By Chris Kavan - 04/15/13 at 12:13 AM CT
The box office continued to perform well as a baseball biopic hit it out of the park even if a warmed-over franchise was given a mostly cold shoulder. With everything taken into account, the overall box office was pretty much on par with the same weekend last year. And things should consider to look up after Oblivion had a nice $61.1 foreign opening - a number that bodes well for its domestic debut. But I'm getting ahead of myself now - here's how this weekend's numbers broke down:
1) 42
This Jackie Robinson biopic was really a passion project for Legendary chief executive Thomas Tull (who produced the film) and expectations for the film were in the $20 million range. Yet with audiences giving the film the shining A+ cinemascore - 42 scored with an even greater $27.25 million. This shatters the previous best record for a baseball film (held, surprisingly by The Benchwarmers with $19.6 million). Audiences for the film were mostly older (83% over 25) and women made up a slightly higher percentage (52%) than males. It had to come as a welcome release for Warner Bros. as all previous films released thus far in 2013 have all underperformed. The buzz on the film was huge, and with that kind of response it should continue to play well in the coming weeks.
2) SCARY MOVIE 5
Despite opening in second place this weekend, the $15.15 million brought in by Scary Movie 5 is a far, far cry from the $40.2 million Scary Movie 4 brought in back in 2006. It doesn't help that series regulars Anna Farris and Regina Hall were absent, nor that Marlon Wayans released his own spoof horror film, A Haunted House (which has grossed a shade over $40 million) earlier in the year. Stunt casting aside - there wasn't much to recommend and even long time fans had reason to avoid this. Hopefully it's a sign that these quickie parody-type movies have fallen out of favor (finally) and we can put this plague to mankind to bed once and for all.
3) THE CROODS
Still being the only true family film at the box office, The Croods held on well, dropping just 36% in its fourth weekend and taking in another $13.2 million, winding up with $142.5 million in the bank. By next week it will surely eclipse the $150 million mark and is still on pace to finish with somewhere between $175 - $200 million.
4) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION
The Joe sequel took a 48% hit in its third week out, taking in $10.8 million - which was enough to help it top the $100 million mark, ending up with $102.4 million total. While domestically it will fall short of the original film's total take, internationally the film has taken in $168 million, topping the $152 million Rise of the Cobra managed to earn. If it can keep chugging, it might have a chance to top its $130 million budget before its run ends.
5) EVIL DEAD
Like many horror films, Evil Dead proved to be incredibly front loaded as it took a massive 63% hit in its second week out - falling from 1st to fifth. The $9.5 million it took in raised its total to $41.5 million and while it should break the $50 million mark - it probably won't do much beyond that. Still, at just $17 million, it has easily topped its production cost.
Outside the top 10. The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper continued to do well in limited release. Expanding to over 500 theaters the film jumped from 13th to the 10th position (a 480% increase) and brought in just over $4 million for a $5.45 million total. With the numbers continuing to look good - extra exposure should mean it has a good chance to break its $15 million budget. Danny Boyle's mind-bending Trance also expanded but only brought in $925,000 in 438 theaters (in comparison Silver Linings Playbook, which has been playing for 22 weeks, brought in $430,000 in 451 theaters). Chances are the mixed response from critics and audiences means this is one limited release film that isn't likely to attract a wider audience. Speaking of limited releases. it looks like Terrence Malick's To the Wonder is aiming for just a $130,000 gross out of 17 theaters. Suffering from a lackluster response, it's looking like the art house king won't be able to match the numbers of Tree of Life this time around.
Next week, Oblivion should easily be king - it has a chance of having the best opening of 2013 for sure - the only other new film on schedule is Rob Zombie's horror film Lords of Salem and with other action films dropping off it should be a home run for Tom Cruise.
