July 28, 2009

Box Office Update 7/24-7/26: G-Force Squeaks to the Top

Last week, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won the weekend by a rather decisive margin in its first weekend of wide release. Its second week of release sees it stung by a 62% drop from its opening frame. All I can say to that is "Wow!" I knew it would take a sizable dip, but even this is larger than I was expecting. That said, I am sure this coming weekend it will level off a bit as it begins its IMAX run. Still, that is a pretty big drop to contend with for such a big movie. Well, there is no love lost, as it is still raking in the money and is sure to continue that trend, especially when it hits DVD.

So, with Harry Potter slipping out of its top perch, what movie did the honors? Why Disney's special effects laden talking guinea pig movie, G-Force. I cannot comment on the quality, or lack there of, of this movie, not having seen it. I can say that it isn't at the top of my list, but there is no denying the good level of talent involved and the rather manic energy of the trailer. Perhaps one day I will see it, not sure when, but there it is.

Stepping down to third place, you will find the second new movie of the weekend, The Ugly Truth. It performed a bit better than I was expecting, and I should have known better. Anyway, the romantic comedy attempts to lure in the male demographic with a certain level of crassness, nothing like Good Luck Chuck, but it is there in a more well meaning way. It is an enjoyable movie, but quite easy to forget. I like it for trying to be different by pulling away the fairy tale veil, but am indifferent to the way it falls back on the genre standards in the latter half. I suspect it will linger for a while before dropping away.

In fourth place is the weekend's best new movie and one that came as a complete surprise to me, Orphan. It is essentially a combination of domestic thriller and creepy kid movie, it does not really offer anything new or push any new boundaries. I guess you are wondering why it is so good. Well, it does everything so right, it executes on every level and is very creepy, atmospheric, scary, and just flat out entertaining. It will have you jumping, cringing, laughing, and applauding.

Fifth place plays temporary home to the third Ice Age film, which keeps chugging along. Sometime next weekend it will likely pass the gross of the original film, but will probably not reach that of the second film. All I can hope for is that this series is done, I think it has gone past its expiration date.

The rest of the list is generally holding pretty solid, with The Hangover really making a name for it this summer with some great week to week holds, solid reviews, and becoming one of the biggest R-rated films ever (not just comedies). Although you do have an example at the other end, Bruno continues to plummet, it will be off the top ten next weekend.

Next weekend will see the arrival of the new Judd Apatow comedy Funny People, which looks pretty good, the family oriented Aliens in the Attic, which does not, and the horror film The Collector, which I am looking forward to but am not expecting to make much of a splash.

Three movies dropped off the top ten this week: Up (12), My Sister's Keeper (14), and I Love You, Beth Cooper (15).


This WeekLast WeekTitleWknd GrossOverallWeek in release
1NG-Force$31,706,934$31,706,9341
21Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince$29,462,187$221,295,8182
3NThe Ugly Truth$27,605,576$27,605,5761
4NOrphan$12,871,483$12,871,4831
52Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs$8,408,430$171,499,1014
63Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen$8,124,427$379,214,1725
76The Hangover$6,461,370$247,073,7668
85The Proposal$6,379,926$140,042,9896
97Public Enemies$4,352,650$88,278,8804
104Bruno$2,832,870$56,629,3903


Box Office Predictions Recap
Not a bad week, if I don't say myself. With the lone mistake coming at the top, I quickly settled in came through with the rest of the top ten in the proper order. Who would have thought a debuting movie about guinea pig spies would take down the second weekend of the mighty sixth Harry Potter film? Still, despite this placement mix-up, I did pretty good on the gross predictions front. What will next hold? A second weekend victory for G-Force? Nah, i didn't think so either.

Here is how the field matched up:

ActualPredictionTitleWknd GrossPrediction
21Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince$29,462,187$35 million
12G-Force$31,706,934$28 million

3

3The Ugly Truth$27,605,576$20 million
44Orphan$12,871,483$15 million
55Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs$8,408,430

$9 million

66Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen$8,124,427$7 million
77The Hangover$6,461,370$5.5 million
88The Proposal$6,379,926$4.5 million
99Public Enemies$4,352,650$3 million
1010Bruno$2,832,870$2 million

1 comments:

Avenir labs said...

that is a pretty big drop to contend with for such a big movie.
Well, there is no love lost, as it is still raking in the money
and is sure to continue that trend, especially when it hits DVD.

Post a Comment