THE BOX OFFICE REPORT: JULY 8

Let’s get right to it, shall we…

1. The Amazing Spider-Man – $65 ($140 since opening on Tuesday)

There are a few ways to look at this performance from Marc Webb’s reboot. Sitting at a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes (and an A- Cinemascore) the film was a surprise success critically, as doubters were aplenty leading up to its release. The $65 million over the 3 days is higher than the comparative film of X-Men: First Class ($55 million), another reboot of a franchise that had only recently debuted. The $140 million over its first six days is also only $4 million less than the original Spider-Man‘s opening time frame, although this one had the advantage of both IMAX and 3D pricing on tickets. Overall, I think that the filmmakers and producers have to be happy with its debut, especially its individual record that it set by having the largest Tuesday opening day ever (beating out Transformers). Strong word-of-mouth (like, say, this) should help it next week with adults when the only wide release is the fourth film of the Ice Age franchise and the film should clear $200 million by the time that Batman takes over movie theaters in just 11 days.

2. Ted - $32.6 ($120.2 total)

Seth Macfarlane’s comedy continues to impress at the box office (even though it failed to impress some reviewers, namely me!), safely crossing the century mark in its second week in theaters. At this rate, the film should move closer and closer to the $200 million mark, which would make it only the 5th R-rated comedy ever to reach that plateau (both Hangover films, Beverly Hills Cop, and Wedding Crashers reached that milestone). You gotta admit, that’s a much better performance than many expected and you have to take your hat off to Macfarlane for creating something original and running with it.

3. Brave – $20.1 ($174.5 total)

The Pixar film dipped a little less than normal this week (most likely due to the 4th of July holiday) but with next week’s Ice Age film coming out, expect it drop a bit more next weekend. It’s held on a bit better than I’d expected and it still has a good shot at $200 million, which surprises me greatly. It won’t be a hit like Pixar’s greatest successes were, but it didn’t flop a la Cars 2, so Pixar has to be a bit satisfied with it.

4. Savages – $16.1 (first week)

Finally, Riggins didn’t bomb! The Taylor Kitsch-starring vehicle (also featuring Blake Lively, Benicio del Toro, John Travolta, and Salma Hayek) performed pretty well for a serious R-rated drug/violence film. Without similar films on the horizon, it’s very possible for the film to make back its budget (a mere $45 million) and allow Kitsch to shrug off theJohn Carter/Battleship stink that he has on him (although neither the failures of those films nor the success of this one are completely on him… he just happens to be at the front of the posters!). It was also Oliver Stone’s best opening for an R-rated film so even Stone was able to have some luck this weekend.

5. Magic Mike – $15.6 ($72.8 million total)

The fact that this film is on it’s way to (or even sniffing) $100 million is pretty damn impressive. That’s all I have to say about that.

6. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection – $10.2 ($45.8 total)

On pace to be Perry’s 3rd or 4th highest film. Ugh. Moving on…

7. Madagascar 3 – $7.7 ($196 total)

Now the highest grossing film of the franchise. Any guesses on when the 4th film will hit theaters (I have the over/under set at 2015).

8. Katy Perry: Part of Me – $7.1 ($10.2 since opening on Thursday)

The pop singer’s concert/documentary/whatever was DOA up against Spidey and Co. The film debuted to lower numbers than similar looking films from Justin Bieber (not surprising), Michael Jackson (who was already dead upon its release) and even The Jonas Brothers (ouch). It will still exceed its budget (these types of movies are certainly not expensive to make) so it will be a success in that regard but it certainly wasn’t a rousing win for the singer.

9. Moonrise Kingdom – $4.6 ($26.9 total)

Wes Anderson’s film continues to impress in limited release.

10. To Rome with Love – $3.5 ($5.6 total)

Woody Allen’s most recent comedy expanded nationwide (but still in limited released) and had itself a nice weekend. The movie’s total reached $5.6 million, and by next weekend it will become Sony Pictures Classics’ top movie since Allen’s last outing, Midnight in Paris. While not a fan of the man’s work myself, it’s still impressive that he has such a devoted audience who comes out to check out his most recent offerings.

———————————–

Well that’s it for this week. Like I’ve mentioned before, next week has only one new release slated for wide release (Ice Age 4: No I Won’t Use the Rest of the Title) and it should even have the power to take Spidey out of first. While the first and third films opened in the low $40 million range, the second debuted in the high $60′s and I expect this one to be somewhere in the middle, probably eclipsing $50 when all is said and done next weekend. But I guess we will just have to wait and see…

Until next Sunday/Monday!