CinemaNerdz

Weekend Box-Office: The Expendables 2 Tops the Box Office, But with an Opening Less Stellar Than Its Cast

Seth Paul

With a lineup of legendary action heroes (including a handful who only made cameos in the first film in the series), hype was big for The Expendables 2, and critically was more well-regarded than the first film. However, it did not translate into big money as, while The Expendables 2 opened at the top of this week’s list, it only made an estimated $28.8 million, about $6 million short of its predecessor, and only a fourth of its estimated budget. While The Bourne Legacy did take a financial tumble for the number two slot at an estimated $17 million, it has managed to work up a bit of business during the week, with a domestic total of $69.6 million…not quite the $125 million it cost to make, but more than its critical reception and last weekend’s performance seemed capable of making up. More family-friendly fun could be found in ParaNorman, who, like The Expendables 2, seem to be more critically well-received than their earnings are making up, with only an estimated $14 million. Regardless of its currently unavailable budget costs, it is highly unlikely that it has broken even…especially considering the film is showing in 3D.

The Campaign bounced to fourth place, though it appears to be more financially well-off than its competition…with an estimated $13.4 million the Will Ferrell and Zack Galifianakis comedy has earned $51.7 million domestically, bringing it quite close to its $56 million budget costs. Sparkle, the remake of the 1976 film of the same name, also proved successful considering its costs and mixed reviews, making an estimated $12 million on a $14 million budget. And, really, who can doubt the power of The Dark Knight Rises? At an estimated $11.1 million, it finally surpassed The Hunger Games as the second-highest domestic earner of 2012 with $409.9 million and a handsome chunk of change abroad.

Oddly, the bottom four films have a “youth vs. experience” fight going on, with the first two having experience winning in the long run…The Odd Life of Timothy Green may hold a higher spot than Hope Springs (estimates of $10.9 and $9.1 million, respectively), but in terms of critical reception and earnings, Hope Springs holds both. Hope Springs has already surpassed its $30 million budget in two weeks, while The Odd Life of Timothy Green has a lot of ground to make up on its $40 million budget and its negative reviews. Below them, the more kid-friendly Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days earned an estimated $3.9 million and is a box office success on its own terms ($38.8 million domestic over a $22 million budget), while the more adult-oriented remake of the sci-fi action-fest Total Recall fails to live up to expectations in any market, dropping like a stone to tenth in three weeks and an estimated $3.5 million, making a worldwide total of $110 million against its $125 million budget.

Weekend Box-Office (August 17th – August 19th)

  1. The Expendables 2…$28.8 million
  2. The Bourne Legacy…$17 million
  3. ParaNorman…$14 million
  4. The Campaign…$13.4 million
  5. Sparkle…$12 million
  6. The Dark Knight Rises…$11.1 million
  7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green…$10.9
  8. Hope Springs…$9.1 million
  9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days…$8.2 million
  10. Total Recall…$3.5 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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