The box office results for the weekend of December 3rd – 5th has Disney capitalizing on the sputtering Potter. Meanwhile, a Warrior gets severely lost trying to find his way to a healthy opening weekend. Here are the studio estimates:
1. Tangled ($21.5 million)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 ($16.7 million)
3. Burlesque ($6.1 million)
4. Unstoppable ($6.1 million)
5. Love and Other Drugs ($5.7 million)
6. Megamind ($5 million)
7. Due Date ($4.2 million)
8. Faster ($3.8 million)
9. The Warrior’s Way ($3 million)
10. The Next Three Days ($2.6 million)
Analysis
Aside from its opening weekend, the figures tabulated for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is arguably the most interesting in the franchise. Domestically, the 7th Potter flick had the biggest opening weekend out of all the previous installments by far. Yet it is only up to $245 million in its third week. Factoring in the 66% drop from last weekend, this entry is on pace to becoming just the 4th highest grossing flick for the franchise. One can only assume the great Harry Potter may actually be losing audiences since its heralded arrival nine years ago.
The average Potter flick grosses around $280 million domestically. So there is no need for Warner Bros to sound the alarm or anything. Plus, international totals have been amazing and steady. Having said all that, if one takes a look at the domestic totals, the first three entries showed a noticeable decline with each sequel. Then, books four – six saw an increase each time. If the predictions hold up for Deathly Hallows: Part 1, another decline is on the horizon. Again, this will not be a concern for profitability, but the pattern of box office performances is intriguing. A plausible hypothesis is the darker tone of certain entries, has parents less likely to bring the kids into the theaters.
It’s nice to see Disney claim a box office weekend again. Seems they can only do it when they have an animated flick these days, but hey, a wins a win. Tangled is now up to $96 million domestically. The 50th animation from Walt Disney Pictures is now showing up in the foreign markets, but even that will not be enough to help make up the $260 million production budget. Look for Tangled to possibly reach $135 million domestically. However, with Chronicles of Narnia on deck for this coming weekend, expect this fairy tale to drop down a couple notches.
Due Date and Megamind currently hold the longest streak in the top ten with 5 weeks apiece. Due Date is now up to $91 million and Megamind has just surpassed its production budget with $136 million domestically. Due Date is officially making money for Warner Bros. while Megamind will probably enter that category once its DVD and On Demand run begins early next year.
Flop Alert: The Warrior’s Way. The lone new release this past weekend entered the box office arena with very little promotion. Relatively Media went with the couple-weeks-prior-to-opening-blitz marketing campaign, with regards to this martial-arts western. Here’s the facts: It wasn’t screened for critics and it rang up a production bill of $42 million. You’ll be able to catch this in local Redbox bin real soon people. Sleeper Hit: Although Love and Other Drugs held up the best from last weekend’s new releases – dropping 41% – the flick will not have enough juice to see profits at the theater. Usually an award contender would start to make some noise at this point, but all of them are still stuck in the limited release realm. Eventually, Black Swan, which is receiving favorable reviews and is expected to be a nominee in multiple categories this year, will most likely land in this section within the next few weeks.
This coming Friday will give the December box office a much-needed jolt. As mentioned above, a new entry in the popular Narnia book series titled, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, opens everywhere. And of course it is in 3-D. Also invading cinemas is the dynamic box office duo of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist. Narnia should claim the box office crown as it will capitalize on the universal appeal the series has.
