Meanwhile the news wasn't so sunny for Film District's Parker starring Jason Statham. A fifth place debut and a $7 million opening weekend has to be seen as a dissapointment. I think Statham suffers from having too much product in the marketplace. Since early 2011 Statham has had no less than a half dozen movies released: The Mechanic, Safe, Blitz (Direct to DVD), Killer Elite, The Expendables 2, and now Parker. There are so many Statham films in a state of perpetual release that the marketing departments of their respective studios have an uphill battle trying to generate some interest.
One movie that generated little interest was the anthology comedy Movie 43. In spite of a twenty or thirty recognizable faces the film didn't manage to find an audience. Anthologies have always been a difficult proposition, theatrically speaking. The $4 million take from 2000 screens seems proof positive that the anthology film is better suited for the home theater.
The real surprise of the award season has been the box office of Silver Linings Playbook which continues to perform well. A $9.3 million weekend was enough for third place, and it seems like the David O. Russell directed comedy may end up making more than perennial favorites like Zero Dark Thirty, a film that opened well but is quickly losing momentum. Maybe it's the torture and controversy that has kept some people away, or maybe the procedural, emotionless portrayal of the events didn't generate a lot of strong word of mouth. Either way, Sony should be happy with the success of the film. Their marketing department primed audiences, every critic raved about the film. The fact that the film will end up with $80 - $90 million in the bank is a best case scenario for a very insular film.
Next week sees two new wide releases. Sylvester Stallone tries to avoid box office purgatory with the new Walter Hill directed thriller Bullet to the Head, and Nicholas Hoult stars in the zombie romance Warm Bodies. I'm thinking Stallone might end up with the same fate as Arnold Schwarzenegger's Last Stand in the bottom half of the top ten. And is Twilight has taught us anything, it's that supernatural romances can sell some tickets. See you next week.
Here's your top films for North America...
1. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Weekend Estimate: $26 million
2. Mama
Weekend Estimate: $13 million; $49 million total
3. Silver Linings Playbook
Weekend Estimate: $9 million; $68 million total
4. Zero Dark Thirty
Weekend Estimate: $8.9 million; $69 million total
5. Parker
Weekend Estimate: $7 million
Anghus Houvouras