The Summer movie season is over, but the box office remains. For this weekend, another weak slate. Colombiana, Don't Be afraid of the Dark and Our Idiot Brother debut. Can The Help repeat as box office champ?
Kinda hope Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark takes it, since that will add a lot more relief to Del Toro, along with the whole horror genre being able to move back up to R-Ratings. But Colombiana is the most accessible film to movie goers, so more than likely, that will take the weekend.
I was planning to see COLOMBIANA (totally shocked that it's a PG-13 movie; from the trailers it def looked hardcore violent enough to warrant a nice R-Rating), but instead just pre-ordered my usual Dead Center/Back Row seat for the 2-Week IMAXLimited Engagement Re-Release of...
"TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON"
Maybe I'll see COLOMBIANA next week (Monday perhaps, or Weds.)
i wanted to shoot myself during the Colombiana trailer. how many times did they have to say "Dont forget where you came from" I hope Dont Be Afraid of the Dark is #1.
Wow, none of these really seem like something that would be number one. Columbiana I suppose just for the fact that it is PG-13, but still I havent seen much of any advertising or buzz with it, so I just dont see it doing that good.
Dont Be Afraid of the Dark is the only one I plan on seeing this weekend, but I don't really know if it will be a huge hit.
I voting for Our Idiot Brother, mainly just because Ive seen the most advertising for it.
BOM predicts a close battle between Don't be Afraid of the Dark and The help for the #1 spot. HP8 will go over $370M domestic by the end of the weekend.
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As summer winds down, the box office is in for another slow weekend with the debuts of Colombiana on nearly 2,900 screens at 2,614 locations, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark on around 2,850 screens at 2,760 locations and Our Idiot Brother at 2,555 single-screen locations.
Excitement seems low enough for these movies that The Help could rule the roost again. The drama continued to hold well on the weekdays and is poised for another small drop-off.
Due to the popularity of its supernatural horror sub-genre and an aggressive marketing campaign promising tried-and-true scares, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is the new movie most likely to uproot The Help. The remake of the 1973 television movie of the same name marks the second release from FilmDistrict, which successfully distributed the similar Insidious this past spring.
Aside from being the first starring vehicle for Zoe Saldana, little distinguishes Colombiana, which looks like just another slick action-revenge picture for the late summer. Even wtih established action names, these movies rarely spark much interest.
Paul Rudd also gets his first sole-name-above-the-title star vehicle with Our Idiot Brother, though the movie sports a recognizable supporting cast. Rudd usually is the straight man, but, here, he's stretching as the comedic centerpiece. The movie's premise, though, appears one note, lacking the drive to go anywhere theatrically.
In Box Office Mojo's "when will you see it?" reader polling, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark's packing 13.7 percent for opening weekend, which was on the high end for its sub-genre (Insidious had 8.3 percent) and greater than Quarantine and The Last Exorcism (from the same weekend last year) among comparble titles. Guillermo del Toro's brand name, though, may have stacked the deck.
Colombiana polled at a soft 8.3 percent for opening weekend, which was worse than The Losers, From Paris with Love and Bangkok Dangerous among similar movies. Our Idiot Brother trailed with 6.9 percent for opening weekend, and it's been tracking close to The Switch from last August.
The Forecast, Aug. 26-28
1. The Help - $15.5 million
2. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - $15 million
3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $10 million
4. Colombiana - $8 million
5. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World - $7 million
6. Our Idiot Brother - $6 million
Tough call for me because I've only seen trailers for Colombiana on the tv, but I'll vote for that one solely based on that. I might see it depending on the word of mouth it gets.
Hurricane Irene Blowing Away Box Office: “Business Is In The Crapper Right Now”
^You're right. It looks like the box office is going to take a big hit this week because of Irene.
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Theater chains are closing, location counts are dropping, and major releases are finding cover as Hurricane Irene prepares to come ashore along the Eastern Seaboard starting in North Carolina and heading due north. ”Landing Saturday night in New York? Couldn’t be much worse,” one studio exec complained to me. Said another, “Business is in the crapper right now. Any way you slice it business is getting creamed this weekend.” There’s no doubt that the state of emergency declared across the East Coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts because of the storm which is already bigger than the size of Europe could depress box office by 10%, 20%, or more. Considering that this weekend’s opening movies were only expected to debut in the $8M to $10M range even in fair weather, studios and distributors have a Mother Nature excuse when their films underperform between only $6M to $8M at the North American box office. (So I can’t humiliate them. Drats!)
I’ve just learned that AMC which operates the Empire 25 in NYC’s Times Square — the top grossing theater in the country — is closing all New Jersey theaters Saturday at 6:00 PM for the weekend as well as a bunch in states like New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Regal is leaving it up to individual managers to make the call unless otherwise instructed by local authorities but Hollywood distributors expect them to follow suit. Clearview Cinemas already announced all theaters are closed for Saturday and Sunday. “Out of concern for the safety of our guests and staff, all Clearview Cinemas will be closed on Saturday August 27 and Sunday August 28. We plan to reopen on Monday August 29. Wishing you and your family a very safe weekend,” read a statement on the circuit’s website.
Already my sources say DreamWorks/Disney’s The Help is a lock again for #1 with an estimated $11M as the bestselling book-turned-pic enters its 3.5th week. As for the rest of the Top 5, it’s a free-for-all. New releases fighting it out are FilmDistrict’s Guillermo del Toro-produced horror movie Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce originally booked into 2,760 theaters, The Weinstein Co’s raunchy R-rated comedy Our Idiot Brother showcasing Paul Rudd surrounded by Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer originally booked into 2,555 theaters, and Sony Pictures/TriStar’s Luc Besson-produced and co-written actioner Colombiana starring Zoe Saldana originally booked into 2,614 theaters.
That hurricane on the East coast is obviously going to cut a percentage of the B.O. Even so, I doubt any of these new releases would've made big numbers anyway.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
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Hong Kong
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Iceland
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Israel
India
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Philippines
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Portugal
Romania
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Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
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Taiwan
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Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Box Office Weekend 8/26-8/28
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