The Weekend Report

Audiences were feeling the pain without any sense of gain as Pain & Gain managed to take the top spot in weekend charts with an estimated $19.7 million. The frame’s other new national release, The Big Wedding, underperformed as well with fourth place ranking of $7.5 million.

The Weekend Report

Sci-fi adventure Oblivion took a clear path and glided to the top of weekend box office with an estimated $38.1 million debut. While there were no other national debuts, several entries swung for the niches.

The Weekend Report

42 estimates 27. Scary Movie 5 has a scary opening… smallest of the series.

More to come.

The Weekend Report

The debut of a re-booted Evil Dead led weekend box office, shocking an estimated $25.8 million. The session’s only other national release was the 3D-enhanced reissue of the venerable Jurassic Park that ranked fourth with $18.2 million.

The Weekend Report

G.I. Joe fights off The Croods, while Tyler Perry’s dragless drama is estimated right in the middle (#7) of the Perry’s 13 above-the-title releases. The Host entertains a soft opening.

The Weekend Report

The Croods lead at the box office, but the opening leaves questions. Olympus Has Fallen opens okay for a big action movie, but great for FilmDistrict and Spring Breakers‘ expansion to 1,104 sunscreens leads to a solid but not spectacular $4.6m at $4,190 per motel room.

The Weekend Report

Oz the Great and Powerful continued to live up to its moniker with an estimated $42.2 million second weekend that handily led session titles. The frame saw two new releases open tepidly behind it. Slender thread drama The Call bowed to $17.3 million and the sleight-of-hand The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was less than magic with $10.3 million.

The Weekend Report

About 56% of weekend moviegoers turned out for the debut of Oz the Great and Powerful and that translated into an estimated $80.2 million opening. The frame’s only other new wide release, Dead Man Down, did little for the notion of counterprogramming, with a $5.3 million tally. Quirky romantic fable Somebody Up There Likes Me generated $43,200 from a single screen in Chicago.

The Weekend Report

Jack the Giant Slayer cut a sufficient swath estimated at $27.2 million to emerge the top weekend attraction at the box office. The frame’s other new national releases were considerably more modest. Barely legal 21 and Over bowed to $8.9 million while shocker sequel The Last Exorcism II opened with $7.7 million. And running well beneath sonar, submarine thriller Phantom took a dive with $462,000 at 1118 locales.

The Weekend Report

The revenge actioner Snitch debuted to $12.9 million but that put it in the bridesmaid slot behind returning champ Identity Thief that topped session charts with an estimated $14 million. Thief is poised to become the first 2013’s release to hit $100 million domestic. The frame’s only other incoming national release was the alien terror puzzler Dark Skies that opened to $8.6 million to rank sixth overall.

Weekend Review (3-Day)

It was a good weekend for A Good Day to Die Hard as it nosed out the competition to take top spot on the holiday charts with an estimated $24.9 million (all figures represent the 3-day portion of the Presidents Day frame). In an unexpectedly competitive session the three-hanky Safe Haven slotted third with $21.5 million; a jot behind the $23.4 million holdover of Identity Thief.

Two other films made national debuts. The kidcentric anime Escape from Planet Earth slipped into the fourth slot with $15.9 million and trailing the field was the supernatural rom-com Beautiful Creatures grossing $7.4 million.

The Weekend Report

Americans were ready for a good laugh and Identity Thief tickled the funny bone to an estimated $36.4 million, readily topping weekend ticket sales. The session’s only other new wide release was dramatic thriller Side Effects that prescribed third with a decent bow of $9.6 million.

Also sorta-new was a stereoscopic version of 1986’s Top Gun that grossed $1.9 million at 300 venues. In the niches, activity was fierce among Indian imports. China box-office tsunami Lost in Thailand ($200 million box office) hardly brought in the New Year with a bang, grossing just $28,400 from 35 screens. The “Oscar Bump” seems to have been reserved for Silver Linings Playbook, though Argo‘s re-release is doing well.

The Weekend Report

In honor of the Super Bowl, no thinking today… just a chart.

The Weekend Report

If not quite happily ever after, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters bowed at the top of the charts with an estimated $18.5 million. The session’s other debuting national releases proved less potent. The tough guy antics of Parker was fifth in the lineup with $6.8 million while Movie 43 was a notch below with $4.8 million. In the niches, a couple of films from the Indian diasporas had strong openings. Hindi Race 2 sped to $832,000 at 153 venues and Tamil Vishwaroopam scored $659,000 from 84 locations. A handful of exclusive openings also stepped out with encouraging results.

The Weekend Report

Mama scared up an estimated $27.9 million (all figures reflect 3-day period) during the MLK-Inauguration holiday frame to take top honors in the weekend movie sweepstakes. Two other new national releases bowed to less auspicious results.

The Weekend Report

Though well-repped in major Academy categories, Zero Dark Thirty had been receiving the most ink for the absence of a best direction nomination. It attracted an audience 59% composed of males and was 62% that was 30 and older. Though the era of big Oscar bumps has largely evaporated, it should come as no great surprise that some films have benefited from the spotlight by dint of strategic release patterns. Silver Linings Playbook got an outsized lift with the modest addition of 65 screens. Otherwise, Lincoln and The Life of Pi were steady and Les MisérablesAmour received considerably more love with nominations in Picture, Direction and Actress categories in addition to its anticipated slot among Foreign Language contenders.

The Weekend Report

They simply can’t put a stake through the heart of Texas Chainsaw. The newest incarnation of the 1974 ‘Saw was top of weekend movie sales with an estimated $23.1 million debut. Chainsaw was also the only new national release, although several late-year award qualifiers also expanded to national exposure. Eco-themed drama Promised Land failed to ignite with the addition of 1,650 screens and a gross of $4.2 million. More promising though hardly explosive was The Impossible with $2.8 million from 572 locations. Also expanding from exclusive to limited status was Oscar-touted Zero Dark Thirty with a $2.7 million gross from just 60 playdates. The flip side was the total collapse of Not Fade Away that eked out a quiet $278,000 at 565 garages.

The Weekend Report (3-Day)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey nudged ahead of some fierce competition to retain the top spot on the weekend charts with an estimated $32.9 million. The Christmas day behemoths followed close behind with Django Unchained grossing $30.5 million and the screen adaptation of Les Misérables scoring with $28 million. The frame’s other wide release, Parental Guidance, ranked fourth with $14.8 million to win the seasonal comedy honors by default. Other newcomers included Matt Damon-starring Promised Land with an okay $190,000 at 25 venues and a disappointing $14,200 at five sites for Peter Jackson’s production of West of Memphis.