You may not have noticed on account of Burnsy being too busy partying at Sony headquarters to do a Weekend Movie Guide post on Friday, but this weekend’s new major releases were the found-footage telekinesis film Chronicle, the Daniel Radcliffe horror story The Woman in Black (RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, HE’S DORKY AND BRITISH!), and Drew Barrymore’s inspirational love story set in the world of stranded whales, Big Miracle (hashtag describe your penis with a movie). Chronicle won the day with an estimated $22 million for the weekend (on a $12 million budget), with Woman in Black hot on its heels at $21 m. Almost inconceivably, given America’s love affair with speech impediments and marine mammals, Big Miracle landed all the way at number four, grossing just $8.5 million on a $40 million budget.
That sounds like a bomb, and it is, but what did they expect opening against the Super Bowl? I’m sure it will do much better next week when the fanatical Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski fans aren’t all home watching the game.
I guess between Big Miracle and Dolphin Tale, this movie ocean just wasn’t big enough for two inspirational marine mammal movies. The lesson here? Always bet on Morgan Freeman.
It was nice to see Chronicle, which was pretty good, double its budget the first week out, but the way people are talking about it, you have to wonder if it’s going to be a net negative:
Chronicle is the latest example of the economic viability of the found footage genre—the movie nearly doubled its production budget ($12 million) through its first three days. According to distributor 20th Century Fox, Chronicle’s audience was 55 percent male and 61 percent under the age of 25. Overall, it received a “B” CinemaScore, and that improved to a “B+” among the under-25 crowd. [BoxOfficeMojo]
A victory for found footage. Aw crap.
| This Week |
Last Week |
Title |
Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget
(millions) |
Week # | |
| 1 | N | Chronicle (2012) | Fox | $22,000,000 | – | 2,907 | – | $7,568 | $22,000,000 | $12 | 1 |
| 2 | N | The Woman in Black | CBS | $21,000,000 | – | 2,855 | – | $7,356 | $21,000,000 | – | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | The Grey | ORF | $9,500,000 | -51.7% | 3,208 | +23 | $2,961 | $34,756,000 | $25 | 2 |
| 4 | N | Big Miracle | Uni. | $8,500,000 | – | 2,129 | – | $3,992 | $8,500,000 | $40 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | Underworld Awakening | SGem | $5,600,000 | -54.7% | 2,636 | -442 | $2,124 | $54,353,000 | $70 | 3 |
| 6 | 3 | One For the Money | LGF | $5,250,000 | -54.4% | 2,737 | – | $1,918 | $19,668,000 | $40 | 2 |
| 7 | 4 | Red Tails | Fox | $5,000,000 | -51.8% | 2,347 | -226 | $2,130 | $41,323,000 | $58 | 3 |
| 8 | 8 | The Descendants | FoxS | $4,600,000 | -28.2% | 2,038 | +37 | $2,257 | $65,523,000 | – | 12 |
| 9 | 5 | Man on a Ledge | Sum. | $4,500,000 | -43.8% | 2,998 | – | $1,501 | $14,700,000 | $42 | 2 |
| 10 | 6 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | WB | $3,925,000 | -43.8% | 2,505 | -125 | $1,567 | $26,793,000 | – | 7 |