Several prognosticators predicted that the one-two punch of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler co-starring in a romantic comedy would equal box office gold. Well, until the reviews started trickling in. When the dust settled, The Bounty Hunter had amassed a truly rotten score of 9% favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch.
Despite that, the film made $2 1Million, good enough to place it in third place for the weekend. With a production budget of around $40 Million, it is way to early to call this a flop. $21 Million is a respectable opening weekend take.
The Red Queen and company from Alice in Wonderland continue to surprise everyone.Now in its third weekend in release, Alice is still bringing in some pretty big numbers. It dropped 45% over last weekend, for $34.5 Million, bringing its three week cumulative total to a fantastic $265 Million.
So what box-office star beat out Aniston for the number two spot? Would you believe nobody? A cast of relative unknowns starred in Diary of Wimpy Kid, which you probably have never heard of unless you happen to have elementary school-aged children.
It is a hot book franchise for those who run in the pre-tween circles, and apparently that was enough to buoy its box-office take. Diary narrowly edged out The Bounty Hunter with $21.8 Million, but with a much more modest budget of $14 Million, it is already profitable. There are plenty of books (4 already out, with plans for a fifth this year) to pillage for a franchise, too.
Universal continues to struggle for a hit, and Repo Men was DOA at the box office. The sci-fi movie starring Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker couldn’t drum up much interest at all, and made a measly $6.1 Million. Last week’s holdover She’s Out of Your League came in at number five with $6 Million, and has almost made back its $20 Million budget in two weeks.
Outside of the top five, The Green Zone continues to dissappoint. It made only $5.9 Million, bringing its cumulative to $24.7 Million for two weeks. The $100 Million price tag on this pic means it is unlikely to make back its budget.
Next week, we will see the first fallout from 3D movies cannibalizing one another. There are only so many 3D screens available, and Alice doesn’t look like it is going to budge for How to Train a Dragon.
Then we have Clash of the Titans almost immediately following. Is this when the 3D pie crumbles? Stay tuned.
Special thanks to Bob Starr for covering for me last week.
Shannon Hood
March 22, 2010 at 11:14 am@Michele
I think that after Marley and Me and The Breakup there were higher expectations for Aniston’s movie. As for How to Train a Dragon…it will take the competition, as long as it can get booked in the theaters.
michele
March 22, 2010 at 8:53 amThe Bounty Hunter opened to the same box office numbers as Tenant’s last movie Fool’s Gold with Kate Hudson & Matthew McCaughney which managed to opened in the #1 spot with that same $21 million box office. And Fool’s Gold had a $70 million dollar budget over The Bounty Hunter’s $40 million budget. And I really think Hudson & McConaughey are a bigger box office draw than Butler and Aniston.
And honestly, exactly when didn’t kid’s movies trump adult films, by next weekend How To Train Your Dragon will be taking down all of the competition.