The box office results for the weekend of March 1st – 3rd sees Jack the Giant Slayer crowned the winner. Meanwhile, 21 and Over tries to get into the mix and The Last Exorcism Part 2 seemingly lost its hold on the niche audience. Here are the studio estimates:
1. Jack the Giant Slayer ($28 million)
2. Identity Thief ($9.7 million)
3. 21 and Over ($9 million)
4. The Last Exorcism Part II ($8 million)
5. Snitch ($7.7 million)
6. Escape from Planet Earth ($6.7 million)
7. Safe Haven ($6.3 million)
8. Silver Linings Playbook ($5.9 million)
9. A Good Day to Die Hard ($4.5 million)
10. Dark Skies ($3.5 million)
Analysis
While Warner Bros. can tout winning the weekend with Jack the Giant Slayer, they’re going to need some magic to grow more profits. This poorly reviewed sucker rang up a production bill of $195 million. So unless the overseas market flocks to this, hello major Flop Alert.
Despite the lackluster opening weekend for The Last Exorcism Part II, when comparing to its predecessor ($20.3 million in 2010), CBS Films could still end up using the black ink when its theatrical and DVD/On-Demand run has concluded. Thanks to the thrifty $5 million production budget and relatively tame marketing campaign, this sequel could spawn a trilogy, even though more than half its fan base from two years ago has essentially vanquished.
21 and Over didn’t light up the charts by any means, but it could capitalize on its target audience – who are all going on Spring Break this month – and slowly snag some extra cash to help sop up the $13 million production budget. Word-of-mouth has been decent and that can usually lead to R-rated college-party themed flicks hanging around.
Just about everyone else in the top ten is holding up fairly well as they experienced typical weekend-to-weekend drop-offs. Identity Thief crossed the $100 million mark on the domestic front ($107.4 million) proving that people are not listening to the the lovely critics and/or patrons that have paid to see this mess. But good for Universal Pictures.
This Friday will have Oz the Great and Powerful steamrolling over everyone by this time next weekend. Dead Man Down will be happy to pick up the scraps. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!
