DELLAMORTE'S BOX OFFICE WRAP UP 8/20/10

This just in: One in five Americans believe that president Obama is a Muslim.

When Rambo came out it, it was trumped by Meet the Spartans. But this time Stallone held firm and trumped Friedberg and Seltzer. So for Sly and crew, they’ve got their second weekend on top. But if Fox wanted the weekend they likely could have had it if they didn’t have a Wednesday opening. Vampires Suck was made for around $20 Million, so it’s likely another win for team F/S. Ancillaries are still weaker than they were, but this is going to do enough business theatrically and at home to be profitable. Perhaps next they’ll make fun of 3-D movies. This seems to also fall right into their previous grosses for Fox, slightly under $40 Million, though this likely has a slightly different audience. Though Vampires didn’t win the weekend, these guys are back after the disastrous numbers for their Disaster Movie. As for The Expendables, of the Stallone comeback trilogy it looks to be the most successful, and should edge past Rocky Balboa‘s numbers some time this week. $100 Million is likely out of reach, but there will also likely be an extended DVD cut, etc. and the film will do much better overseas. With a 50% drop word of mouth was mostly positive, in that the number suggests people weren’t scared off. But with this sort of film, the target demo is going to be happy when they sit down, and Stallone ends it big.

As for holding, Eat Pray Love should have held around 30% is if it was going to play strong to its target demo. Julia Roberts isn’t Meryl Streep. Unless somehow it levels next weekend, it’s fair to call this a misfire with its audience. The Other Guys is going to get past $100 Million for sure at this point, and maybe gets around $110 Million. Anything more than that is luck. This is a win-ish number, though the film is rather expensive. I keep talking about the death of ancillary, and basically what happened is that a while back people were buying moves on whims, and engaged in having film collections, but with the rise of VOD and Netflix a lot of that additional money is gone. But not all of it, and a McKay/Ferrell film has a likely higher purchase average than a Julia Roberts-type vehicle. So a film like this is in good shape, even with a higher price tag. But then also, back-end deals have changed, etc. etc.

Lottery Ticket was the best of the rest of the new films, but the numbers are all around the same level of Meh. Ticket cost the least of these, so it’s in good shape to make its dime back. Sometimes these sorts of pictures are front-loaded, but it may have some shelf life if it plays to families, etc. Likely not. Nanny McPhee was made for an international audience, so it’s American release is mostly a courtesy. If the film was made for the number suggested, it’s already going to be in profit. The Switch is likely a disaster, but the film at least opened in the top ten. I thought it might not even hit five million. Piranha 3-D may have suffered from the backlash against 3-D. Having gotten a headache watching the first two reels, the post-conversion was sloppy at best. But I don’t really care for 3-D to begin with. A ten opening – even with enthusiasm – basically means that Dimension and the Weinstein’s couldn’t get their shit together to market this well. All you really need to do is show violence and Kelly Brook’s backside. I guess you can get the latter on the internet, but not in three dimensions. She’s a lovely lady, I’m sure. Horror doesn’t hold, so if they get much over $20, they’re lucky.

Inception has a nice per screen, which may help keep it on screens after next weekend. There are two wide releases (Takers and The Last Exorcism), so it might lose a number of screens it wouldn’t have if some of the last couple wide releases weren’t so new. The film gets to $275 Million without problem, but that may be the end of it. What can I say about Scott Pilgrim that hasn’t already been said about Afghanistan? Summer’s getting close to being over. Next week is more lameness.