Melissa McCarthy In #2 ‘The Heat’ Fires Up Friday Box Office While #4 ‘White House Down’ Flops; ‘Monsters U’ Still Strong #1
SATURDAY AM, 4TH UPDATE: COMING
FRIDAY 11:45 PM, 3RD UPDATE: Wow, tonight’s Top 4 order of finish is changing as fast as I can type. Newcomers Twentieth Century Fox’s The Heat and Sony Pictures’ White House Down both received ‘A-’ CinemaScores from audiences and those will help word of mouth. They add to an already crowded pre-Fourth Of July domestic box office which will be stuffed in time for the holiday. Already total moviegoing this weekend looks like another huge $210M, +3% from last year (when Ted opened). Pixar/Disney’s huge hit from a weekago Monsters University is still #1. Fandango reported that the Melissa McCarthy-Sandra Bullock buddy comedy was the #1 ticketseller among new releases, selling 50% more advance tickets than at the same time for director Paul Feig’s previous hit Bridesmaids. Tonight The Heat is firing for #2. Latest word is that the Channing Tatum/Jamie Foxx actioner gained as the night goes on and will finish Friday #3 (though its high cost endangers its ability to earn out). Neither new pics’ Thursday late show/Friday midnight grosses were significant.
Top Ten refined numbers for Friday. Official updates and analysis in the morning:
1. Monsters University 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 2 [Runs 4,004] G Friday $15.2M (-50%), Weekend $51.0M, Cume $175.0M
Great weekend hold. Should easily stay in #1 after the Saturday kiddie bump. But window for family fare will need to expand once Universal’s sequel Despicable Me 2 hits marketplace wide on July 3rd.
2. The Heat (Fox) NEW [Runs 3,181] R Friday $15.0M, Weekend $40.6M
Can’t help praising how the women brought the heat for this $41M-budget buddy comedy. Chalk up another strong box office performance for McCarthy and Bullock who began with $1M from Thursday’s 10 PM shows and Friday’s midnights. Should end #2 for the weekend behind Pixar’s family fare. Interesting that a Fandango survey showed 88% of ticketbuyers said they wanted more female-oriented laughers.
3. White House Down (Sony) NEW [Runs 3,222] Friday $10.5M, Weekend $30.0M
Unfortunately earlier release Olympus Has Fallen had a similar plot. Sony admits White House Down is in a tough slot now after WWZ opened so surprisingly strong last weekend. White House pic did $1.35M in Thursday late shows/Friday midnights. Studio claims budget was $150M which is expensive. (“If you see the movie, you will see the money on the screen. And compared to other summer fare and budgets, it very reasonable given the film,” a Sony exec tells me.) No way this pic earns out. Could be big loss depending how it does overseas. Opens day and date in about two dozen small countries this weekend (ie Aruba, Ethiopia, Kenya, Iraq). The first major international territory will not open until mid-July.
4. World War Z 3D (Paramount) Week 2 [Runs 3,607] PG13 Friday $9.3M (-63%), Weekend $31.1M, Cume $125.0M
After last week’s surprise success, new audiences will check it out. Expect a -50% weekend hold.
5. Man Of Steel 3D (:egendary/Warner Bros) Week 3 [Runs 4,131] Friday $6.1M, Weekend $20.5M, Est Cume $249.0M
Maybe too stiff box office competition for Superman right now continuing into the Fourth Of July holiday.
6. This Is The End (Columbia/Sony) Week 3 [Runs 2,710] R Friday $2.7M, Weekend $8.8M, Cume $74.8M
7. Now You See Me (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 5 [Runs 2,564] PG13 Friday $1.7M, Weekend $5.6M, Cume $104.8M
8. Fast & Furious 6 (Universal) Week 6 [Runs 1,550] PG13 Friday $779K, Weekend $2.5M, Cume $233.5M
9. Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount) Week 7 [Runs 1,035] PG13 Friday $566K, Weekend $2.0M, Cume $220.5M
10. The Internship (New Regency/Fox) Week 4 [Runs 1,008] Friday $442K, Weekend $1.4M, Cume $41.7M