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Up nearly 40% from last year, this weekend is being fueled by returning family films like Rio and Hop (legitimate hits) and moderate films like Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family and Water for Elephants. The audience is returning to theaters in time for the start of the summer season.
Based on Friday and Saturday actual numbers and studio estimates for Sunday, Madea’s Big Happy Family opened with $25.8 million, averaging a robust $11,254 per theater at 2,288 theaters. Water Elephants opened with $17.5 million, playing on 2,817 theaters and averaging $6,212 — a slightly above average performance. African Cats opened at only 1,220 theaters and averaged $5,246 per theater (for a total of $6.4 million). The per theater average for Cats is down from the estimate yesterday but still a hair above the $4,900 average number for all movies.
April 22-24, 2011 Wknd vs Showbuzz
(millions) Studio Last Domestic
Proj. Wknd Ultimate*
Rio (Fox) $26.8 -32% $154 ++
Madea’s Big Happy Family (LG) $25.8 $ 58
Water for Elephants (Fox) $17.5 $ 42
Hop (Uni) $12.5 +17% $127 ++
Scre4m (Weins) $ 7.2 -62% $ 48 —
African Cats (Dis) $ 6.4 $ 20
Soul Surfer (Tri) $ 5.6 -23% $ 43
Insidious (FilmDis) $ 5.4 -20% $ 57
Hanna (Foc) $ 5.3 -28% $ 46
Source Code (Sum) $ 5.1 -18% $ 58
Arthur (WB) $ 4.1 -39% $ 38
Note: The table above summarizes the weekend as of Sunday. The first column (on which the table is sorted) displays the “studio projection” for each film, based on the Friday and Saturday actual numbers (and a studio-supplied estimate of Sunday). The second column is the percent decline from the prior weekend. The final column is a preliminary estimate of the ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Total Gross for the film’s complete run in North America. A “++” indicates the Domestic number has been upgraded; a “–” indicates a downgrade.
Total Weekend Volume
The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like $124 million total, up almost 40% from the same weekend last year and up almost 50% (an amazing increase) from the 2007-10 average for the comparable weekend.
Top 12 Films: Fourth Weekend in April
(millions)
Volume
2011 $124 (+48% vs 2007-10 average; +39% vs 2010)
2007-10
Avg $ 84
Movies Opening That Weekend
2010 $ 90 Back-Up Plan $12, The Losers $9, Oceans $6
2009 $104 Obsessed $29, Fighting $11, The Soloist $10, Earth $9
2008 $ 80 Baby Mama $17, Harold & Kumar Escape $15,Deception $2
2007 $ 62 The Invisible $8, Next $7, Condemned $4
Opening next week are Fast Five (action sequel) from Universal, Prom (comedy-drama) from Disney, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil (animation) from Weinstein, and Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (horror comedy) from Freestyle Releasing. Look for Fast Five to make the most noise and ignite the entire weekend. Also, Rio should continue to do well. These strong films will be enough to fuel increase from the same weekend last year when A Nightmare on Elm Street opened with $33 million and Furry Vengeance struggled with a little more than $6 million. A positive weekend would be the third in a row, and as movies do well they provide a platform for trailers of upcoming films, creating a cycle of success for future weekends and the summer season itself. Of course, people need to want to see the summer movies, but the stage is being set for a fair test.
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