“Clash of the Titans” proved less mighty in its second week, falling just behind action-comedy “Date Night” by $200,000 (do god-fighting warriors cry?). The Steve Carell-Tina Fey film earned $27.1 million, which is a solid opening for its genre, particularly compared to the $20.7 million first week of “The Bounty Hunter.” It looks like it pays off to have leads who are actually funny, even if your script isn’t. The Fox film is in good shape to make back its $55 million production budget, particularly with its solid reviews and good word of mouth.
The less well-received “Clash of the Titans” made $26.9 million and dropped 56% in its second week, which isn’t too shabby considering its poor reviews and extraneous 3D. Its worldwide total is $155 million, leaving its reported $125 million production budget in the dust. The film is doing solidly with domestic audiences and its international haul of $45 million isn’t too bad either, particularly since it hasn’t opened up in several major territories where special-effects-driven films tend to do very well.
With “Date Night” as the only true wide opener this week, the real story is the continued success of “How to Train Your Dragon,” which declined an impressive 12% in its third week. The year’s best-reviewed film (and seriously, who were those jerks in the 2% who weren’t swayed by its sweet story and incredible 3D visuals?) made another $25 million, bringing its domestic total to $134 million, while its overseas haul hit $122 million. The next kid-oriented film on the horizon is April 30th’s crappy-looking “Furry Vengeance,” so we predict the film will continue to do solid business, entertaining adults and kids alike.
The semi-wide opening Christian drama, “Letters to God,” slid into the top ten, making $1.1 million for the Lord on 897 screens. Not every religious film can be the box-office draw that “Fireproof” was, but this late addition to the release schedule had a per-screen average of just $1,250. Apparently, you need the box-office clout of an ’80s sitcom star to get people to leave their pews for theater seats.
According to Box Office Mojo, the Benjamin Bratt-starring “La Mission” outpaced most of of the limited openers with $49,000 on 15 screens, but the rock doc “When You’re Strange” did fairly well too, grossing $65,371 from eight venues, averaging a respectable $8,171 (more on the limited release box-office frames at Indie Wire). Meanwhile, two better-reviewed films did smaller business but earned more per screen: the neo-noir “The Square” took in $16,500 on two screens, but the German relationship drama “Everyone Else” made $11,400 at a single Manhattan location which earned it the highest per screen average of the weekend.
1. Date Night – $27.1 million ($27.1 mil.)
2. Clash of the Titans – $26.9 million ($110 mil.)
3. How to Train Your Dragon – $25.4 million ($134 mil.)
4. Why Did I Get Married Too? – $11 million ($48.5 mil.)
5. The Last Song – $10 million ($42.4 mil.)
6. Alice in Wonderland – $5.6 million ($319 mil.)
7. Hot Tub Time Machine – $5.4 million ($37 mil.)
8. The Bounty Hunter – $4.3 million ($56 mil.)
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid – $4.1 million ($53.8 mil.)
10. Letters to God – $1.1 million ($1.1. mil.)
