Madagascar and Prometheus topped the box office for the second week in a row, while the new releases basically flopped. Adam Shankman’s Tom Cruise jukebox nightmare Rock of Ages grossed just $15 (according to early estimates) on a $75 million budget. It turns out celebrities singing crappy versions of played out corporate rock songs wasn’t quite the draw Warner had hoped. Meanwhile, Sony released Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy with an R-rating, not realizing that the only person in America over the age of 17 still excited about new Adam Sandler movies is Armond White, and he sees them for free. That made $13 million, landing in fifth place, on a $70 million budget.
Rock of Ages had the sixth-highest opening ever for a musical, and third all-time for one adapted from a stage production. That being said, with a prime Summer date, a massive release, recognizable tunes and an all-star cast, the movie should have done much better. Clearly, the goal was to see similar results as past Summer musicals Mamma Mia! ($27.8 million) and Hairspray ($27.5 million), and Rock of Ages didn’t come close.
The audience skewed female (62 percent) and older (74 percent over 25), and they awarded the movie a “B” CinemaScore.
That’s My Boy wound up even lower than Rock of Ages with a terrible $13 million from 3,030 locations. That’s a little over half of Jack and Jill’s $25 million debut last November, and that movie was already on the low-end for Adam Sandler comedies. It was also lower than notorious Sandler bomb Little Nicky, which earned $16.1 million in its opening weekend. In fact, That’s My Boy had the worst debut for a live-action traditional Sandler comedy since 1996’s Happy Gilmore ($8.5 million). [BoxOfficeMojo]
On the whole, the box office was down 15% from the same weekend last year, and the same weekend last year had Green Lantern. When you can’t even make money on Adam Sandler mailing it in anymore, it might be time to panic.
In other Happy Madison news, Bucky Larson is still 0% on RottenTomatoes.
[via BOM]