Fortune favors Brave!
Thanks to fire-topped Scottish princess Merida, Pixar now has their 13th #1 opening in a row with their 3D tale BRAVE. The adventurous young archer hit the bullseye at the top of the chart with $66.7 million.
That opening weekend total is just a bit behind Pixar’s UP ($68.1M), THE INCREDIBLES ($70.4M) and FINDING NEMO ($70.2M), but ahead of last summer’s CARS 2 ($66.1M). It’s also the second-biggest June opening for an animated release, behind (unsurprisingly) Pixar’s own TOY STORY 3, which arrived two years ago to $110 million. Nearly all of Pixar’s movies have also found their way past $200M, and BRAVE’s positive reception (a grade ‘A’ CinemaScore from audiences) should help push it there as well.
After ruling the top for the past two weeks, MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED had to settle for second with $20.2M in the face of Pixar’s CG competition. While the wild beasts may have to struggle to the $200M mark domesically, Ben Stiller and his animal buddies have already gathered $365M worldwide.
The same can’t be said for the weekend’s other new release, the R-rated history rewrite ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER. One of America’s greatest presidents may have been secretly skilled at battling bloodsuckers, but he fell under a hail of Merida’s arrows (and a stampede of paws and hooves from last week’s box office champ), opening to just $16.5 million.
The outlandish action flick from WANTED director Timur Bekmambetov probably won’t stick around too long either, judging by the less-than-stellar ‘C+’ CinemaScore that paying crowds graded it. Do you think a bigger star would’ve helped, or was this concept just highly questionable from the start? Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (who also penned the mashup novel) has had a rough summer, especially when it comes to vampires — he also worked on the script for the Depp stinker DARK SHADOWS.
Word-of-mouth isn’t assisting Ridley Scott’s PROMETHEUS either, as the divisive sci-fi journey dropped another 50+% of business with a $10 million weekend. It’s done well overseas though, adding $152M to its domestic $108.5M total. Will we see Scott continue revisiting the ALIEN franchise again with more space-Noomi adventures before his retirement? Or will he instead make curious creative decisions with more BLADE RUNNER?
ROCK OF AGES continues to crumble, further demonstrating (along with Adam Sandler’s THAT’S MY BOY) this summer that high-profile stars absolutely do not equal box-office gold. SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN is still putting up a decent fight, but THE AVENGERS give a lesson in staying power as the Marvel heroes continue to hold position in the Top 10 after two full months in theaters. As it inches toward $600M in the US, the movie remains #3 for both the domestic and worldwide all-time moneymakers, but it’s far enough away from TITANIC and AVATAR that James Cameron can probably breathe easy (assuming he’s not underwater at the moment).
Steve Carell’s low-budget apocalyptic romcom SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD couldn’t find many friends, landing in 10th place with a mere $3.8M — still enough to nudge other alternative entertainment offerings MOONRISE KINGDOM and THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL off the chart.
Next weekend brings a bunch of wildly different options: Channing Tatum’s male stripper story MAGIC MIKE (from director Steven Soderbergh), the drama PEOPLE LIKE US from STAR TREK co-writer Alex Kurtzman (starring captain Chris Pine), “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane’s R-rated teddy bear comedy TED, and the cross-dressing antics of TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S WITNESS PROTECTION. Choose wisely.
1. Brave | $ 66.7 Million | NEW |
2. Madagascar 3 | $ 20.2 Million | $ 157.6 Million |
3. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | $ 16.5 Million | NEW |
4. Prometheus | $ 10.0 Million | $ 108.5 Million |
5. Rock of Ages | $ 8.0 Million | $ 28.7 Million |
6. Snow White and the Huntsman | $ 8.0 Million | $ 137.1 Million |
7. That’s My Boy | $ 7.9 Million | $ 28.2 Million |
8. The Avengers | $ 7.0 Million | $ 598.3 Million |
9. Men in Black 3 | $ 5.6 Million | $ 163.3 Million |
10. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | $ 3.8 Million | NEW |
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brave | $66.7 M | NEW |
| 2 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | $20.2 M | $157.5 M |
| 3 | Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | $16.5 M | NEW |
| 4 | Prometheus | $10 M | $108.5 M |
| 5 | Rock of Ages | $8 M | $28.7 M |
| 6 | That's My Boy | $7.9 M | $28.1 M |
| 7 | Snow White and the Huntsman | $8 M | $137.1 M |
| 8 | The Avengers | $7 M | $598.3 M |
| 9 | Men in Black III | $5.6 M | $163.3 M |
| 10 | Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | $3.8 M | NEW |