Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Lives Up to its Title
With the exception of poor Katy Perry, everyone was a winner at the box office this week. Seriously. Of the top ten films, nine of them either opened well or held well, making this one of the most consistent weekends of the summer season. Filmmakers and studios: pat yourselves on the backs. You’ve earned this one.
1. The Amazing Spider-Man: $65,000,000 ($140,000,000)
2. Ted: $32,593,000 ($120,240,000)
3. Brave: $20,162,000 ($174,519,000)
4. Savages: $16,162,000 ($16,162,000)
5. Magic Mike: $15,610,000 ($72,797,000)
6. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection: $10,200,000 ($45,846,000)
7. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted: $7,700,000 ($196,020,000)
8. Katy Perry: Part of Me: $7,150,000 ($10,250,000)
9. Moonrise Kingdom: $4,642,000 ($26,893,000)
10. To Rome With Love: $3,502,000 ($5,621,000)
Since just about everyone here is a winner, let’s just work our way down the list, shall we?
First, there’s the big boy of the weekend: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ Sony’s reboot of one of their most lucrative franchises. Even with a new director, a new cast and completely fresh slate, audiences proved that it’s the character of Spider-Man they love, not Tobey Maguire or Sam Raimi. That $65 million weekend may seem a little small for a movie as big as this, but this was a Tuesday release and it earned another $75 million in those extra three days for a current total of $140 million. It’s certainly not ‘Avengers’ numbers, but it’s a major victory for a movie that’s been proving controversial among geeks and critics alike. ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ was always going to happen, but at least Sony can proceed with a winner at their heels.
In the second spot, there’s ‘Ted,’ which, despite the actual grosses, may ultimately be a bigger success than ‘The Amazing Spider-Man.’ With a budget of only $50 million, Seth MacFarlane’s directorial debut dropped a minuscule 40% from its opening week and performed absurdly well over the Fourth of July holiday, bringing its total gross to $120 million. $200 million isn’t inevitable, but it’ll probably get close. Say what you want about the man and his work, but MacFarlane has his audience in the palm of his hand (and their money in his bank account).
In the third spot, ‘Brave‘ held on strong in its third week, taking in another $20 million for a total of $174 million. It’s not going to make ‘Toy Story 3′ or ‘Finding Nemo’ numbers, but it should land comfortably in the zone between ‘Wall-E’ and ‘Up.’ If it remains this consistent, it’ll probably take in another $100 million or so.
In the fourth spot, Oliver Stone’s ‘Savages‘ overcame mixed reviews and opened to a solid $16 million. It’s not the kind of number that’ll knock your socks off, but it’s the kind of number that looks really good against a $45 million budget. Unless it drops off the face of the planet next week, the film will probably break even at the very least.
‘Magic Mike‘s second weekend drop was a little stiffer than some of its box office neighbors, but with that additional $15 million, Steven Soderbergh’s ultra-cheap ode to male stripping is resting comfortably at $79 million. $100 million is inevitable. Against all odds and expectations, ‘Magic Mike’ will be the first Soderbergh film since the ‘Ocean’s 11′ trilogy to be a true blockbuster.
Tyler Perry has his audience and ‘Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection’ (no film should ever have two possessive nouns in it, by the way) is playing to them, if that $45 million gross is any indication. He works cheap, he works quickly and when Madea’s latest adventure ends its run with around $70 million, he’ll have more than enough to keep his studio running for the next few years. Perry is a workhorse and, more importantly, he’s a consistent workhorse. His movies always make money and it doesn’t look like he plans to stop anytime soon.
Next weekend, ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ will pass the $200 million mark and become the highest grossing ‘Madagascar’ film to date. ‘Brave’ will lap it soon, but Dreamworks is certainly happy. Everyone look forward to ‘Madagascar 4′!
And then we come to the weekend’s sole loser: the concert film ‘Katy Perry: Part of Me.’ Despite surprisingly positive reviews and a subject with several hit albums and singles under her belt, Katy Perry just doesn’t have the insane, rabid following of some of her contemporaries (like Justin Bieber, whose ‘Never Say Never’ banked last year). Don’t feel too bad for Perry…she still has her entire career as a popular singer of dopey, lovably stupid songs to fall back on.
The top ten is rounded out with two small releases that have struck a chord with the mainstream. Wes Anderson’s ‘Moonrise Kingdom‘ has been hovering around the outer edges of the top ten for weeks now, staying in place while countless blockbusters have faded away. That $26 million gross may not seem like a lot next to ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ but that gross is the result of absolute consistency for many weeks. It’s holding on strong and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.
In the number ten spot, Woody Allen’s ‘To Rome With Love‘ expanded well, grossing $3.5 million for a total gross of $5.6 million (that’s a 405% increase from last week). Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ was the surprise hit of 2011, but he hasn’t managed to make two successful films in a row for decades. Can ‘To Rome With Love’ break this trend?
Next weekend brings us the latest ‘Ice Age’ film and not a whole lot else…and the week after that is ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ To quote the great Samuel L. Jackson: hold onto your butts.