Ginger Locks Bring Big Box Office Bucks
Welcome back to the Box Office Report where our favorite red head's weapon of choice is the slate.
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1. Brave (Buena Vista/Pixar): $66.7 million in 4,164 theaters
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Of course, Merida's more of a bow and arrow type. Pixar's frist female lead delivered an whopping opening weekend coming in just shy of $70 million. It's not quite as much as Pixar's last June opening Toy Story 3 ($110 million), but Brave isn't the third film in one of the most beloved franchises in movie history. Perspective! An interesting note: Brave is available in 3D, which usually inflates the box office numbers because of the roughly $4 price hike per ticket (see: Hallows Part 2, Deathly; Avengers, The), but The Hollywood Reporter notes that only 34 percent of Brave's revenue came from 3D tickets. It's nice to know Brave didn't really need the help in ticket price, despite all the worry about the lead being a girl. (Eeew, girls.)
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2. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Dreamworks): $20.2 million in 3,920 theaters [week 3]
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It's been weird watching Dreamworks' rise to halfway respectability when it comes to animated features. They hit Shrek out of the park and then bled him dry. For the better part of the last decade they put out mediocre fare (Shark Tale, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie), but they've hit a stride recently. Kung Fu Panda wasn't bad, and neither were Monsters vs. Aliens and Megamind. Madagascar's always been big for them, and How to Train Your Dragon obviously was a huge success. They aren't quite on Pixar's level yet, but they're close. So close.
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3. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Fox): $16.5 million in 3,108 theaters
AL:VP has all the classic makings of a movie that's going to disappoint at the box office but rent really well at the four remaining Blockbuster stores. Fox was only expecting $15 million, but this was marketed like a big summer movie. This is still disappointing. Lawson thought it was terrible. Will Leitch said the director is so crazy it works. Ebert even gave it three stars. Take from that what you will, and decide if you'll see it in theaters or wait to rent it later.
4. Prometheus (Fox): $10 million in 2,862 theaters [week 3]
We're surprised watching this movie fail so spectacularly makes us feel so good. We would have wondered what dark timeline you came from if you told us weeks ago that watching this movie barely break even domestically would fill us with so much glee. It dropped almost 52 percent from last week.
5. Rock of Ages (Warner Brothers): $8 million in 3,470 theaters [week 2]
Coincidently, $8 million was also Rock of Ages' hair spray budget.
