The "Men in Black" Defeat "The Avengers" Memorial Day Weekend

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: MIB 3 Beats Avengers with Solid Memorial Debut
by Ray Subers
May 27, 2012


It's not a great start, but MIB 3 got the job done by finally dethroning mega-blockbuster The Avengers over Memorial Day weekend.

Chernobyl Diaries also opened, though it barely made a blip on the radar, while Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom had one of the best limited debuts ever.

For the three-day weekend the Top 12 earned an estimated $147.5 million, which is off 32 percent from last year when The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2 ruled.







That being said, the fact that MIB 3 was about on par with Men in Black II from a revenue perspective is somewhat admirable considering it hit theaters nearly 10 years after that very poorly received second entry (5.8 rating on IMDb) sullied the franchise's reputation.

The marketing campaign was fairly effective in conveying that the Men in Black are back with a plot that retains the light-hearted vibe of the original movies while adding a new twist to the mix with time travel.

The real credit, though, belongs to star Will Smith—his three-year hiatus may have lost him a few fans, but this opening is solid enough to suggest that his box office drawing power isn't too diminished.

Sony is reporting that the audience was 54 percent male and 56 percent over the age of 25, which indicates that families were probably not a huge contributor. The movie received a solid "B+" CinemaScore, which improved to an "A-" among moviegoers under the age of 18.







While it had to settle for second place, The Avengers was still very impressive this weekend.

The superhero team-up eased 34 percent to an estimated $37 million, which is the second-highest fourth weekend ever behind Avatar's $50.3 million. On Saturday, the movie set a new record by crossing the $500 million mark in just 23 days.

Through Sunday, The Avengers has earned $513.7 million, and will pass The Dark Knight ($533.3 million) by Friday to move in to third place on the all-time domestic chart.








Battleship crashed in its second outing—the board game adaptation fell 58 percent to an estimated $10.8 million for the three-day weekend.

It's now made $44.3 million, which is a fraction of recent Hasbro adaptations and is even off from star Taylor Kitsch's John Carter ($53.2 million) through the same point.







The Dictator fared a bit better, dipping 45 percent to an estimated $9.6 million.

Still, that hold doesn't portend a lengthy box office run for the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy, which has now earned $41.4 million.








Chernobyl Diaries debuted in fifth place with an estimated $8 million three-day haul.

As expected, that's a fraction of producer Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity sequels, but it's also off from mediocre Summer horror offerings like Orphan ($12.9 million), 28 Weeks Later ($9.8 million) and Apollo 18 ($8.7 million).

At least it opened a bit higher than Splice ($7.4 million), though that's really not saying much.



Chernobyl Diaries never really clicked from a marketing perspective. Commercials made clear that a group of (not altogether intelligent) young adults were going to be terrorized at Chernobyl, but it was never clear who's doing the terrorizing. Are they mutants? Some kind of supernatural beings? Or maybe just angry Ukranians?

It didn't help that the scares presented weren't particularly scary, and it also didn't help that the movie's low-budget look wasn't covered up with the found footage concept the way it has been in other recent horror movies.







After getting hit pretty hard in its second weekend, Dark Shadows leveled out a bit in its third outing by easing 40 percent to $7.5 million.

Its 17-day total of $63 million isn't very good, though at least the movie passed Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ($52.9 million) last week.





What to Expect When You're Expecting eased a light 32 percent for a three-day haul of $7.15 million.

Unfortunately, it's only made $22.2 million so far.







The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel expanded in to 1,233 locations this weekend and earned an estimated $6.35 million.

The Fox Searchlight comedy has now grossed $16.6 million, and shouldn't have any trouble making its way past $30 million.







In limited release, Richard Linklater's Bernie cracked the Top 12 with $870,000 this weekend.

The dark comedy, which stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey has so far earned $2.2 million.








Moonrise Kingdom opened to an estimated $509,000 from just four theaters for an incredible per-theater average of $127,250. If that estimate holds, the movie will set a new opening weekend per-theater record for a live-action movie ahead of Dreamgirls ($126,316).

It's also writer-director Wes Anderson's best opening ever ahead of The Royal Tenenbaums ($276,981 at five venues).

With outstanding reviews and strong word-of-mouth, Focus Features should have an easy time working this one up to nationwide release over the next month.







International sensation The Intouchables also opened in four theaters this weekend, though it only earned $101,000. That's probably the strongest foreign-language opening since Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In scored $223,119 at six locations in October.

Still, at $343.7 million and counting the movie is the highest-grossing foreign language title ever overseas (with the exception of The Passion of the Christ), so it probably could have done better.

Considering it's a crowd-pleaser that's been holding very well in nearly all of its territories, The Weinstein Company should be able to successfully roll it out in to other theaters, though it's unclear at this point if it can become a hit in the U.S. as well.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3448&p=.htm










May 25-27, 2012 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Men in Black 3 $55,000,000
2. The Avengers $36,987,000 / $513,672,000
3. Battleship $10,800,000 / $44,300,000
4. The Dictator $9,600,000 / $41,448,000
5. Chernobyl Diaries $8,000,000
6. Dark Shadows $7,515,000 / $62,998,000
7. What to Expect When You're Expecting $7,150,000 / $22,171,000
8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel $6,350,000 / $16,553,000
9. The Hunger Games $2,750,000 / $395,209,000
10. Think Like a Man $1,400,000 / $88,272,000

[Brian Damage]

Um....it is still considered a major flop