Weekend Box Office: Sly's Expendables fend off five newcomers for the number one spot

If you were at the movies this past weekend and happened to hear crickets chirping instead of your fellow moviegoers talking, then your hearing was not deceiving you. As August heads into the home stretch, the 2010 summer movie season is (thankfully) coming to a close. Studios have begun dumping titles onto the marketplace in the hopes of making a quick pre-DVD buck. With such a weak selection to choose from, it should come as no surprise that the overall box office was down from last year at this time.


After the biggest opening (pre-inflation) of his long career, Sly Stallone’s action hit “The Expendables” fell by a little more than half this weekend but still managed to command the top spot. Off 53%, the film nabbed an estimated $16.5 million 3,270 screens to bring its ten-day total to $65 million. This is the first time in seventeen (!) years that a Stallone film has stayed at number one for two weeks, the last being “Demolition Man”. Sly and the guys might finish their domestic campaign at or near the $100 million mark.

Fox’s latest film spoof from the brain trust that brought us “Meet the Spartans”, “Disaster Movie” and “Epic Movie”, the “Twilight” goof “Vampires Suck”, opened on Wednesday in 3,233 theaters and managed $6.4 million in mid-week sales. For the Friday-to-Sunday period, the movie grossed an estimated $12.2 million to bring its overall total to the $18.6 million mark. With a whopping 3% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (one reviewer out there is desperate to get their name in a commercial) and probably an approval rating not much higher than that from ticket buyers, “Suck” should become as fast a fade as the other turkeys that filmmakers Friedberg and Seltzer have unleashed on us over the past few years.

Julia Roberts’ global search for self-discovery, the critically-panned “Eat, Pray, Love”, had a fairly respectable hold in its second weekend. Off 48%, the Sony Pictures comedy/drama consumed $12 million in estimated ticket sales to bring its ten-day total to the $47 million mark. As the film’s target audience is largely adult women, the drops over the next few weeks may not be as steep as other films with a younger demographic that will be heading back to school. Julia’s summer trip may end its run between $75-80 million domestically, a far more impressive tally than her last film, 2009’s “Duplicity”.

In fourth place was the new Warner Brothers comedy “Lottery Ticket”, with $11.1 million in estimated sales from 1,973 screens. The $5,639 per screen average was the highest in the top ten, besting the $5,046 per screen average generated by “The Expendables”. The low-budget urban comedy showcases an ensemble that includes Bow Wow, Loretta Devine and Ice Cube.

In fifth place was the Will Ferrell/Mark Whalberg cop comedy “The Other Guys” with an estimated $10.1 million and a new total of $89 million. The Sony hit should pass the $100 million mark by Labor Day. Close behind in sixth place with a $10 million debut was the Weinstein Company’s 3-D horror comedy (I’m guessing it was played for laughs) “Piranha 3-D”. Despite a surprisingly strong 80% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences were not enticed by the multi-dimensional gorefest.

With kids heading back to school shortly and parents undoubtedly having more than their fair share of family movies over the past several months, Universal’s sequel “Nanny McPhee Returns” debuted quietly over the weekend. The sequel to the 2006 hit starring Emma Thompson opened roughly 40% lower than the first film, which arrived stateside in January four years ago. The film received a strong 77% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Overseas, the movie has amassed a healthy $63 million to date, which makes the soft domestic debut a bit easier to swallow for distributor Universal Pictures.

Next up from Miramax was the Jennifer Aniston/Jason Bateman pregnancy comedy “The Switch”, which failed to deliver with only $8.1 million from 2,012 screens. In ninth place was Warner’s summer smash “Incpetion”, which eased 32% in its sixth weekend to $7.6 million and a new domestic total of $261.9 million. Rounding out the top ten while dropping 53% in its second round was Universal’s hipster dud “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”. With only $5 million for the weekend and $20.7 million in the bank so far, Scott will be lucky to finish his North American fight near the $30 million mark (or roughly half of its production budget).

You know the summer movie season is over when the most exciting thing being released next week is…a Christmas movie from last year. That’s right kids, next week heralds the return of James Cameron’s 3-D behemoth “Avatar” to 3-D screens across the country (well, 700 of them anyway). Also opening next weekend is the PG-13 horror film “The Last Exorcism” and the action film “Takers”.

Weekend Box Office: Sly’s “Expendables” Owns Julia's "Eat Pray Love" and "Scott Pilgrim"

It was the ultimate battle of the sexes at the North American box office this weekend as Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” fought off the new Julia Roberts drama “Eat, Pray, Love” to land in the top spot by a comfortable margin. Universal’s quirky “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” landed softly in fifth, while last week’s champ “The Other Guys” hung tough in third. Overall, the box office was up a bit from the past two years, roughly 10%.


You may have heard the term “has-been” used quite a bit recently in association to the ensemble cast for “The Expendables”. To a certain extent, the term was properly used. After all, it has been quite some time since the likes of Dolph Lundgren or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin were listed above the title of a movie. Even with the respectable business brought in by 2006’s “Rocky Balboa” and 2008’s “Rambo”, Sly Stallone’s career has certainly seen better days.

Or has it? Judging by the bloody good $35 million estimated opening for “The Expendables”, it appears that while Hollywood may have written these guys off (to a degree), their fans have not. Opening on a wide 3,270 screen count, the $80 million Lionsgate production gave its targeted male audience exactly what they were looking for: male bonding, explosions and a ridiculously high body count. Even if the film’s grosses dropped slightly on Saturday (down seven percent) from its $13.5 million opening on Friday (the film is estimated to lose roughly 20-25% today), the R-rated testosterone flick hit its intended target demo and took down another high profile debut in the process.

That other debut would be the much-anticipated big screen adaptation of the runaway bestseller “Eat, Pray, Love”, which stars another Hollywood star that hasn’t been around much of late, Julia Roberts. While the guys checked out “The Expendables”, the gals helped push Ryan Murphy (Glee)’s adaptation of the Elizabeth Gilbert novel to a decent but not great (given the book’s popularity) $23.7 million opening on 3,082 screens. The film scored a somewhat rancid Rotten Tomatoes score of 38% (The Expendables received a 43% approval rating), and those exiting the movie on opening day only gave the movie a “B” for a Cinemascore Rating. Also raising a bit of concern for distributor Sony is that Friday-to-Saturday grosses showed no increase, which may indicate word-of-mouth was mixed at best.

Last week’s winner, the Will Ferrell/Mark Whalberg action comedy “The Other Guys” held up well in its second weekend out. Off 49% from its $35.5 million debut, the duo arrested an estimated $18 million on 3,651 screens to bring its ten-day total to the $70 million mark. The comedy should have no trouble passing the $100 million mark by the time it winds down, making it the fourth successful collaboration between star Ferrell and director Adam McKay in a row.

Closing in on the quarter-billion mark and finishing in fourth place this weekend was the Warner smash hit “Inception”, which fell 39% in its fifth go-around to an estimated $11.3 million and a new to-date domestic total of approximately $249 million. Watch for Leo and his dream team to finish north of the $290 million range. Overseas, the Christopher Nolan-directed sci-fi mind trip has amassed close to $300 million in ticket sales.

The graphic novel series is much beloved, and the movie itself received the best reviews of all the wide releases this weekend (80% approval on Rotten Tomatoes). Yet, Universal’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” couldn’t expand past its fan base to achieve mainstream success. The $60 million comedy landed on 2,818 screens and could only muster $10.5 million in ticket sales to land in fifth place. Similar to this past spring’s “Kick-Ass”, “Pilgrim” was heavily marketed and screened for quite some time beforehand, the latter which may have helped curtail ticket sales. And much like the Lionsgate underachiever, all the marketing was merely a case of preaching to the choir. For now, it looks as though “The World” may have won this round, so Scott will just have to put up a bigger fight this winter on DVD and blu-ray.

In sixth place was a movie that Universal has had nothing but success with this summer, the animated hit “Despicable Me”, which held tough yet again as it brought in an estimated $6.8 million (off only 27%) in ticket sales to bring its domestic total to an excellent $222.2 million. The film should zip by “Shrek Forever After” in the next few weeks to become the second biggest animated film of 2010 behind Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3”. Speaking of that animated behemoth, which landed outside the top ten for the first time this weekend, Buzz and Woody crossed the sacred $400 million domestic mark while climbing closer to the one billion mark in overall global sales.

In seventh place was Disney’s 3-D dance dud “Step Up 3-D” which fell by 59% to an estimated $6.6 million in its second weekend to bring its ten day total to the $29.5 million mark. Watch for the third and (pray) final installment in this series to finish around $43 million, a sizeable step down from its two predecessors. Still kicking ass in eighth place for the weekend was Sony’s hit “Salt”, which added $6.3 million to its domestic coffers, which now stand at approximately $104 million.

Stabilizing in ninth place in its third weekend out was Paramount/Dreamworks’ comedy “Dinner For Schmucks”. Off a moderate 39%, the Steve Carell/Paul Rudd laffer earned $6.3 million for the weekend to bring its total to the $58.8 million range. The film should finish its run near the $70 million mark. Rounding out the top ten was Warner’s 3-D kiddie sequel “Cats and Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore” which added $4.1 million to its slim domestic total, which now stands at approximately $35 million.

Next weekend sees another spoof film from the guys who gave us “Disaster Movie”, “Date Movie” and “Epic Movie”, the “Twilight” goof “Vampires Suck”. The film opens on Wednesday (you know, to benefit from the guaranteed glorious word of mouth it will generate). On Friday, a quartet of late-summer movies debut: “The Switch”, “Nanny McPhee Returns”, “Lottery Ticket” and “Piranha 3-D”.

Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

Over the past eleven years or so, British filmmaker Edgar Wright has quietly carved out a very impressive career. Be it his television series "Spaced", 2004's romantic zombie comedy "Shaun of the Dead" or his 2007 spoof of American buddy cop films, "Hot Fuzz", Wright’s work has proven to be both quite smart and very funny. Each production had one common thread outside of Wright: the participation of actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Their contributions, be it starring in the leads or helping out with the writing, cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately, the duo weren’t around to assist Wright on his first American production, “Scott Pilgrim Vs the World”, and boy does it show.

Based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley and starring Michael Cera ("Juno") as the title character, "Pilgrim" is the story of a 23-year old Toronto musician (with a 17-year old girlfriend named Knives Chau) who one day meets Ramona Victoria Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the girl of his dreams (literally). In order to win over Ramona, Scott has a big task ahead of him: he must defeat seven of her evil exes before they finish him off. His "foes" include a skateboarding actor (Chris Evans), a Vegan Rocker (Brandon Routh), a pair of identical twins, someone that looks like a pirate, a girl and a smarmy record executive (Jason Schwartzman). If he can defeat all seven, Scott may have a shot at true love. If not, he can always go back to cradle robbing.

If you're not into videogames, anime or are older than the age of twenty, then you will probably want to skip this film. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of videogames (I have a few), anime (Miyazaki's work aside) or comic books (never warmed up to them). I will also admit that I am way past the targeted age group for the film (let’s leave it at that). But since I enjoyed Wright's earlier work immensely, I was more than willing to give his new film a shot. If Wright could smartly send up police actioniers and horror movies, why couldn't he make a smart, funny movie out of a graphic novel that with across-the-board appeal?

Judging by the overwhelmingly positive audience reaction at the screening I attended a few weeks back, he may very well have. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the thin characters (I did get a kick out of a few of the exes), ADD-generation editing and obtrusive use of comic book visual trickery. While I applaud Wright’s efforts to be as faithful as possible to the source material as possible, I found that the visual verbiage, paneling and retro videogame graphics only pushed me further away instead of drawing me in.

Another big problem I had with the movie were the leads. Now, I thought Michael Cera was good in “Juno” and “Superbad”, but I’ve come to realize that the young actor is giving the same performance over and over again (a few episodes of ‘Arrested Development’ cemented that theory pretty quickly). Thanks to Cera playing Cera, Scott comes off as a mousy, whiny dork not worth cheering on in the least. What exactly does Ramona see in Scott, anyway? And for that matter, what does Scott see in Ramona, aside from the fact that she’s cute (well, Winstead is anyway)? The thin characters don’t give us any clues as to why, and neither do the somewhat lifeless performances.

I really wanted to like this movie and cheer on Scott Pilgrim as he took on "The World" to win over Ramona, but in the end I just couldn't. I have no doubt that the film will please the legions of fans of the graphic novel, but I’m not sure it will appeal to too many folks outside of that. As for Wright, I have no doubt that he will bounce back and give us another movie with quality along the lines of his earlier work. He simply needs material that will match his talent.

Weekend Box Office: "The Other Guys" arrest the top spot while "Step Up 3-D" proves to have two left feet

"The Other Guys" sent both The Dream Guys and The Dance Guys packing this weekend at the North American box office as the new Will Ferrell/Mark Whalberg comedy debuted at number one, ending the three-week domination of the Leonardo DiCaprio blockbuster "Inception". The 3-D dance flick "Step Up 3-D" grooved its way to a mediocre third place debut. Overall, weekend ticket sales closed roughly 9% below figures from the same weekend last year at this time as one of the worst summer movie seasons in recent memory limped into its final month.


Following an aggressive ad campaign that had its two leads promoting the film wherever they could, "The Other Guys" brought in a big $35.6 million in estimated ticket sales from 3,651 screens. Following the disaster that was "Land of the Lost", Ferrell reteaming with director Adam McKay ("Anchorman", "Talledega Nights" and "Step Brothers") proved to be just what the funnyman's career needed. "Guys" had the added benefit of receiving a solid 79% approval rating from the nation's critics on Rotten Tomatoes, a rare occurrence for modern-day comedies. The film also continued the summer winning streak for Sony Pictures, who has struck gold with the likes of "The Karate Kid", "Salt" and "Grown Ups".

While it may no longer occupy the top spot at the box office, don't feel too bad for "Inception". The Christopher Nolan smash held strong in its fourth weekend, dropping a mere 32% from last weekend to gross an estimated $18.6 million 3,418 screens, bringing its domestic total to a huge $227.7 million. With no real direct competition to speak of, it should be smooth sailing for Leo and his dream team for the remainder of the summer en route to a possible $290-300 million final domestic haul.

Not even the added con -I mean, allure- of 3-D could make "Step Up 3-D" a big hit this weekend as the movie pulled in an average $15.5 million from 2.435 screens in its debut. The third chapter in the profitable dance series had the weakest debut of the "Step Up" films so far, following the $20.7 million opening of the original and the $18.9 million from the sequel. Of the 2,435 screens, 1,851 of them were 3-D. Friday opened to a decent $6.6 million in sales, but dropped off sharply after that, indicating that this may have been one too many trips to the "Step Up" universe.

Angelina Jolie's spy thriller "Salt" had another solid hold this past weekend as the movie ebbed only 43% in its third weekend to gross an estimated $11.1 million 3,317 screens. With a new three week total near the $92 million mark, the Philip Noyce-directed film could see a final domestic gross between $115-120 million when all is said and done.

Falling a troubling 55% from its opening last weekend was Dreamworks/Paramount's "Dinner for Schmucks" which consumed an estimated $10.5 million from 3,004 screens. After ten days, the Jay Roach-directed comedy has amassed a so-so $46.7 million. Not only did the film suffer from the debut of the Will Ferrell film, it also was hit with decidedly mixed word-of-mouth from ticket buyers. Watch for "Dinner" to finish its theatrical meal near the $75 million mark.

Carell's other comedy in the top ten, the smash hit "Despicable Me", held well once again as it eased a mere 39% to gross an estimated $9.5 million from 3,413 screens, bringing the film's domestic total to a decidedly un-despicable $210 million. Seventh place went to Warner's 3-D sequel "Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" which collected an estimated $7 million from 3,705 screens this weekend. Off 43% from its debut last weekend, the ten-day total for the 3-D talking animal comedy stands at a weak $26.4 million.

Zac Efron's critically-derided "Charlie St. Cloud" continued the freefall it began on its second day of release. Off a steep 62% from last weekend, the drama pulled in $4.7 million to bring its ten-day total to approximately $23.5 million. With a final domestic gross of $30 million (at best) on the horizon, is it too late for the teen heartthrob to star in another "High School Musical"?

Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story 3" added another $3 million from 1,714 screens to land in ninth place and bring its domestic total to $396.3 million. The film should hit $400 million domestic mark within the week. Tenth place went to Focus Feature's "The Kids Are All Right", which grossed $2.6 million on 994 screens. The new total for the $4 million indie comedy now stands at $14 million.

Next weekend, three new films arrive on the scene: Universal's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", the Julia Roberts drama "Eat, Pray, Love" (which looks like a Lifetime Network movie run wild) and Sly Stallone's ode to testosterone, "The Expendables".

-Shawn Fitzgerald

Friday Box Office: "The Other Guys" knock off The Dream Guys for the number one spot

The Will Ferrell/Mark Whalberg action comedy "The Other Guys" arrested the top spot at the North American box office on Friday. The comedy pulled in a big $13.1 million from 3,650 screens on its opening day, which was enough to knock the smash hit "Inception" from the top spot. Watch for Marky Mark and Ricky Bobby to pull in $33-35 million by the end of the weekend.

Speaking of the Christopher Nolan film, "Inception" fell to third with $5.5 million for Friday. Down a slight 31% from last Friday, the Leonardo DiCaprio hit should see $19 million for the weekend, which would bring its domestic total to the $227 million mark.

Opening in second place with $6.6 million was the latest in the "Step Up" series, the imaginatively titled "Step Up 3-D". Opening in 2,435 theaters (over 3/4 of them 3-D), the sequel is looking at roughly $16-18 million for its debut weekend, which would make it the lowest opening of the series so far, even with the added benefit of charging more for 3-D presentations.

Dropping like a rock in its second weekend, no doubt affected by the arrival of "The Other Guys", was Paramount/Dreamworks' "Dinner For Schmucks". Off a steep 60% from its opening day a week ago, the Steve Carell comedy pulled in $3.3 million on Friday for what looks to be a $11 million weekend. Possessing another decent hold is the Angelina Jolie action flick "Salt", which saw a 45% drop from last Friday to collar $3.2 million for a possible $11 million weekend.

Weekend estimates will be announced on Sunday. Check back in the afternoon for the weekend roundup.  

Weekend Box Office: "Inception" Beats Out Schmucks, Cats, Dogs and Charlie St. Cloud to Remain Number One.

Schmucks, Cats, Dogs and Charlie St. Cloud all came out to play at the North American box office this weekend, but none were potent enough to dethrone Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "Inception" from the top spot. Of the new arrivals, only the Steve Carell comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" managed to make much of any real impact, while "Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" and "Charlie St. Cloud" were dead on arrival.


Dropping a mere 36% in its third weekend, "Inception" extracted an estimated $27.5 million to bring its 17-day total to an excellent $193.3 million. Tuesday will see the Warner smash sail past the $200 million mark. The film is Leonard Di Caprio's biggest hit since 1997 "Titanic" and Warner's biggest film of the year so far. Overseas, the movie has amassed a big $170 million so far for a three week global total of $363 million.

"Inception" did briefly abdicate the number one spot on Friday when the new comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" debuted with $8.4 million. But while the Christopher Nolan film surged 30% on Saturday, the Jay Roach-directed remake of the French 1998 comedy "The Dinner Party" dropped in its second day of release, which is never a good sign for a new film that doesn't have a built-in audience. Still, the movie managed $23.3 million for the weekend, which was enough to land it in second place. The film faces direct competition next weekend with the debut of the Will Ferrell comedy "The Other Guys" on Friday.

Dropping a spot from second to third but holding up well in its second weekend was the Angelina Jolie action flick "Salt" with $19.3 million in estimated sales. Off 47% from its debut weekend, the movie has pulled in $70.3 million in ten days and is looking at a final tall north of $100 million with plenty more revenue to come in from overseas markets in the weeks to come.

Steve Carell's other comedy in the top five, the animated smash "Despicable Me", displayed another strong hold this weekend as the film pulled in an estimated $15.5 million in sales. Off a mere 34%, the gross stands at $190 million to date while looking at a possible final gross of $240-250 million. The film is the first Universal Pictures release to hit the $200 million mark since "The Bourne Ultimatum" hauled in $227 million three summers ago.

Fifth place went to the new 3-D family comedy "Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" with a flat $12.5 million from a wide 3,705 screen count. A sequel to the all-but-forgotten 2001 sleeper hit "Cats and Dogs", "Kitty" couldn't sway families away from the likes of holdovers "Despicable Me" and "Toy Story 3", even if it were the new multi-dimension offering from Hollywood. Reviews were, not surprisingly, bad.

Zac Efron also encountered audience resistance with his new drama "Charlie St. Cloud", which debuted outside the top five to a weak $12.1 million from 2,718 screens. While Zac's legion of young female fans turned out on Friday to the tune of $5.4 million, they stayed away in large amounts on Saturday (down 32% from Friday) and Sunday (a projected 30% drop from Saturday), which indicates that those who saw it Friday had only two words for their friends: Stay. Away.

For its seventh week in the marketplace, Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story 3" moved closer to the $400 million mark by grossing an estimated $5 million for the weekend. Off 44%, the film's total now stands at a mighty $389.7 million to date. Overseas, the animated juggernaut has made $436 million thus far, making for a superb global haul of $826 million to date. In eighth place was another long-running summer hit, Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups". For the weekend, Adam and his gang joked their way to an estimated $4.5 million and a new to-date domestic total of $151 million.

Freefalling 55% from last weekend to land in ninth place this weekend was the Nicolas Cage dud "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with $4.3 million in ticket sales and a new to-date gross of $51.9 million. Overseas, Cage has conjured up $40 million in sales so far. Rounding out the top ten was "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", which collected $4 million in sales for its fifth weekend to bring its total to the $288 million mark.

Next week, Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg are "The Other Guys", while all of your unanswered questions from "Step Up to the Streets" are answered in "Step Up 3-D". Sigh.