Not one of the 4 big movie releases - Spy Kids (Weinstein), Conan (Lionsgate), Fright Night (Disney/DW), and One Day (Focus) - came out on top this past weekend, in fact none came in 2nd. The top scorer was The Help (Disney/DW) at $20.5 million. In 2nd came Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Fox) which pulled in $16.3 million. The "show" position was Spy Kids at a dismal $12 million.
The whole weekend displayed lackluster performance and once again 3D showed its fatigue as Spy Kids (actually advertised it was in 4D Aroma-scope) and Conan - both released in 3D - were box office duds. Conan took 4th place this weekend with just over $10 million (on a $90 million cost) and Fright Night, bested by The Smurfs for 5th spot, came in 6th with a very disappointing $7.9 million. In fact, the top 10 grossers together, didn't reach the $100 million mark.3D- as a draw - has pretty much run its course and moviegoers are not wont to pay the high admission up-charge for what are run-of-the-mill movies. As Conan and Spy Kids so vividly demonstrated.
Internationally, The Smurfs continued to rake in the moola and came in at numero uno with an outstanding gross of $61.5 million - it has now grossed over $143 in the overseas markets.
Summary
3D continues to underwhelm the public. Again, I believe the up-charge should be $1 and no more - if you want volume. Of course, that presupposes a good movie to start with. Year-to-date, the 2011 box office now stands at $7.04 billion, down 4% or $278 million from 2010's level.
Best and Happy Movie Going!
Jim Lavorato
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