Weekend Wrap-Up: Oz Still Great
March 18, 2013
As expected, Oz the Great and Powerful easily won the box office race this weekend matching predictions nearly perfectly. The Call was a surprise hit, but unfortunately, the other wide release for the week, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, failed to find an audience. The overall box office fell 23% from last weekend to $107 million. Its decline from last year was much smaller at just 2.9%, but with 2013 so far behind 2012, any loss is still troubling. We really need to close the gap, which is now at 12% at $2.14 billion to $1.88 billion. Next weekend, it is just going to get worse.
Oz the Great and Powerful remained in first place with $41.25 million, which was within a rounding error of weekend predictions. Its running tally rose to $144.06 million after just ten days of release and it became the biggest hit of 2013 in the process. At this pace, getting to $200 million should be a relatively easy task and as long as it can at least match that number internationally, it will break even sometime on the home market.
The last time Halle Berry was the lead in a film that didn't miss expectations at the box office was Gothika, which opened nearly a decade ago. The Call ended that streak earning a solid second place with $17.12 million, which is more than it reportedly cost to make. Given its genre and its reviews, I don't think it is going to stick around very long, but unless it bombs internationally, it will make a profit sometime on the home market. If it makes a standard 40 / 60 domestic / international split, then it will make a profit before the home market.
On the other hand, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone missed expectations by a pretty wide margin earning third place with just $10.18 million. Its per theater average was less than half that of The Call. Add in soft reviews and I think its legs will be weak. It likely didn't cost a lot to make, but it likely won't break even any time soon.
Jack the Giant Slayer earned fourth place with $6.31 million over the weekend for a running tally of $54.01 million. Had it opened with this much, and done relatively well internationally, it would have earned a profit some time during its home market run. As it is, it will cost the studio a bundle.
Identity Thief rounded out the top five with $4.42 million over the weekend for a total of $123.61 million after six weeks of release. It is now the biggest grossing film in Seth Gordon's career. I don't think anyone was expecting that.
Looking in on the sophomore class, we find Dead Man Down in 11th place with just $2.13 million over the weekend for a total of $9.37 million after two. It plummeted 60% and now has a per theater average of just $972, so it will likely all but evaporate on Friday.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Jack the Giant Slayer, Oz the Great and Powerful, Identity Thief, Dead Man Down, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Call, Halle Berry, Seth Gordon