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)
- The Vow…$41.7 million
- Safe House…$39.3 million
- Journey 2: The Mysterious Island…$27.6 million
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace…$23 million
- Chronicle…$12.3 million
- The Woman in Black…$10.3 million
- The Grey…$5.1 million
- Big Miracle…$3.9 million
- The Descendants…$3.5 million
- Underworld: Awakening…$2.5 million
Seth Paul
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