CinemaNerdz

Weekend Box-Office: 21 Jump Street Not Showing Its Age

Seth Paul

Johnny Depp isn’t slated to return to the big screen just yet…Dark Shadows hits theaters in May…but the show that practically launched his career made a comeback in a big way this weekend. 21 Jump Street made a splash at the box office with $36.3 million, the action comedy scoring well with audiences and critics alike, and more than enough to finally send Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax down to second place with $22.8 million. Unfortunately, things are looking bad for John Carter…though it finished in a respectable third, its profits dropped to $13.6 million for the weekend, meaning the $250 million sci-fi adventure has only managed to scrape together $53 million in two weeks…not exactly the sort of money Disney was looking to make back. However, the film is seeing a bit of a boost from the overseas market, with $126.1 million in foreign gross giving it, if not a shot in the arm, at least a little life support.

Project X fell to fourth with $4 million, the biggest drop of any top ten film of the weekend, but at $48.2 million in total domestic gross it is still far and away a financial success, as was Act of Valor, which made $3.8 million and $62.5 million in domestic gross in four weeks. A Thousand Words made $3.6 million, but unlike these other two films, the four-year delayed Eddie Murphy comedy appears to have been delayed for good reason, as in two weeks it has only made $12 million domestic against its $40 million price tag and remains very unpopular with critics.

The last few entries belong to some powerhouse hits, one mediocre performance, and a fairly strong up and comer. Safe House and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island round out their successful runs with $2.7 million and $2.4 million this weekend, respectively, while This Means War made $2.1 million and fell short of domestic profitability in five weeks, only making $50.5 million against its $65 million budget (though its overseas performance has certainly kept it in decent enough standing overall). However, ninth place went to the debut of Casa de Mi Padre, the new comedy from the partnership of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Performed entirely in Spanish, the Mexican soap opera parody opened in 382 theaters to $2.3 million on a reported $6.6 million budget. Whether this spells wider release or not, it is still an impressive opening for an independent film with its deliberately quirky audience appeal.

Weekend Box-Office (March 16th – March 18th)

  1. 21 Jump Street…$36.3 million
  2. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax…$22.8 million
  3. John Carter…$13.6 million
  4. Project X…$4 million
  5. Act of Valor…$3.8 million
  6. A Thousand Words…$3.6 million
  7. Safe House…$2.7 million
  8. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island …$2.4 million
  9. Casa de Mi Padre…$2.3 million
  10. This Means War…$2.1 million

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."
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