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Posted February 13, 2012 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Weekend Box-Office: A Weekend for Lovers as The Vow Makes a Strong Debut

It was a strong weekend at the pre-Valentine’s Day box office, well up from last week, with four new films not only topping the first-place finisher from last week, but nearly blowing it out of the water. The big winner, the romantic drama The Vow, made an estimated $41.7 million, almost twice as much as Chronicle, which made $22 million last week (and landed in fifth this week with an estimated $12.3 million). Amazingly, both films scored profitability in their first weekends in domestic terms alone, The Vow costing $30 million to make and Chronicle $12 million. The same couldn’t be said of the $85 million budgeted Safe House, but the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller still had an impressive showing with an estimated $39.3 million.

Although it would appear Journey 2: The Mysterious Island could’ve done much better, its estimated $27.6 million in ticket sales, 3D and otherwise, was overshadowed by its overseas performance, the $79 million budgeted film making $74.7 million in foreign box office alone. However, things didn’t fare too badly from the 3D re-release of the much-maligned Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Though it certainly failed to live up to its original $64 million opening weekend in 1999 (and hasn’t fared well against other recent 3D re-releases), its estimated $23 million this weekend alone was a better start than the newer Lucasfilm production Red Tails’ $18 million opening weekend, and more than likely suggests that the planned 3D re-releases of the other films in the Star Wars franchise will go on as scheduled.

The Woman in Black has dropped off rather quickly, only earning an estimated $10.3 million in its second weekend, as has The Grey, its initial strong opening dwindling to only an estimated $5.1 million this weekend and $42.8 million in overall earnings. Not that either film is a failure…The Woman in Black only cost $13 million to make, and The Grey $25 million…but with high praise for The Grey both critically and from audiences, its quick drop-off is somewhat surprising. Perhaps it could benefit from Oscar buzz later on in 2012 and a re-release, like The Descendants, which made an estimated $3.5 million and has grossed over $70.7 million domestically, thanks mostly in part to a second wide-release after snapping up a handful of Award nominations. Unfortunately, the ill-titled Big Miracle doesn’t seem to have a miracle coming its way…the lukewarm-reviewed heart warmer made a paltry estimated $3.9 million for weekend number two, and its $13.2 million in total gross (all of it domestic) pales against its fairly large $40 million budget.

And lastly, Underworld: Awakening would appear sequel ready…though its weekend estimates of $2.5 million and domestic gross of $58.9 million doesn’t stack up against its $70 million budget, it has more than made up for it in foreign box office, with an overseas take of $71.1 million. Despite critical bashing, the Underworld franchise lives up to its vampire roots and doesn’t appear ready to die off anytime soon.

Weekend Box-Office (February 10th – February 12th)

  1. The Vow…$41.7 million
  2. Safe House…$39.3 million
  3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island…$27.6 million
  4. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace…$23 million
  5. Chronicle…$12.3 million
  6. The Woman in Black…$10.3 million
  7. The Grey…$5.1 million
  8. Big Miracle…$3.9 million
  9. The Descendants…$3.5 million
  10. Underworld: Awakening…$2.5 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."