The box office results for the weekend of September 7th – 9th is easily the worst for 2012. With only CBS Films’ The Words going wide, the little exorcism flick that could in The Possession can tout itself as a repeat box office champ. Hell, it may end up making money (production budget is just $14 million). But as for being a true “box office draw?” Eh, not so much. Here are the studio estimates:
1. The Possession ($9.5 million)
2. Lawless ($6 million)
3. The Words ($5 million)
4. The Expendables ($4.7 million)
5. The Bourne Legacy ($4 million)
6. ParaNorman ($3.8 million)
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green ($3.6 million)
8. The Campaign ($3.5 million)
9. 2016: Obama’s America ($3.2 million)
10. The Dark Knight Rises ($3.2 million)
Analysis
Well, The Words didn’t attract audiences or gain approval from the lovely critics. CBS Films 8th release, since entering the theatrical battlefield in 2010, will go down as the worst opening to date for the studio. Hampered by a lack of promotion and/or buzz, the only real positive the studio can take from this is that the production budget was a relatively trim $6 million. So perhaps they’ll avoid an overabundance of red ink on the balance sheet.
After 5 weeks in release, The Bourne Legacy methodically went past the $100 million mark ($103.6) domestically. While that sounds nice for Universal Pictures, the total budget (production & marketing) reached an expense of a reported $170 million. Overseas’ release markets have yet to fully pick up though, so there’s still hope this could see the black ink after a DVD/On-Demand run.
The Dark Knight Rises currently holds the longest streak in the top ten with 8 weeks. With still being played in just over 1900 theaters across the country, the domestic total has reached $437.8 million; good for 8th all-time.
Coming this Friday, hoping to give the box office some life, is Resident Evil: Retribution (5th film in the series) along with the re-release of Finding Nemo – this time in gimmicky 3D. Also showing up in limited fashion is Arbitrage and The Master. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!
