Like clockwork, you can expect Pixar’s offerings to tower over the American animation competition. Fortunately for them, you can also count on them to tower over box office competition, as “Up”‘s debut is the highest for the studio since 2003’s “Finding Nemo” which scored $70 million in the opening frame and went on to be the studio’s most successful movie. The $68.2 million number was probably goosed by the IMAX 3D sales, boding well for future Disney Digital releases, and with word of mouth strong and little animation competition until July’s “Ice Age” installment, expect “Up” to be one of the studio’s biggest earners.
While losing more than half its audience, “Night At The Museum: Battle At The Smithsonian” still did moderately well in the wake of the Pixar beast, bringing in $25.5 million. Cresting the $100 million mark this weekend, it still remains a bit behind the pace of the original, which opened smaller, but all things considered, this is a big winner for FOX. Coming in at third with a slightly disappointing weekend was “Drag Me To Hell.” Most likely midbudgeted, the picture still only brought in $16.6 million when most expected upwards of $20. It’s an unusual audience picture and its benefiting from great word of mouth, so its not too late for “Drag” to holdover if the studio has faith in its performance.
The news wasn’t so rosy for “Terminator Salvation.” Losing over 60% of its audience, it came in fourth with $16.1 million. Let this be a lesson in franchise management- some stories are finite to the audience, and while they may still carry value due to a marquee name (Schwarzenegger), the audience knows when a brand name is tapped out. Certainly, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” which mucked up and contorted series continuity, didn’t help out much in this department. With Halycon memorably breaking some kneecaps to get this made, don’t be surprised if the franchise merely lays low for awhile, though the operative word will eventually be, ugh, “reboot.”
At $209 million, “Star Trek” is not only the surprise winner of the May blockbuster sweepstakes, but also the year’s highest grossing film. It clocked in at fifth with $12.8 million and with enough support, there’s an outside chance it could lap “Terminator” in the coming weeks. “Trek” still isn’t a worldbeater considering a cost some tag as being in the neighborhood of $180-200, but a lot of times, the victory comes in the competition, and even with a possible wait for DVD to turn profit (international numbers remain so-so), Paramount is crowing about being number one. The optimism of “Trek” trumping the bleak apocalyptic appeal of “Terminator”- there’s a political thesis there. The rest of the lineup stayed fairly similar, with “Angels And Demons” at sixth crossing the $100 million mark- it probably finishes out at a respectable $120-$130, with international numbers just killin’ it. Irrespectably, it’s a piece of shit, and while its not relevant, we can’t say these things enough.
Summit Entertainment continues to expand “The Brothers Bloom” but still can’t get it into the top ten, as it resides at #11, with less than $1.5 to show for four weeks of release, and looking like the season’s biggest indie flop. Two Oscar winners and Mark Ruffalo do not a winner make in this atmosphere, and someone’s bound to get fired for this. Meanwhile, Best Foreign Film Oscar winner “Departures” debuted on nine screens to $73k, while IFC might have a moneymaker on their hands with Oliver Assayas’ small family drama “Summer Hours,” which has tallied a three-week cume of $578k.
1. Up- $68.2 million
2. Night At The Museum: This Shit Again- $25.5 million ($105 mil)
3. Drag Me To Hell- $16.6 million
4. Terminator: Muted Color Palette- $16.1 million ($90 mil)
5. Lens Flare Future- $12.8 million ($209 mil)
6. Tom Hanks Hides And Waits For The Fire Department- $11.2 million ($105 mil)
7. Dance Flick- $4.9 million ($19 mil)
8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine- $3.9 million ($171 mil)
9. Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past- $1.9 million ($50 mil)
10. Obsessed- $665k ($67 mil)