The summer of super heroes continued with the top spot debut of The Amazing Spider-Man which captured the number one spot over its extended holiday opening in North America. Sony’s 3D reboot of the lucrative movie franchise grossed an estimated $65M over the Friday-to-Sunday frame and an exceptional $140M over the six days since its Tuesday launch. It was the fifth best extended opening over the Independence Day holiday trailing Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($180.7M in 6.5 days in 2011), Spider-Man 2 ($180.1M in 6 days in 2004), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse ($176.4M in 6 days in 2010), and Transformers ($155.4M in 6.5 days in 2007). Comparisons are not entirely fair since films debut in different ways with the actual 4th of July holiday falling on a different day each year.
Amazing averaged $15,053 from 4,318 locations over the weekend portion. Appeal was broad but older males led the way. Studio research showed that 58% of the crowd was male and 54% was 25 and older. 44% of the gross came from 3D screens which was not too high. $14.3M came from IMAX screens accounting for 10% of the six-day box office. The overall results were solid especially for a property being rebooted so soon. The first Spider-Man opened one decade ago in May 2002 swiping the all-time opening weekend record from Harry Potter while the most recent webslinger flick bowed just five years ago in May 2007 when Spider-Man 3 also set a new all-time opening weekend record taking the crown from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Amazing told the origin story once again before heading into a new hero tale. Many fans felt there was no need to reboot the series at this point in time but actively making a new film allowed Sony to retain the rights to the movie franchise. The studio has the sequel already set for release on the first weekend of May in 2014.
The Andrew Garfield-led tentpole began its run with a $35.9M opening day on Tuesday. Sales fell 35% to $23.3M on Wednesday for the 4th of July and then dipped 32% to $15.8M on Thursday giving it $75M in the bank before the weekend period began. Friday rose 31% to $20.7M, Saturday climbed 15% to $23.9M and Sunday is estimated to fall 14% to $20.5M. Reviews were mixed but generally upbeat and audiences were happy with what they paid to see as the CinemaScore grade was an A-. The webslinger has 11 days of super hero business to itself before the July 20 launch of The Dark Knight Rises which is expected to deliver the second largest debut of the year crushing all foes in the process.
Overseas, where The Amazing Spider-Man could really mint most of its money, results were strong with an estimated $129.1M this weekend from 70 markets boosting the international total to $201.6M and the worldwide haul to $341.2M. Top new debuts were $18.1M in the U.K., $10.8M from Russia, Mexico with $9.6M, $8M in France, and Australia at $7.5M. Holdover cumes were led by $25.2M in Korea and $20.7M in Japan.
Last week’s top film Ted enjoyed a solid sophomore hold despite the arrival of a super hero tentpole grossing an estimated $32.6M for second place. The Seth MacFarlane comedy is benefiting from good word-of-mouth and a lack of competition for comedies for grown-ups right now. Dropping only 40%, the Universal release has upped its ten-day tally to $120.2M and seems headed for an amazing finish near the $200M mark. Ted cost only $50M to produce. Also faring well was the 3D animated hit Brave which slipped 41% to an estimated $20.2M in its third round holding steady in the bronze medal position. The Disney/Pixar release has collected an impressive $174.5M to date.
Oliver Stone was back with his latest film Savages which opened in fifth place with a solid $16.2M, according to estimates. The Universal release averaged $6,150 from 2,628 locations and played to mature adults and the director’s fan base. It was the third biggest career debut for Stone after last fall’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and 2006’s World Trade Center. Produced for $45M, the drug thriller Savages was based on the best-selling novel and stars Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek. Reviews were mixed. The R-rated film skewed older with 61% of the audience being 30 and older while the gender split was even with females accounting for 51% of the crowd. A troubling C+ CinemaScore puts into question the road ahead, however no new films aimed at adults will open next weekend.
Channing Tatum’s hit stripper drama Magic Mike fell badly in its second weekend dropping 60% to an estimated $15.6M. The Warner Bros. pic tumbled 41% in its second day of release last weekend hinting at a rocky road ahead and the sophomore performance fell sharply as expected. With $72.8M in ten days, Mike will need to hold up better in the days ahead in order to finish with $100M.
Madea’s Witness Protection suffered the usual steep sophomore fall that Tyler Perry films see. The Lionsgate pic fell 60% to an estimated $10.2M boosting the cume to $45.8M on its way to a $60M conclusion. Paramount and DreamWorks Animation followed with their 3D winner Madagascar 3 which took in an estimated $7.7M, off just 35%, for a cume of $196M thus far.
The 3D pop music doc Katy Perry: Part of Me bowed in eighth place with modest results grossing an estimated $7.2M over the Friday-to-Sunday span and $10.3M since opening on Thursday. The Paramount release was aimed at teen and tween girls and failed to make it past the multi-platinum singer’s fan base. Playing in 2,730 theaters, the PG-rated pic averaged a dull $2,619 over the weekend. Reviews were good but mostly irrelevant from a commercial perspective since the target audience puts zero value into what middle-aged film critics have to say.
The studio saw much better results from pop prince Justin Bieber last year when his 3D concert biopic Never Say Never bowed to $30.3M. Katy had similar marketing gimmicks like special advance showings and interactive engagement with fans over social media. Studio research showed that 81% of the audience was female and 72% was under 25. What little good news the film saw was from its A CinemaScore and low $12M budget.
Wes Anderson’s critical darling Moonrise Kingdom eased a scant 6% to an estimated $4.6M giving Focus $26.9M to date. The upscale crowd is still turning out for this as the top smarthouse choice of the moment. Woody Allen’s latest offering To Rome With Love expanded nationwide in its third frame and grossed an estimated $3.5M from 806 theaters for a modest $4,345 average. It was a weaker showing than the veteran filmmaker’s hit from last summer Midnight in Paris which made $5.8M in its first weekend of wide play last June in its fourth round. Rome has met with far less love from critics than Paris did and sits at a total of $5.3M for Sony Classics.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $182.7M which was up 30% from last year when Transformers: Dark of the Moon remained at number one with $47.1M; and was even with 2010 when Despicable Me debuted on top with $56.4M.
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