Sunday, August 15, 2010

Box Office



Men clearly dominated the box office this weekend in a gender battle that pitted Sylvester Stallone’s testosterone-fueled Expendables against Julia Roberts’ Eat Pray Love. The Expendables won the weekend easily, grossing $35 million and a crucial victory for Lionsgate. Eat Pray Love was no slouch either, considering its limited appeal to men. The PG-13 rated travelogue grossed an estimated $23.7 million, making it Roberts’ highest opening as a leading lady since 2001′s America’s Sweethearts.
The other new wide release, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, had a much harder time connecting with audiences. The Michael Cera-starrer grossed only $10.5 million, far less than the studio had hoped. The film from British director Edgar Wright, with a budget of $60 million, was a huge hit at Comic-Con that hasn’t translated to the real world. Those that did attend the hyper-kinetic action love story had a great time, though: The film generated an A- from CinemaScore with audiences under 25 giving it an A. Still, Scott Pilgrim is likely to be viewed as a significant under-performer for the studio.

Last weekend’s holdovers performed in the range expected. The Other Guys lost less than 50 percent of its value for a weekend take of $18 million and a total cume of $70.5 million. Step Up 3D didn’t fare as well. The 3-D dance flick lost some 58 percent of its value for a seventh-place finish and $6.6 million of additional gross. Its total two-week cume stands at $29.5 million.

Inception landed in the fourth spot this weekend. With an additional $11.3 million, Christopher Nolan’s dream scape is on the verge of $250 million. Despicable Me landed in the sixth slot for its sixth weekend in theaters. Losing only 27 percent of its value, the animated hit grossed $6.8 million and now boasts a gross of $222 million. Salt landed in eighth place with $6.3 million. The Anglina Jolie-starrer crossed the $100 million mark this weekend. Dinner for Schmucks landed in ninth place. Losing less than 40 percent of its value for an additional $6.3 million, the Steve Carell-Paul Rudd laugher has now earned $58.8 million after three weekends of release. And Cats and Dogs rounded out the top 10, earning an additional $4 million for a total cume of $35 million.

1 comment:

Octopunk said...

Well, good for The Expendables. Don't even know if I'll get to see it on the big screen, but I wish the endeavor well.

Salem's Lot 1979 and Salem's Lot 2024

Happy Halloween everybody! Julie's working late and the boy doesn't have school tomorrow so he's heading to one of those crazy f...