Coming off last week’s worst box office weekend since 2008, there was hope that some bigger films would turn things around. Overall they did better than last week, but totals were down 13 percent from the same weekend last year. Sherlock Holmes 2 grossed $40 million domestically, which is decent, but disappointing compared to the last one’s $62 million opening. Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked made less than half what the Squeakquel made on opening weekend (WHEREFORE ART THOU, SQUEAKUEL?). It’s pretty bad when sequels are down significantly from their predecessors, given that even the sh*ttiest ones tend to out-earn the original thanks to name recognition. Mission Impossible was the only success, with its early, $13 million IMAX release qualifying it as the highest-grossing opening weekend for a limited release (fewer than 600 theaters).
Basically, films aren’t the draw they once were. With streaming and cable and TV shows getting better and better, there’s a lot more competition now, and the longer studios ignore it and try to operate like they always have (releasing all their “smart” movies at the end of December, for instance), the more it’s going to continue to decline. Almost without exception, all the decent movies I saw this year were films that the distributors considered too niche for a broad audience and almost no one saw them, because they barely had a chance to. Meanwhile this week’s top three releases have a 2, 3, and 4 next to the titles, and all had concepts created in the 1960s or earlier. If films are going to compete long-term, they’re going to have to start giving the “niche” stuff that gets people excited about movies a chance to compete with the bland blockbusters that make money. There are only so many Dark Knights. The general public has a major ambivalence towards movies right now, and if it doesn’t get better soon it’s going to turn into a grandpa medium the way late-night TV has. Even worse, if people stop going to see movies, they’re probably going to stop caring about movie news, and may even stop reading my website! CAN YOU IMAGINE A GREATER TRAGEDY TO BEFALL HUMANITY? Then what, I have to get a real job? Screw that, bro. Trust me, you don’t want me in the job market.
| This Wk | Last Wk | Title | Dist. | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Rlse Wks | # of Theaters |
| 1 | - | Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | Warner Bros. Pictures | $40,020,000 | $40,020,000 | 1 | 3703 |
| 2 | - | Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked | 20th Century Fox Distribution | $23,500,000 | $23,500,000 | 1 | 3723 |
| 3 | - | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Paramount Pictures | $13,000,000 | $13,600,000 | 1 | 425 |
| 4 | 1 | New Year’s Eve | Warner Bros. Pictures | $7,420,000 | $24,826,000 | 2 | 3505 |
| 5 | 2 | The Sitter | 20th Century Fox Distribution | $4,400,000 | $17,721,306 | 2 | 2752 |
| 6 | 3 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 | Summit Entertainment, LLC | $4,300,000 | $266,430,081 | 5 | 2958 |
| 7 | 18 | Young Adult | Paramount Pictures | $3,650,000 | $4,090,000 | 2 | 986 |
| 8 | 6 | Hugo | Paramount Pictures | $3,625,000 | $39,073,000 | 4 | 2532 |
| 9 | 5 | Arthur Christmas | Sony Pictures Releasing | $3,600,000 | $38,547,000 | 4 | 2929 |
| 10 | 4 | The Muppets | Walt Disney Pictures | $3,454,000 | $70,928,000 | 4 | 2808 |
[via Yahoo, BoxOfficeMojo]
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Am I still ok as a person for wishing a movie star would die of a heroin overdose if that star just happens to be an imaginary talking rodent?
Steven Seagal/Rip Torn/Gary Busey/Nick Nolte fan fiction could be a viable backup plan in the event of Filmdrunk’s untimely demise
Oh Vince, the key to the entertainment industry is never evolving and suing anyone who comes out with new technology to oppose their tried and true business plan. You obviously don’t do enough cocaine to be in business. *does a line off a Puerto Rican party boy’s abs*
I saw Sherlock last night. It was fun, but honestly, it’s one of those movies that wouldn’t work with a lesser cast. RDJ makes the movie, of course.
And I’m glad that Tom came in third, because fuck that egomaniacal little creeper. He is the opposite of RDJ.
Don’t fret, it be the wait for Breaking Dawn – Part 2 that’s crippling the holiday box office.
MLIT. YLIT. OLIT. SHIT.
My issue with going to the movies is why should I spend $12.00+ on seeing a film that may or may not suck while surrounded by people I may or may not have the urge to stab when I could wait to see the movie reviews and pay $4.00 on demand in a few months?
People aren’t going to movies because the world is ending in a few weeks. DUH!
Jeremy Renner is the new Tom Cruise, and by that I mean yes, he is secretly not so secretly gay.
I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on Friday and it was pretty good. I didn’t have too high of expectations and left the theater happy. Tom Cruise may be the star, but he didn’t make the movie. Renner could have played his part and it would have been the same movie. Oh, and the Dark Knight Rises preview was badass.
If movie theaters started playing older films for a cheap price (say 5 bucks), I’d go twice a week. I would love to be able to see all the movies of the 70′s and 80′s that I never got to see in theaters due to my age. Hell, maybe they could do the old double bill and base it on either actor, director, or genre. I would love nothing more than to sit in a small theater with a bunch of like-minded 80′s action movie fans, and watch Rocky 4, followed by either Predator, Commando or Total Recall.
I was going to get on a soapbox and expand on The Hammer’s comment with “their answer is SOPA, and it’d still kill your blog” but I don’t give a fuck anymore.