Tom Cruise has often been referred to as "The last American icon", as in the one remaining box office star still capable of pulling an audience into a theater both here and abroad. His career isn't what he used to be. A few high profile misses (Rock of Ages) and under-performers (Jack Reacher) had started people talking about the end of the old-school movie star. Oblivion may have silenced a few critics. The new science fiction blockbuster earned $38 million in its opening weekend which helps push its worldwide number to above $150 million. The Jackie Robinson biopic 42 held strong in its second week with another $18 million. Good word of mouth has helped the film hold strong dropping just 35% week over week and bringing in more mature film fans, while the kids are still pouring in to see The Croods which was strong enough for third place with $9 million in tickets sold.
Scary Movie 5 fell to fourth place with $6 million. The rapidly depreciating franchise didn't have far to fall after a soft opening. Dimension used to be a brand known for putting out low budgeted product that made a nice return. 2013 seems to be putting that theory to the test. With the poor performance of Dark Skies and now Scary Movie 5, they might need to go back to the drawing board.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had said earlier this week that a third G.I. Joe movie was in the works. This would be thanks to a solid international box office, as the North American box office continues to be adequate and little more. This week the film brought in $5 million in tickets sold for a total of $111 million. The film will still make less than the first. In a studio system starving for franchises, performing to expectations seems to be enough to warrant further installments.
Next week brings us Michael Bay's Pain and Gain, a film being pushed as a comedy. To be fair, isn't every Michael Bay film hysterical? Pearl Harbor might be the funniest movie of the 21st century. See you next week.
Here's your top films for North America:
1. 42
Weekend Estimate: $38 million
2. 42
Weekend Estimate: $18 million; $54 million total
3. The Croods
Weekend Estimate: $9 million; $154 million total
4. Scary Movie 5
Weekend Estimate: $6 million; $22 million total
5. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Weekend Estimate: $5 million; $111 million total
Anghus Houvouras