1. Real Steel (DreamWorks/Disney) NEW [3,440 Theaters]
Friday $8.7M, Estimated Weekend $27M

2. The Ides Of March (Smokehouse/Sony) NEW [2,199 Theaters]
Friday $3.7M, Estimated Weekend $11M

3. Dolphin Tale (Alcon/Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,478 Theaters]
Friday $2.4M, Estimated Weekend $8.5M, Estimated Cume $48.4M

4. Moneyball (Sony) Week 3 [3,018 Theaters]
Friday $2.1M, Estimated Weekend $7M, Estimated Cume $48.7M

5. 50/50 (Summit Entertainment) Week 2 [2,479 Theaters]
Friday $1.7M (-40%), Estimated Weekend $5.5M, Estimated Cume $17.3M

6. Courageous (Sherwood/Sony) Week 2 [1,161 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M (-56%), Estimated Weekend $4.8M, Estimated Cume $16.1M

7. Dream House (Universal) Week 2 [2,664 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M (-53%), Estimated Weekend $4.5M, Estimated Cume $14.5M

8. Lion King 3D (Disney) Week 4 [2,267 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M, Estimated Weekend $5M, Estimated Cume $86.4M

9. Abduction (Lionsgate) Week 3 [2,591 Theaters]
Friday $875K, Estimated Weekend $3M, Estimated Cume $23.5M

10. What’s Your Number? (Fox) Week 2 [3,011 Theaters]
Friday $1M (-51%), Estimated Weekend $3.2M, Estimated Cume $10.5M

These are very early estimates. But DreamWorks/Disney’s Real Steel is dominating the North American box office today and looking at a mid-$20sM weekend if not higher. Hollywood will only be impressed if the result is mid-$30sM because this action pic has a family overlay and its budget was $110+M. By contrast, director and star George Clooney’s newcomer The Ides Of March from his Smokehouse Pictures and Sony had only a $12.5M production budget after rebates. But this hard-to-sell R-rated adult political thriller co-starring Ryan Gosling is #2 today. It should be in low double digits for the weekend which is the modest showing that Hollywood expected. Alcon Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Dolphin Tale will hold well again and likely come in around $9M by Sunday night. Same with Sony Pictures’ baseball pic Moneyball in the $7.5M range and the studio’s faith-based Sherwood Pictures’ Courageous in the $5.5M range. Summit Entertainment’s cancer dramedy 50/50 should end up in the $5M range. Universal’s Dream House is not so dreamy with a pretty hefty percentage drop. And Disney’s Lion King 3D may be safely back in the cage after its Blu-Ray release.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/first-box-office-real-steel-wins-by-tko/

Weekend Report: Real Steel Wins Middleweight Bout
by Ray Subers
October 9, 2011


Real Steel fought its way to the top of the box office this weekend, though its debut didn't quite reach heavyweight levels.

The Ides of March was the runner-up with a standard George Clooney opening, while Dolphin Tale and Moneyball continued to hold well in their third frames.






Real Steel scored an estimated $27.3 million, which tops Rocky IV's $20 million for highest boxing debut ever (though it obviously lags in estimated attendance).

It was also the second highest-grossing opening for a sports drama behind The Blind Side's $34.1 million.



Still, Real Steel had an average start for movies involving robots, and even wound up behind A.I. Artificial Intelligence ($29.4 million).

According to distributor Walt Disney Pictures' exit polling, the audience was 66 percent male and 70 percent under the age of 35, and the movie earned a strong "A" CinemaScore ("A+" for the under-25 crowd).









The Ides of March earned an estimated $10.4 million on its opening weekend.

That's just a bit ahead of George Clooney's Michael Clayton ($10.37 million) but behind his last directorial effort Leatherheads ($12.7 million).

It was also slightly off from star Ryan Gosling's Drive ($11.3 million), and it lagged a bit behind Primary Colors ($12 million) among comparable campaign movies.

The audience was 58 percent female and 65 percent under the age of 35, and it tallied an okay "B" CinemaScore ("B+" for the under-25 demographic).









Last weekend's winner Dolphin Tale eased 34 percent to an estimated $9.16 million for a total of $49.1 million.

It's still slightly behind Moneyball, which dipped 38 percent to $7.5 million for a total of $49.3 million.





50/50 had the best hold among last weekend's newcomers. It declined 36 percent to an estimated $5.5 million, and the movie has now earned $17.3 million.





Courageous on the other hand fell a rough 50 percent to $4.6 million.

That's notably worse than Fireproof's 42 percent decline, though Courageous's $15.9 million total is still running ahead of Fireproof's $12.4 million through the same point.





With the Blu-ray finally in stores, The Lion King in 3D plummeted 57 percent to $4.55 million. That brings the re-release's total to $86 million and the movie's overall total to $414.5 million.

Within the next few days, The Lion King will pass Toy Story 3 ($415 million) to move in to ninth place on the all-time domestic chart.





Dream House fell 45 percent to an estimated $4.5 million for a paltry 10-day total of $14.5 million.

What's Your Number? was off 44 percent to $3.05 million for a terrible total of $10.3 million.





In limited release, horror sequel The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence debuted to an estimated $54,000 from 18 locations ($3,000 per-theater average), most of which were only playing the movie during late shows on Friday and Saturday night.

The original Human Centipede earned $181,467 in theaters last year, and the sequel will look to eclipse that figure as it expands throughout the month of October.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3288&p=.htm











Weekend Report for October 7-9, 2011


1. Real Steel $27,300,000
2. The Ides of March $10,400,000
3. Dolphin Tale $9,160,000 / $49,070,000
4. Moneyball $7,500,000 / $49,253,000
5. 50/50 $5,500,000 / $17,300,000
6. Courageous $4,600,000 / $15,892,000
7. The Lion King (3D) $4,552,000 / $85,962,000
8. Dream House $4,500,000 / $14,500,000
9. What's Your Number? $3,050,000 / $10,306,000
10. Abduction $2,900,000 / $23,369,000

Rocky with robots. Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots: The Movie

The first thing I thought of when I saw Real Steel's trailer- Robot Jox! Though those were giant robots.