Black Sheep @ The Box Office

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

There was never any real doubt that TRON: LEGACY would not debut at number one this weekend. Just as there was never any real doubt that it would be anything more than a spectacular light show. Will people want to play the game again and again though? I can't say I don't habe my share of doubt there.

Disney should be happy with the $43.6 million debut TRON: LEGACY pulled in. It is slightly higher than what tracking was suggesting for opening weekend and it is also more than 10 times what the original TRON film earned in its 1982 opening weekend. It is even $10 million more than what the original brought it in its whole theatrical run. Granted, that was nearly 30 years ago. I'm thinking those numbers would be higher with inflation. Does anyone know how to calculate that?

Aside of TRON: LEGACY though, no other blockbuster was able to make a significant impression on audiences again this week. Last week's disappointments, CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER and THE TOURIST continued to do just that, each suffering declines of close to 50%. Then you have YOGI BEAR, a film I've seen the trailer for far too often at this point. Clearly, Warner Bros. was hoping for some chipmunk size numbers here but it will be a Christmas miracle if this animated flop is able to put together a decent picnic after its run finishes. Still, it could be worse. You could be Reese Witherspoon returning to the screen after a 2-year absence or Universal Pictures, the company that laid down a reported $120 million to make HOW DO YOU KNOW, starring Witherspoon. This kind of light hearted romantic fare usually cleans up at the holiday box office but then again, this kind of fare is usually actually funny as well. The James L. Brooks disaster pulled in a dismal $3K per screen average begging the question, how do you know when to give it up?

Christmas is looking dark this year on the indie front, dark green anyway. Prestige pictures continued to impress this weekend as major Golden Globe nominees, THE FIGHTER and BLACK SWAN continued to sell out crowds across the nation. After debuting on 4 screens last week, the David O. Russell directed THE FIGHTER explodes on to 1200+ screens and takes in a solid $4.8K average. Word of mouth will certainly grow past this weekend as it is a knockout of a film. Darren Aronofsky, a producer on THE FIGHTER, should be doubly pleased as his Oscar hopeful, BLACK SWAN, increased its screen count to nearly 1000 after blasting into the Top 10 last week on just a handful. The expansion proved quite fruitful with a very healthy $8.6K per screen average.

Below the Top 10, John Cameron Mitchell's beautiful RABBIT HOLE pulled in decent but not amazing numbers on 5 screens, with an average of $11K. THE TEMPEST saw an increase of 26% with the addition of 21 screens. THE SOCIAL NETWORK even saw a slight 5% bump after being named movie of the year by most every critic in America. It is still THE KING'S SPEECH that is the Oscar front runner, as it pulled in another $25K per screen on just 43 screens. The Tom Hooper film goes wide on Christmas day.

NEXT WEEK: Speaking of Christmas, it starts early this year on Wednesday, with wide releases, LITTLE FOCKERS (3450 screens) and TRUE GRIT (3000 screens). The gift giving continues on Christmas day itself, with Jack Black in GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (2400 screens), nut I might return that one if I were you. And there's something for the art crowd too, with limited runs starting for THE ILLUSIONIST, COUNTRY STRONG and SOMEWHERE.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

A new installment in a major franchise and a remake with two A-list stars fail to connect with audiences this week while BLACK SWAN, a twisted film about ballet, playing on less than a hundred screens, leaps into the Top 10 to become the toast of the town.

The third Narnia picture, VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, opens on top this weekend with $24.5 million, less than half of what the two previous installments did on their opening weekends. This minor victory prevented Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie from scoring what should have been a hefty debut for THE TOURIST. Instead they could barely manage to bring in enough to cover one of their salaries with a soft $17 million debut.

No the big Top 10 news this week is the appearance of BLACK SWAN at number 6 with $3.3 million from just 90 screens in North America. The Darren Aronofsky directed Oscar contender scored a poweful $37K per screen average, an extreme rarity in the Top 10. As the accolades continue to pour in during awards season, BLACK SWAN looks poised for a standing ovation.

Below the Top 10, another critical darling scores a per screen average that is more than double the size of BLACK SWAN. David O. Russell's incredible boxing film, THE FIGHTER, pulled in an average of $80K per screen on just 4 screens across the country. It goes wide next week. Meanwhile, Colin Firth's work on the talk show circuit has helped THE KING'S SPEECH net a healthy $31K per screen average in its third week of limited release. There wasn't much love for Julie Taymor's THE TEMPEST, with Helen Mirren, which earned but $9K per screen on only 5 screens.

NEXT WEEK: Reese Witherspoon returns to the big screen, 2500 of them actually, with HOW DO YOU KNOW, opposite Paul Rudd. YOGI BEAR goes after the family fare picnic basket on 3400 screens. TRON LEGACY finally races onto more than 3300 screens. As previously mentioned, THE FIGHTER expands to 2200 screens. And the touching John Cameron Mitchell film, RABBIT HOLE, opens gently on 5 screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

Turkey time has come and gone and apparently it was not so difficult for a good chunk of you to roll yourselves off of your couches and make your way to one of the many movies released this past week. Granted, the majority of the money was split almost evenly between two family films but 'tis the season, right?

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (PART ONE) (click title for review) narrowly held on to its crown this weekend, after pulling in stellar numbers all week. The total cume now stands at $220 million in North America, putting it well on track to easily become the most successful film of the franchise. Coming in second place, which could turn into first place for the weekend if the estimates don't hold after the official numbers are released tomorrow, is Disney's 50th animated feature, TANGLED, an update on the "Rapunzel" story. With $69 million in five days, it far surpassed my expectations and, from what I hear, the film ain't half bad either.

On the other hand, three other wide releases played to very tepid audiences this weekend. The most successful of the trio was the Christina Aguilera / Cher musical romp, BURLESQUE (click title for review). Like everything else Aguilera released this year, her film debut was not well embraced, pulling in less than $4K per screen. Performing only slightly better per screen was the romantic drama, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (click title for review), with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. The film, which features Gyllenhaal as a Viagra salesman, probably would have benefitted from popping a couple of little blue pills itself if it wanted to make an, uh, bigger impression. And, after spending years playing to the family crowd, The Rock returns to action in FASTER with a very slow start, with the lowest average of any of the four wide releases.

Just below the Top 10 again this week is the Danny Boyle directed true story, 127 HOURS (click title for review), starring James Franco. Adding another 185 screens saw the film's returns improve another 88%, the Top 10 now closer than ever. The big art house success this week though is the Oscar front runner, THE KING'S SPEECH (click title for review), from director, Tom Hooper. This Colin Firth period piece played to a fantastic per screen average of $87.5K on just four screens in all of North America, certainly leaving distributor, Alliance, a little speechless.

NEXT WEEK: As awards season approaches, there is more excitement on the limited release front than the wide front, with only one semi-wide release next week, THE WARRIOR'S WAY (???) on 1500 screens. More importantly though, the oft delayed Jim Carrey / Ewan McGregor gay prison comedy, I LOVE YOU, PHILIP MORRIS, finally sees life on the outside, on 6 screens. And Darren Aronofky's highly anticipated ballet thriller with Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN (click title for review), hits 19 screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

Harry Potter and friends prove they've still got a little magic we haven't seen up their sleeves as HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS conjures up the best opening weekend in the franchise's history! The $77.8 million opening weekend the previous installment, HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, pulled in is certainly nothing to scoff at, but it is also the second lowest opening weekend tally of all seven Potter films. It seemed like Potter mania had topped out but fans and more prove that everyone wants to see how this saga will end.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS started strong with $24 million in midnight showings Thursday night. This is the most for the series and the third highest midnight gross in history behind the last two TWILIGHT chapters. And the history making doesn't stop there. Friday's combined total of $61 million was the fifth biggest opening day in history. It was also the second biggest November opening behind TWILIGHT: NEW MOON ($142 million). In fact, Harry Potter titles make up the rest of the Top 5 in that category. Overall, the latest Harry Potter ranks as the 6th best opening weekend in history, right behind the $128 million IRON MAN 2 opening weekend. THE DARK KNIGHT still holds that record with $158 million. The first film, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, remains the highest grossing Harry Potter pic with a domestic total of over $317 million. With this incredible start and Thanksgiving next weekend, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS could easily shatter that. Black Sheep reviewed Harry's latest adventure this week. Click here for the review.

And while one boy grows stronger, another man gets weaker - at least at the box office anyway. Russell Crowe's latest thriller, THE NEXT THREE DAYS, officially generated no interest in filmgoers. I guess even grandparents caught the Hogwarts crew. This Paul Haggis film is his second strike as a director after the dismal returns for his last film, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH. Black Sheep interviewed the Canadian director this week. Click here for the interview.

The Doug Liman film, FAIR GAME, finally snuck into the Top 10 on 386 screens. It shouldn't make it much higher mind you. Poised to capture a spot very shortly though is the Danny Boyle platform success, 127 HOURS (click title for review). This week's gross improved another 108% after adding another 86 screens. And it was a modest debut for British export, MADE IN DAGENHAM. The Nigel Cole film pulled in an average of $13K per screen on just 3 screens. Look for Black Sheep's interview with the director later this week. The fantastic film expands next Friday.

NEXT WEEK: It's turkey time which means way too much to eat at the theatre. Four films open on Wednesday in wide release and each is as fattening as the next. In descending order of screens, they are Disney's TANGLED (3500), Cher's BURLESQUE (2800), Jakey-pooh's LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (2300) and The Rock's return to action, FASTER (2300). Best Picture front runner, THE KING'S SPEECH, starring Colin Firth, opens on 4 screens on Friday. Read the Black Sheep review for it now though. Just click here.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

For the second week in a row, the Will Ferrell led animated film, MEGAMIND, leads the box office. And for the second year in a row, Denzel Washington makes a train movie that misses out on coming in on the first track.

UNSTOPPABLE is apparently a bit of an exaggeration. The Tony Scott film pulled in a solid $23.5 million, pretty much on par with the first weekend take of last summer's THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, also directed by Scott. Washington however saw a much stronger debut with Janurary's THE BOOK OF ELI, which opened with about $10 million more in a month known for low grosses. UNSTOPPABLE opened at number one on Friday but with the built-in family audience waiting for the actual weekend, MEGAMIND was easily able to pull ahead to take the crown.

The week's two other wide releases both opened to disappointing results. The Rachel McAdams vehicle, MORNING GLORY, was clearly hoping to capture some of the same love that was bestowed on similar demo skewed picture, IT'S COMPLICATED. A $12 million five-day start is about $14 million shy there. Still, a tepid reaction to a romantic comedy is not as tragic as a heavily uninterested reaction to a sci-fi thriller with high hopes. SKYLINE was unable to tap into the geek market that makes so many a film successful these days with it's $11.7 million start. Fortunately, its reported budget is just about $10 million so everything from here is space gravy, assuming such a thing exists.

Two well received platform releases continued strong expansions. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn reteam to see FAIR GAME increase over 65%, hitting $1.1 million on 175 screens. Danny Boyle could be poised to see another hit, as 127 HOURS added 18 screens for a grand total of 22 and saw a 77% increase and a $20K+ per screen average. I don't see the film finding as much Oscar love as his Best Picture winner, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, but James Franco's personal buzz and the intrigue created by more people requiring medical attention at intense screenings should guarantee continued interest for some time to come.

NEXT WEEK: Russell Crowe hopes recent attention in adult fare will spoil over to his latest excursion, THE NEXT THREE DAYS on 2500+ screens. Look for the Black Sheep interview with director, Paul Haggis, to follow next weekend as well. Crowe might get lucky considering all the kids will be elsewhere, with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (PART ONE) opening on over 4000+ screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

Happy Halloween! I hope you go out there today and scare the crap out of people safely. I also hope you've Halloween'd it up all weekend really because this is the last time you will ever get the chance to. With the final chapter of the SAW series bowing in theatres this weekend, this must also be the last Halloween. It just won't be Halloween next year without SAW, after all.

At least SAW 3D gets to end the series on a reasonably successful note. Last year, SAW's consistently successful streak came to an end when PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, whose second installment suffered a much more regular second week horror decline this year, obliterated it on Halloween weekend. At $24 million, it has nearly matched the entire domestic run of the last film, which finished its pathetic showing with $27 million. The opening itself is about $10 million more as well but the majority of SAW 3D's screens are 3D screens and we all know how much more expensive those can be. SAW II remains the most successful of the franchise with a total domestic gross of $87 million. And SAW III holds the bragging rights to the biggest SAW opening weekend with $33.6 million. Still, SAW 3D boasts the third lowest opening weekend after SAW VI and the first SAW, obviously an untested product at the time. So, SAW 3D saves a little face but not too much. Considering the amount of faces that are mutilated in the film, that's fairly fitting. (For reviews of the latest SAW, click anywhere you see the title.)

Another franchise that continues to underwhelm is the Steig Larsson "girl" series, if you will. Final chapter, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, opened to $915K, the highest debut for the series in North America but it did so with the lowest per screen average amongst the three (approximately $6K compared to over $8.3K for THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE and nearly $10K for THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO). People apparently care to read books but not movies. I'm glad to see we have segmented our activities so strictly. (For reviews of all three films, click the film appropriate title.)

There isn't much other Top 10 news this weekend. Hilary Swank drama, CONVICTION whimpered its way in with a lackluster wide showing. And JACKASS 3D kicked it past the $100 million mark. I'm very proud.

NEXT WEEK: Things get a little busier again. The horror flicks will suffer huge declines to make way for DUE DATE, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis and directed by Todd Phillips, the dude who did THE HANGOVER, on 3200 screens. Even bigger still is the Will Ferrell/Brad Pitt-voiced animated film, MEGAMIND, on 3500 screens. Tyler Perry's first R-rated venture, FOR COLORED GIRLS, opens modestly on 2000 screens. And there are a couple of high profile platform releases as well. The Sean Penn/Naomi Watts thriller, FAIR GAME, debuts on 35 screens. While Danny Boyle's follow-up to the Oscar winning, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, 127 HOURS, starring Oscar-buzzed James Franco, opens on 4 screens.

Reviews are available for 127 HOURS, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and THE HANGOVER by clicking the titles. Reviews for DUE DATE and FOR COLORED GIRLS are coming to Black Sheep next weekend.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

The mad party continues this weekend at Paramount Studios. Not only have they replaced themselves at the top of the Box Office but they now lay claim to both the best and fifth best October openings of all time. Now, I was under the impression that audiences would have found a sequel to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY to be a little too much but audiences have once again proven that I don't know them at all. Instead, the film opened to $41.5 million and an impressive per screen average of more than $12K. JACKASS 3D follows in second with a strong second week take of $21.5 million for an $87 million haul. It has already outgrossed both of the previous JACKASS films.

I saw the first PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. I admired what they were able to accomplish on such a small budget but truly felt the gimmick was pretty thin. Whatever they did to beef up the scares in the sequel must have worked because the $41.5 million take is almost double what the first film did on its biggest weekend. So now that the film has proven its franchise possibilities, the only question remains whether it will repeat its other greatest feat from last year - stealing all the Halloween gore freaks away from SAW, which bows in its supposedly final installment next weekend. Question: If it isn't Halloween if it isn't SAW, and SAW is gone after this year, does that mean this Halloween will be our last?

There is very little activity, paranormal or otherwise, below the Top 10 this weekend but Clint Eastwood's HEREAFTER makes its inevitable leap from 24th place on just 6 screens last week to a modest fourth place finish. Mixed reviews seem to have left audiences almost as cold as the film itself. Still, at $12 million, HEREAFTER is $4 million ahead of what Eastwood's last directorial effort, INVICTUS, did on its opening weekend on a similar amount of screens. (Click the film title for the Black Sheep review.)

NEXT WEEK: Even though the SAW franchise crashed and burned last year, the last installment, SAW 3D, opens unopposed next weekend on 2700+ screens. I'm betting the 3D element and the closing of the series will give the franchise the edge it needs to beat PARANORMAL ACTIVITY this year. And sneaking onto 130 screens is that pesky girl again. You know the one I'm talking about. This time, she's THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

Really? A $50 million opening weekend for a third JACKASS installment. I will admit to watching and laughing whole heartedly at the first JACKASS but that was after a drink or five and I was in the privacy of my own living room. It was also eight years ago. How are we not over this by now? Not only are we not over this but $50 million is more than double what the first installment pulled in on opening weekend and $20 million more than JACKASS: NUMBER TWO pulled in its opening weekend in 2006. Thank God for 3D, right? This revolution in cinema has allowed for great film franchises like JACKASS to flourish! Is this what you had in mind, Mr. Cameron?

I wasn't able to catch RED this weekend but I hear great things and $22 million is a strong second place showing for this adult action-comedy. Together, RED and JACKASS 3D took THE SOCIAL NETWORK down to the third spot. Still, with less than a 30% drop for the second week in a row, this David Fincher film is clearly striking a chord that will help its chances come awards season. I mean, it isn't JACKASS 3D big but we can't expect intelligent film to do the same kind of business as films where people tie remote control helicopters to the ends of their penises with strings, now can we?

IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY is apparently not so funny to anyone else either. The Zach Galifianakis dramedy has stalled in 12th place in its second week with a 37% drop. Documentary, WAITING FOR SUPERMAN and Edward Norton/Robert Deniro thriller, STONE, continue to expand strongly. Hilary Swank vehicle, CONVICTION, opens to a less than convincing $10K per screen average on 11 screens. Meanwhile, John Lennon film, NOWHERE BOY, sees its grosses blow up by 570% after adding 200+ screens. Still, the biggest art house success of the week is not surprisingly, Clint Eastwood's latest, HEREAFTER. The Black Sheep review will be coming next week but this weekend, on just 6 screens, the Matt Damon led film pulled in over $230K for an average of $38,500 per screen. Word is still out on the film's afterlife.

NEXT WEEK: HEREAFTER goes ultra wide on 2200 screens and takes on another spookfest, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 opening on 2900 screens. Two films dealing with what happens to us after we're dead, two very different films I'm sure. Who knows though? Eastwood could easily be the ghost in PA2 for all we know.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

Before the weekend started, early predictions were that THE SOCIAL NETWORK would debut on top with approximately $27 million. That seemed a little low for me. Everyone I knew wanted to see this movie but apparently couldn't pull themselves away from Facebook to see the film opening weekend. It still debuted on top but came in on the lower end of expectations with $23 million. Still, the response to the film has been phenomenal from both audiences and critics alike so the David Fincher film should have strong legs in the weeks ahead. Last week's champ, WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS suffered a sizable 46% drop with this new kid in town.

Other debuts this week might as well not have bothered. Considering it was being dumped anyway, the Renee Zellwegger dud, CASE 39, shouldn't mind coming in 7th place. That said, coming in below that is pretty embarrassing for Matt Reeves' LET ME IN. I would say that purists refused to see the remake but it wasn't made for them anyway.

Below the Top 10, CATFISH (+34%), WAITING FOR SUPERMAN (+192%) and YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER (+45%) saw solid increases follow their modest expansions. BURIED and NEVER LET ME GO slowed somewhat. Both pictures are still expected to go wider next week, much wider.

NEXT WEEK: What a dreadful week to go to the movies next week. Catch something you missed because I see no reason to get excited about the Katherine Heigl comedy, LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (3100 screens) or the Diane Lane horse movie, SECRETARIAT (2500 screens). Of course you could catch MY SOUL TO TAKE in 3D. Who doesn't love horror flying off the screen at you? Even the art house crowd gets shafted with the big disappointment, IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY. Better luck the week after I guess.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

The Black Sheep Box Office report is back and fashionably late I'm afraid. Technical issues prevented me from getting this up yesterday but I thought I'd give it another go this morning and here we are. I'm pleased to be able to bring the box office reporting back this week because there is a lot going on at the multiplexes.

Oliver Stone returns with WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS at number one, giving Shia LaBeouf his sixth straight number one opener. Adult fare proves once again that it isn't dead yet but the sequel to the 1989 hit only registered a per screen average of $5.3K, less than the $5.6K of last week's champ, THE TOWN, which falls to third place ( or possibly second after the actual figures come in later today), with the smallest decline of any film in the Top 10. Number one is all about bragging rights though and that's all WALL STREET needed to look like a success.

Director Zach Snyder had to settle for second place with his first foray into animated film, LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS. To be honest, I don't even know what the rest of the title of this movie is. I do know it's long and ridiculous and it isn't the least bit surprising to me that this owl movie did not take off at the box office. It just looked so lifeless to me from the trailers. Sorry owls, you are not cool.

Owls, you are however cooler than Kristin Bell. Disney has been heavily promoting her comedy, YOU AGAIN, co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver but it would appear that discerning audiences were able to spot the rental in disguise. And with a fifth place finish like this one, it will be available to rent in no time.

A number of high profile art house films were released this week and succeeded to varying degrees. The biggest of the bunch was Davis Guggenheim's follow-up to his Academy Award winning documentary, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, about the state of the American education system. The film pulled in an average of over $35K on just 4 screens. And with an impressive average of $27K on just 6 screens, Woody Allen's YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER makes it's debut. Allen is consistently bashed each time he releases a film for being washed up but yet his fans are clearly a loyal lot.

Documentary filmmakers, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman try their hand at narrative film with the James Franco/Jon Hamm drama, HOWL, based on the poet Allan Ginsberg's indecency trial. It's $9K per screen average is solid but good word of mouth will be needed to help it's expansion. The same will be necessary for Rodrigo Cortes's BURIED, starring Ryan Reynolds. The genre picture opened to $9.5K on 11 screens and Lionsgate plans on going wide in a couple of weeks. Hopefully Reynolds's winning personality will help it play past the artsy crowd as they didn't jump at his man in a box trick.

Finally, in expansion news, Mark Romanek's NEVER LET ME GO, added 22 screens for a grand total of 26 and saw a 120% increase in ticket sales. Like BURIED, the pic goes wide in a couple of weeks and is hoping to build a quiet buzz to get there. And one of my favourite docs this year, CATFISH, also manages a successful second week expansion with an 83% increase after adding 45 screens. Don't miss it if it is playing in your hood.

NEXT WEEK: I told you there was a lot going on this week and next week is no different really. High profile films like the Matt Reeves remake, LET ME IN, bows on 2000 screens and Renee Zellwegger is back on 2000 screens with CASE 39. Before October scares us completely though, the supposed movie of the year, THE SOCIAL NETWORK hopes to make good on its hype on over 2700 screens.

Source: Box Office Mojo

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Black Sheep presents Summer Box Office Review

I've made little effort to hide my disdain for this summer's film offerings and after looking back at the box office business these films pulled in, it is pretty clear to me that you all were none too pleased as well.  This summer provided some bonafide hits but more often than not just produced mid-range success and disappointment.  2010 proved to be profitable for most (Sorry, Scott Pilgrim), pulling in a combined domestic haul of $4.35 billion, up 2.4% over last year.  Of course, you're all thinking about how much more expensive it is to see movies these days, especially the one's that pop out at you and you're right.  Ticket prices in North America increased on average 38 cents over 2009, a 5% increase.  These figures are what make the next one's more disturbing.  Theatre attendance is down for the third year in a row, dropping 2.6% this summer, down to 552 million tickets sold.  Sure, that is still an incredible amount of filmgoers but consider that 566 million tickets were sold in 2009 and 580 million the summer before that.  With most movies making their money back and then some once you take foreign grosses into consideration, I doubt Hollywood will heed these troubling forecasts.  Why push yourself to do better when what you're already doing puts the money in the bank?

This suit doesn't come cheap, y'know.

Paramount Pictures put the most money in the bank this summer, commanding 20% of the market share.  Walt Disney Pictures came in second place with a 16% share; and Sony finished in third with 15%.  Paramount's lead was established early when the first tent pole of the summer, IRON MAN 2 opened to $128 million, finishing with $312 million domestically and $621 million globally.  The domestic gross is a little shy of the first film's total but exceeds globally by about $35 million.  This is pretty solid follow-up business but considering the second cost about $60 million more to make, I'm sure expectations were higher.  Their second big hit needed the rest of the world to justify its existence.  SHREK FOREVER AFTER, the supposed last chapter in the series, finished the summer in second place globally but a disappointing sixth place domestically.  It's fate was sealed domestically when it opened to about $50 million less than the last installment.  Still, a $540m+ profit is a lot of green.

Don't look so surprised.

When TOY STORY 3 surpassed the billion dollar mark globally this past week, Disney became the only studio in history to command two billion dollar performances in the same year, along with the spring success of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.  TOY STORY 3 is the big winner across every board imaginable.  Not only did it become Pixar's biggest opener and total grosser, it is also the number one film both domestically and globally.  Perhaps even more importantly, it is the biggest animated film in history and was universally considered by critics to be the best film of the summer.  Bravo Woody & Buzz!   Meanwhile, if foreign markets didn't love action films so much, PRINCE OF PERSIA would have been a big embarrassment for Disney.  The Jake Gyllenhaal mess (I saw it; it is very messy - sorry, Jake.) only cracked $90 million domestically but finished with $330 million overall, which is good considering it reportedly cost $200 million to make.  The same can be said of THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE, which made only $61 million domestically and cost $150 million to make.  Jerry Bruckheimer needs to thank someone out there for the extra $100 million that came from abroad.

Maybe you can afford clothes that fit now.

Sony surprised me with both the global and domestic success of THE KARATE KID.  Coming in seventh place on both fronts, the film only cost about $40 million to make and took in a profit of $278 million.  Sony also scored solid success with the Angelina Jolie spy thriller, SALT, and the Adam Sandler ensemble comedy, GROWN-UPS.  Neither necessarily blew up but both performed well enough to make the Top 10 domestically.

Well worth all that trouble.

Warner Brothers had a hard time this summer (see the biggest box office flop list below).  SEX AND THE CITY 2 seemed like it was going to perform on par with the first installment but ended up pulling in about $65 million less domestically.  It also made approximately $125 million less globally but still managed a profit of $190 million as a result of foreign markets.  Fortunately, Warner made up for that misstep with one of the most celebrated films of the summer, INCEPTION.  The Christopher Nolan smash finished third globally with a whopping $695 million and it's not even done yet.  Budgeted at $160 million, that is an impressive $535 million profit.  And given its reputation as the smartest film released this summer, people will likely remember it come awards season too so Warner Brothers will be dreaming of money for some time to come.

More vampire movies need scenes in flowery fields.

Only two other titles deserve significant mention before I wrap things up here.  The first was another big surprise for me.  I saw DESPICABLE ME.  I thought it was cute at best.  And yet somehow, Universal turned it into a $309 million global hit.  More impressively, it beat that big green ogre movie domestically.  And of course, how could I not mention all those crazy teenage vampires and werewolves?  THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE has yet to finish its run but has earned about $54 million less than the last outing did so it would appear interest may be waning.  I realize this is wishful thinking.  And as for the most profitable indie hit this summer, that honour goes to THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, which pulled in about $20 million domestically and cost about $4 million to make.  It was definitely one of the very few highlights of my summer at the movies.

It wouldn't be a summer box office review if there weren't a run down of the season's biggest flops.  In a summer overrun with disappointment, you really have to fall flat to be a bomb and these ones really hit the ground hard.  The biggest money losers domestically this summer were:

1. JONAH HEX

WARNER BROS.

ESTIMATED LOSS: $37 MILLION

2. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

UNIVERSAL

EST. LOSS: $25 MILLION

3. CHARLIE ST. CLOUD

UNIVERSAL

EST. LOSS: $13 MILLION

Thanks for joining me at this final look back at the summer that was 2010.  It will not be missed.  The regular box office report will return after TIFF.  To read any of the reviews for films in this article, just scroll over the title and click if it's a link.

SOURCES:

The Hollywood Reporter

Box Office Mojo

Bloomberg.com

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