CinemaNerdz

Weekend Box-Office: Avengers Sink Battleship

Seth Paul

It is not quite Memorial Day yet, but the studios have released their big guns early, with Men in Black 3 remaining the only major May blockbuster to be released next weekend. However, it will still face stiff competition from The Avengers, which handily held onto the top spot with an estimated $55.1 million this weekend, and likely to be a major contender over the holiday weekend. However, it may not face as much competition from Battleship, which opened to an estimated $25.3 million and less than stellar reviews. Not to say the film will be a bomb…Battleship has been out in other markets since April 11th and has already earned back its $209 million budget costs in foreign dollars alone…but its domestic opening does not bode well for its success stateside. Also likely to make back its money, but highly unlikely to make a lasting impression, is The Dictator. The Sacha Baron Cohen comedy has not ignited critically the way his earlier Borat did, making an estimated $17.4 million over three days and an estimated $24.5 million counting its rather odd Wednesday opening…neither amount reaching the $30.6 million of Cohen’s second film Brüno, whose success The Dictator most closely resembles.

So, too, goes Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows. The horror comedy is not likely to bomb thanks to its foreign box office, but it is not among Burton’s more successful efforts, only bringing in an estimated $12.8 million for weekend two. Still, it won out against the debut of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, the star-studded romantic comedy only managing an estimated $10.5 million. The big name cast did not inflate the costs by too much (unlike the 2010, $120 million megabomb How Do You Know, What to Expect When You’re Expecting only cost a reported $40 million), so despite the poor reviews it stands a chance to be profitable before dropping out of the top ten.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel continues to trend upward, making an estimated $3.3 million, although it will most likely remain more popular outside of the U.S. (its foreign box office already at $78.8 million). And while it may not be a serious moneymaker anymore, The Hunger Games continues to show success as it enters its ninth week with an estimated $3 million. Still showing in over 2,000 theaters nationwide, its resilience has proven quite remarkable…even more so than Think Like a Man, which is down to an estimated $2.7 million for its fifth week, as well as The Lucky One, also entering its fifth week with an estimated $1.8 million. But all three films are showing their endurance over The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Aardman Animations’ well-received film is going down in flames in its U.S. release, with an estimated $1.5 million for the weekend and $25.4 million in domestic earnings. While not surprising the film has done much better in the foreign market (all five of the British company’s feature-length films have been more profitable outside of the United States, even if not by much), it is surprising how the animation studio, which has seen excellent success with its Chicken Run and the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit, could find itself unable to locate an American audience with its relatively poor four-week run.

Weekend Box-Office (May 18th – May 20th)

  1. The Avengers…$55.1 million
  2. Battleship…$25.3 million
  3. The Dictator…$17.4 million
  4. Dark Shadows…$12.8 million
  5. What to Expect When You’re Expecting…$10.5 million
  6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel…$3.3 million
  7. The Hunger Games…$3 million
  8. Think Like a Man…$2.7 million
  9. The Lucky One…$1.8 million
  10. The Pirates! Band of Misfits…$1.5 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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