fanboy following. Its reviews are nearly perfect and it is not only the top contender to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, some are floating the idea it could win Best Film as well. It opened with more than $100 million and these films tend to suffer sharp drop-offs, as it is nearly impossible to maintain that pace for long. The end result? The film performed in line with Thursday's predictions, for the most part. It added $59.34 million during its second weekend of release for a two-week total of $226.89 million, which is already more than the first film earned in total. It is just days away from becoming the biggest hit in the franchise, even taking into account the 3D re-release, while by the end of the long weekend, it could reach $300 million.
Adam Sandler remains unstoppable at the box office, no matter what the critics say. Grown Ups opened in a solid second place with $40.51 million, which is in line with Click, a film that went on to make $137.36 million. Will this film earn that much? Unlikely. While Click was hardly a critical success, it is Oscar-worthy compared to this film. 9% positive reviews will leave Grown Ups as one of the worst of the year when all is said and done. Even so, it should still become the 11th $100 million movie of Adam Sandler's career, and the fifth for Kevin James (and his third in a row). In fact, every live action film Kevin James has been in has reached $100 million at the box office. Impressive.
Knight and Day got off to a disappointing start, earning just $3.81 million on Wednesday; however, it recovered to earn $20.14 million over the weekend and $27.43 million in total. This is a mixed result. Obviously the studio should be happier with this result than they were when Wednesday's numbers were released. But this is still lower than people were predicting when the movie opened, and well below original expectations. Additionally, even with good reviews for a popcorn flick, it has almost no chance to match its production budget domestically, which is reportedly $125 million. It might not make half that, which would be tragic for the studio's bottom line.
The Karate Kid added another $15.55 million over the weekend for a total of $139.79 million after three. By this time next week it will have crossed $150 million, which will likely be enough to show a profit, even taken into account its domestic P&A budget. That's an impressive and rare feat.
The A-Team will not be as fortunate after adding $6.20 million to its running tally of $63.05 million. It might make it to $75 million domestically, but it will need to be a bigger hit internationally and on the home market to show a profit any time soon.
Looking in on the sophomore class we find Jonah Hex, which fell nearly 70% to just $1.63 million over the weekend for a total of $9.17 million. It has already topped MacGruber's final box office, but this coming weekend it could also lose more theaters. In fact, it could break the record for most theaters lost from one week to the next.
Filed under: The A-Team, Jonah Hex, The Karate Kid, Grown Ups, Toy Story 3, Knight and Day