Many people have been quick to judge PIXAR to be in a slump. Saying that their last film, Cars 2, was horrible and Brave is just mediocre. I have a feeling that sentiment will erode over time, when people look back and see that Mars Needs Moms received reviews more or less the same as Cars 2, people will realize they might have been too quick declare PIXAR’s creative death.
This, however, is a nuts and bolts box office report, so the most important thing is that Brave has brought in PIXAR’s 13th strait number one opening. A staggering string of success that shows no sign of letting up in the near future. Brave‘s $66+ Million opening weekend is pretty par for the course for a PIXAR film.
Coming in second place is Madagascar 3, cooling off from back to back number one weekends with a cool $20 Million. This good hold comes as a bit of a surprise with the seeming direct completion from the new PIXAR film. The sequel seems to have strong enough word of mouth to potentially make this the most successful Madagascar yet.
Disappointing its way into third place is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Even though the film is an R-rated, crazy concept, historical action horror film, there was hope the film would perform better. Director Timur Bekmambetov had a major success with his first American film Wanted. Unfortunately Lincoln‘s $16 Million opening weekend means, at least financially, he has not gone two for two here in the states.
The Avengers is on the precipice of $600 Million with a very strong hold, only dipping 20%. If it can stay strong for a few weeks it has a good chance at making more than people have been predicting. It is still a very long shot to reach Titanic, and a virtual impossibility to match Avatar. That said, talks of a Directors Cut re-release is in the works, and the closer this initial run can get to those Cameron’s pictures, the more likely a re-release can push it past them.
Next week sees a couple if interesting box office entities. The most notable is Magic Mike, a film that seems to have captured the imaginations of women everywhere. Also of note from a Box Office perspective is Madea’s Witness Protection, the most recent Tyler Perry movie, ugh. The most interesting film from our point of view is Ted, the directorial debut of Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane. I predict a weekend with a lot of solid weekends, with no breakout hit.
Total Top Ten Numbers:
1 Brave $66,739,000
2 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted $20,200,000
3 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter $16,500,000
4 Prometheus $10,000,000
5 Rock of Ages $8,000,000
6 Snow White and the Huntsman $8,000,000
7 That’s My Boy $7,900,000
8 Marvel’s The Avengers $7,040,000
9 MIB 3 $5,600,000
10 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World $3,836,000
