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Posted March 30, 2011 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Weekend Box-Office: Rodrick Rules Over Sucker Punch

The top ten welcomed two new films this weekend, both of them debuting in the two top spots, though if you were to ask the critics, you wouldn’t have been missing much. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules took the #1 spot, earning $24.4 million, placing it solidly ahead of Sucker Punch which took in $19 million. Rodrick is the sequel to last year’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid and continues the story of Greg Heffley and his misadventures in middle school, while Sucker Punch tells the tale of several women trapped in an asylum seeking freedom via worlds created in their minds. Rodrick has already earned back its budget, while the critical reception of Sucker Punch may keep it from breaking even on its $82 million production cost.

Limitless and The Lincoln Lawyer move down the charts, but suffered relatively low losses in overall revenue, with less than a 20% drop for each of them. Limitless made $15.2 million and has proven a profitable film in only its second week, while Lincoln Lawyer still has a little ways to go, with $11 million this weekend and only another $10 million to go. Both have gotten more favorable reviews than this weekend’s debuts overall.

Rango and Battle: Los Angeles have dropped off in earnings, but both have also proven big winners, with Rango the current top earner overall domestically, breaking $100 million with a decent $9.8 million this weekend. Battle has proven itself a success overseas, and while it did pick up $7.6 million this weekend, 40% of its total worldwide gross comes from international markets … not bad for a film that’s made $72.5 domestically.

Paul, however, is falling short domestically, making $7.5 million (it has done well overall), though not quite as badly as Red Riding Hood ($4.3 million), which has yet to show a profit in any market. The Adjustment Bureau has probably not done as well as expected, considering the star power it boasts, but its $4.2 million this weekend was enough to put it over the top domestically.

But Mars Needs Moms, just making the list in the final spot, has bombed … with a nearly 60% drop in revenue from last week, it has made $2.2 million this weekend, and has only made $19.1 million overall (only slightly more than Sucker Punch in its debut). With a lackluster performance overseas, the $150 million budget looks unobtainable at this stage.

Weekend Box Office (March 25 – March 27)

  1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules…$24.4 million
  2. Sucker Punch…$19 million
  3. Limitless…$15.2 million
  4. The Lincoln Lawyer…$11 million
  5. Rango…$9.8 million
  6. Battle: Los Angeles…$7.6 million
  7. Paul…$7.5 million
  8. Red Riding Hood…$4.3 million
  9. The Adjustment Bureau…$4.2 million
  10. Mars Needs Moms…$2.2 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."