Weekend Wrap-Up: Lego Presides Over Presidents' Day
February 19, 2014
The LEGO Movie again crushed expectations earning almost as much over three-days as most people were expecting it to earn over four. The new releases were not as lucky for the most part. About Last Night and RoboCop matched expectations, while Endless Love and Winter's Tale missed lowered expectations. Overall, the three-day box office pulled in $170 million, which was 12% more than last week and 20% more than last year. Over four days, the total box office was $199 million, or 12% more than the four-day period last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has extended its lead over 2013 to 8.5% at $1.36 billion to $1.25 billion.
The LEGO Movie has overtaken Ride Along as the biggest release earning $49.85 million / $62.48 million over the three-day / four-day weekend. This was less than $1 million away from Valentine's Day's Presidents' Day long weekend record. Had the movie opened with $49.85 million last weekend, it would have been a major hit. As it stands, the film has pulled in a total of $142.78 million after just 11 days of release, topping Ride Along's current running tally of $117.20 million after 32 days of release. Given the film's astronomically strong reviews, it will remain in the top ten for a while hitting $200 million with ease and $250 million isn't out of the question.
About Last Night landed in second place with $25.65 million / $27.84 million during its opening weekend. The film's reviews are excellent for a romantic comedy. Its internal multiplier was just 1.99, but since Friday was Valentine's Day, this is misleading. By this time next week, we will have a better idea what the film's legs will be like. Getting to $100 million will be tough, but since it only cost $13 million to make, so it will break even sooner rather than later.
RoboCop opened slower than expected on Wednesday and wasn't able to turn things around over the weekend. It earned $21.68 million over the three-day, $25.06 million over the four-day weekend, and $30.01 million in total. With only mixed reviews, the film likely won't have strong legs. This is a huge problem as it cost $120 million to make and its international numbers haven't been very strong.
The Monuments Men grabbed fourth place with $15.48 million / $17.91 million over the weekend for a total of $46.58 million after 11 days of release. It will likely match its $70 million production budget domestically, but it will need help internationally and on the home market to break even. Unfortunately, its early international numbers are weak.
Endless Love only managed $13.31 million / $14.41 million during its opening weekend. Combine this opening with the terrible reviews and the film's legs will likely be really short. Granted, it only cost $20 million to make, but it will still need to do some business internationally and on the home market to break even. It depends on how much it cost to advertise.
The final new release of the week was Winter's Tale, which could do no better than seventh place with $7.30 million / $8.01 million. The per theater average over the three-day portion of the weekend was barely more than the Mendoza line, plus it was artificially boosted by Valentine's Day. Add in reviews that are simply terrible, and it will disappear from theaters very fast.
The only sophomore film to not reach the top five was Vampire Academy, which only managed $1.91 million / $2.21 million over the weekend for a total of $6.96 million after two weeks of release. Any studio making an adaptations of a Young Adult novel with a supernatural twist is likely worried about this result, as a lot of similar films have missed the mark. I'm not sure there were enough successes in the genre to declare it was a fade, but instead I think there were a couple high-profile successes and a lot of imitators.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, RoboCop, Ride Along, The Lego Movie, The Monuments Men, About Last Night, Vampire Academy, Endless Love, Winter’s Tale