NON-STOP (Universal) has taken the initial lead over SON OF GOD (20th) with a tight Friday win, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, but the weekend race is far from over. Non-Stop reportedly took in $9.5M on Friday (including around $700K on Thursday night), with Son of God close behind at $9M+ (including $1.2M on Thursday night). However, the balance of power could change, especially on Sunday. Non-Stop, along with most other movies, will face a heavier than usual Sunday drop due to the Oscars, perhaps 45-55%. On the other hand, if Son of God follows the pattern of Passion of the Christ, it will be extremely strong on Sunday (which, after all, makes logical sense), perhaps declining just 15% or so. If both films hold steady on Saturday, that could give the evangelical film the weekend edge, with a potential $25M compared to Non-Stop‘s $23-24M.
Both of the newcomers will probably finish ahead of THE LEGO MOVIE (Warners), which took its first heavy week-to-week drop (down more than 50% from last Friday to $4.3M) and a likely $17-18M weekend. THE MONUMENTS MEN (Sony/20th) continues to hold well, down about 35% to $1.4M and a $4-5M weekend. FROZEN (Disney) is slowing after 3 months in release, but still down just 30% from last Friday to $720K, and it should be nearing a colossal $390M in the US by the end of the weekend.
3 DAYS TO KILL (Relativity) and POMPEII (TriStar/Sony/FilmDistrict) both toppled 60%+ from last Friday to a respective $1.5M and $1.2M, heading for all-but-gone weekends of $5M and $4M. The same was true of the previous week’s openings, as ROBOCOP (Sony/MGM) slumped 55% to $1.2M on Friday, and ABOUT LAST NIGHT (Screen Gems/Sony) fell by a similar percentage to $1M.
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About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
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