You see we had several movies this week that were either trying something new, trying to keep a company on top, or proving a gamble was worth it. We also saw if a sleep hit could withstand the forces of blockbusters. What were all these movies? Let's see.
We had Green Lantern, the DC comics adaptation from WB that cost over 200 million dollars to make. It opened last weekend on top, but well below estimates so the studio hoped things would get better from there. However Green Lantern slipped into third place with 18 million dollars this weekend which sends its total to just under 90 million dollars. I don't think that 200 million dollar budget is paying off just yet and it might come down to Blu-ray/DVD sales to save the day.
Last weekend we also had Mr. Poppers Penguins, a family oriented movie that wanted to beat Cars 2 to the punch so much so that it felt like a misplaced holiday movie. However that didn't happen as it slid to 5th with 10 million dollars. Cars 2 on the other hand had a gamble of its own. See Pixar has this thing where every movie they release is in the top box office spot during its opening weekend. This record dates back to Toy Story and was being challenged extra hard this weekend thanks to Green Lantern, newly released Bad Teacher, and of course Mr. Popper. However it survived and made a whopping 68 million dollars this weekend, even with the negative reviews pouring in left and right. Wasn't so surprising considering my local theater was packed with kids all weekend, can't wait to hear how much profit Disney is making off merchandising. Bad Teacher was a simplistic comedy hoping to draw in an audience between all this and brought in 31 million for second place.
Now for the part I was interested in and our sleeper hit of the summer, Super 8. This is the third weekend Super 8 has been in theaters and it came in 4th place with a count of 12 million dollars. The total for Super 8 is now at 95 million, well beyond its 50 million dollar budget. It is also currently my favorite film released so far this year, so if its still sitting in a theater near you be sure to check it out!
How do you think the movies faired this weekend? Was the gambles worth it? Did Pixar deserve to keep the record going?
Source BoxOffice Mojo
