When does a big opening become a disconcerting one? Typically, when a film has a significant drop from an opening Friday to Saturday that’s not a good sign. After debuting to $15 million, Relativity’s “Immortals” found only $10.1 million on Saturday giving it a three-day estimate of just $32 million. The company claims the 3D adventure cost $75 million after tax credits and foreign sales and that it finished ahead of internal projections. Next week’s drop will tell the tale on this one.
Debuting in second place was Adam Sandler’s critically lambasted “Jack and Jill” with $26 million.Despite horrible reviews, it’s obvious that Sandler’s hardcore fan base still showed up. The opening is on the low and of Sandler’s typical opening and even with the Thanksgiving holiday frame coming up its hard to see this one hitting the $100 million mark (Sandler has starred in an astounding 12 films that have made over $100 million domestic).
“Puss in Boots” continued it’s good word of mouth run (down only 22%) with another $25 million for $108 million to date. It faces stiff competition from “Happy Feet Two,” “Muppets,” “Hugo” and “Arthur Christmas” in the coming few weeks, but should surpass the $148 million “Megamind” made around the same frame last year.
Dropping to fourth was Brett Ratner’s “Tower Heist.” The now former Academy Awards co-producer had a hellish week and with another $13.2 million and just $43.9 million in eight days “Heist’s” box office performance won’t turn out to be a silver lining. The heist caper is looking at finishing under expectations with around $80-85 million domestic when all is said and done.
Coming in a tad under pre-release polling in fifth is Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar.” The Leonardo DiCaprio starter opened to solid returns in limited release on Wednesday before expanding to 1,910 runs on Friday. With just $11.4 million over the three-day it appears the mixed reviews made some adult moviegoers think twice about heading to the multiplex for this one.
In eighth place, “Paranormal Activity 3” hit $100.8 million. The threequel is a huge moneymaker for Paramount Pictures and with a reported budget of just $5 million one of the most profitable films of the year.
Friday’s new openers including “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 1” and “Happy Feet Two.”
Box Office actuals are released on Monday.