With a studio estimated $62 million, "The Dark Knight Rises" easily remained the top box office draw in both the United States and around the globe over the weekend, dwarfing the numbers of new releases "The Watch" and "Step Up Revolution." "The Watch" put up a paltry $13 million according to studio estimates, while "Step Up Revolution" also struggled and ended with a sub-par opening of $11.8 million at 2,500+ venues. Meanwhile, "Ted," "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and "Brave" all saw minimal drops from the previous weekend, adding to their already impressive totals as we head into the typically slow month of August.
Backed by a production budget of $68 million and a release of more than 3,100 theaters, expectations were fairly high for R-rated comedy "The Watch." But even with minimal competition for comedy-seeking adults, "The Watch" fell flat amidst terrible reviews and a general lack of buzz from its intended audience, leading to a poor per venue average of only $4,104 and a total of $13 million. With such a meager opening, screenings should diminish quickly for "The Watch" in the coming weeks and only one or two more trips to the weekend top ten seems likely.
Also not doing particularly well with its target demographic was "Step Up Revolution," the fourth entry in the surprisingly lucrative "Step Up" franchise. Though expectations weren't enormous for a $33 million production getting a 2,500-theater release, an $11.8 million opening is still a clear sign that the franchise has seen better days. "Step Up Revolution" should have a hard time finding its audience with a bevy of new titles hitting theaters in the next few weekends.
As the new releases struggled, "The Dark Knight Rises" posted another solid weekend of $62.8 million for distributor Warner Brothers. Though domestic numbers have been a little below what they were for 2008's "The Dark Knight," "The Dark Knight Rises" has also started to make a serious dent overseas. With "The Dark Knight Rises" hitting some of its biggest foreign markets, weekend numbers were big around the globe over the weekend, pushing its worldwide total past $500 million in just 10 days. As domestic numbers begin to dwindle, foreign totals should increase over the next few weekends, which should eventually push it close to $1 billion in worldwide revenue before it's out of theaters.
With new release "The Watch" struggling and the buzz from "The Dark Knight Rises" starting to fade, R-rated comedy "Ted" put up yet another strong weekend for distributor Universal. "Ted" dipped only 27% from the previous weekend's totals and landed in the top five for the fifth consecutive weekend, pushing its domestic total to a spectacular $193 million so far. Without any new competition next weekend, it looks like "Ted" will continue to find its audience and should hurdle past $200 million domestically very soon.
Without any new options for families, "Ice Age: Continental Drift" ended up with a strong weekend intake of $13.30 million - down just 35% from the previous weekend's totals. Overseas, "Ice Age" has also continued its dominance, propelling it to more than $600 million worldwide in just a few weeks. Though "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" will provide a little bit of competition for "Ice Age" next weekend, worldwide totals should remain big in the coming weeks for the Fox distribution.
The weekend was also probably the last one that both "Magic Mike" and "Moonrise Kingdom" land in the top ten after strong box office runs so far. With a production budget of only $7 million, Steven Soderbergh's "Magic Mike" has turned into an enormous success for Warner Brothers, with domestic totals reaching $107 million after its fifth weekend in theaters. Meanwhile, Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" has caught on with art house crowds to the tune of $38 million domestically, which is a strong total for a limited release with a production budget of just $16 million.
Next weekend, "The Dark Knight Rises" should remain the top box office draw, though remake "Total Recall" hits theaters challenging for action-seeking audiences. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" meanwhile takes aim at family audiences as Fox launches the third entry in the quietly successful franchise. The following weekend, "The Bourne Legacy" will reboot the popular Universal franchise and Will Ferrell's comedy "The Campaign" will team him with Zach Galifianakis for a timely spoof of American politics.
Early Studio Box Office Estimates for 7/27/12 - 7/29/12 (In Millions), [RTT Estimates]:
1. The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Brother): $62.84 [$80]
2. Ice Age: Continental Drift (Fox): $13.3 [$9.5]
3. The Watch (Fox): $13 [$20]
4. Step Up Revolution (Summit): $11.8 [$12]
5. Ted (Universal): $7.40 [$5]
6. The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony/Columbia): $6.8 [$5.2]
7. Brave (Disney): $4.24 [$3.2]
8. Magic Mike (Warner Brothers): $2.58 [$2.1]
9. Savages (Universal): $1.8 [$1.8]
10. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus): $1.39 [$1.2]
by RTT Staff Writer
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