Friday saw a 27.4% increase in box
office revenue over the previous Friday.
This Friday saw the start of the mother
of all box office weekends, the Memorial Day weekend. Ever since
Star Wars opened in 1977 on this coveted weekend, studios have always
scrambled to get their biggest films opening over these three days
of the year where the potential for massive returns is unmatched.
This year we have an interesting batch of films vying for top position,
but sadly, there are no real fireworks to speak of.
Opening in top spot is the unnecessary
sequel, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN, which
earned an estimated $15.3M on Friday. The previous entry in the
franchise opened strongly at Christmas time to become a surprise
hit. This total is somewhat on the low side for a summer opening,
but it should do some decent business over the weekend and take
out the number one spot.
Second spot for Friday is taken by
the underwhelming TERMINATOR SALVATION which earned an estimated
$14.8M. The film opened on Thursday to $13M and this has to be considered
a massive disappointment to any one who invested in this film. Heads
may even roll by the end of it; although the film will probably
end up with around $70M for the weekend, this is a small figure
for such a big film on the biggest box office weekend of the year.
Director McG and company may have just signed the death warrant
for this once highly respected and profitable franchise, particularly
as word of mouth is horrendous.
Coming in third place is last Friday's
winner, ANGELS
& DEMONS, which plummeted 63% from last Friday earning an
estimated $6M. The film is following the same trajectory as its
predecessor THE
DA VINCI CODE, although that film had earned over $200M by this
point whereas ANGELS
& DEMONS has only earned $66M. With overseas grosses now
coming strongly the film is in the black however from a domestic
point of view it has turned out to be a fizzer.
Landing in fourth place and still
travelling with thrusters on full is STAR
TREK, the sci-fi reboot which is still pleasing audiences and
box office alike, earning an estimated $5.7M for Friday. Although
it is in fourth position for Friday, have a look for the film to
end up in third place for the weekend as the holiday crowd will
likely give this one another look, especially in comparison to the
lacklustre competition on offer from the other films.
The remaining box office estimates
for films on Friday are as follows: DANCE FLICK ($3.9M), X-MEN
ORIGINS: WOLVERINE ($2.1M), GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST ($1.1M),
OBSESSED ($0.5M), MONSTERS
VS ALIENS ($0.28M) and 17 AGAIN ($0.27M).
The North American box office took
in an estimated total of $50.2 million for the whole of Friday 22nd
May 2009.
