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Posted April 8, 2013 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: In Gore vs. Guns, Evil Dead Triumphs Over G.I. Joe

Evil DeadHaving missed the weekend in which G.I. Joe: Retaliation took charge of the box office thanks to a horrific flu (though to be fair, no movie was responsible for that condition), Box Office Weekend returns only to report that the sequel has been upended, both critically and financially, by the remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic Evil Dead. Scoring a strong estimated $26 million in revenue, the film has been impressing critics and managed to profit in its debut weekend ($17 million production costs). G.I. Joe: Retaliation had to settle in a close tie with The Croods, both films earning an estimated $21.1 million. The Croods, however, has the advantage of an extra week at the box office, which has given it a domestic total of $125.8 million, almost enough to break the film even on costs, while G.I. Joe: Retaliation has quite a ways to go domestically with its $86.7 million domestic earnings, and unlikely to break even in homegrown ticket sales. Both films have done very well overseas, as is typical for big budget action films and CG animated fare alike, so regardless of reviews or domestic revenue neither will be hurting in the long run.

While it may have made its 3D conversion costs, back, Jurassic Park 3D shows the diminishing returns that are accompanying the 3D re-release, its estimated $18.2 million far below the take from the opening weekends of The Phantom Menace 3D and Titanic 3D. Just below it, Olympus Has Fallen broke even after gaining an estimated $10 million in its third week of release, and Tyler Perry continues his streak of critically panned but audience approved ventures as Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor rounded up an estimated $10 million for $38.4 million in overall revenue. While not one of his top earners (it is actually one of his lesser efforts), its opening last week was in line with his previous efforts, meaning even if this latest film underperforms, Perry can still pull in enough of a crowd on opening day to make good on his relatively low-budget investments.

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Oz the Great and Powerful made an estimated $8.2 million, and though its worldwide sales has long since made it profitable, it has nearly broken even on its whopping $215 million budget with a $212.8 million domestic take. It casts a long shadow over The Host; the Stephenie Meyer sci-fi romance may end up a minor bomb, its estimated $5.2 million putting it still a long ways from its $40 million costs, a gap which not even overseas numbers can close. The Call, even though it sits near the bottom of the list, has done well on its own terms in four weeks, making back triple its costs and an estimated $3.5 million this week alone. Admission is now a winner as well, the $13 million film earning a domestic total of $15.4 million and an estimated $2.1 million this weekend.

Weekend Box Office (April 5th – April 7th)

  1. Evil Dead…$26 million
  2. G.I. Joe: Retaliation…$21.1 million
  3. The Croods…$21.1 million
  4. Jurassic Park 3D…$18.2 million
  5. Olympus Has Fallen…$10 million
  6. Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor…$10 million
  7. Oz the Great and Powerful…$8.2 million
  8. The Host…$5.2 million
  9. The Call…$3.5 million
  10. Admission…$2.1 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."