The close of summer meant less people were inclined to visit their local multiplex at the North American box office turned which recorded its worst weekend performance of the year thus far. Lionsgate’s action sequel The Expendables 2 held off the dismal debuts of Sony’s Premium Rush, Open Road’s Hit & Run and Warner’s The Apparition, the latter of which couldn’t even crack the top ten in its debut. The two brights spots in the top ten were the expanded run of independent film distributor Rocky Mountain’s 2016: Obama’s America and the appearance of The Dark Knight Rises in the top five. The top ten was down a steep 38% from last weekend’s totals but was up 9% from last year at this time.
Sylvester Stallone and friends held court for the second weekend in a row with The Expendables 2 as the action flick slid 55% to an estimated $13 million to bring its ten-day domestic total to the $54 million mark. The movie is on course for a final domestic total around the $75 million mark, placing it roughly 30% behind the 2010 original. That deficit should be taken care of thanks to the overseas market.
In second place for a second weekend was Universal’s action hit The Bourne Legacy. Adding an estimated $9.5 million from 3,652 theaters, the fourth chapter of the Bourne franchise has earned a decent $85.6 million and should finish its run with approximately $110-115 million or close to half of what the last film, 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, earned five years ago at this time.
Showing some decent legs in third place was Focus Features’ ParaNorman. The 3D-animated comedy eased only 38% to earn an estimated $8.7 million from 3,455 theaters. After ten days, the movie has earned $29.3 million and is heading to the $50 million mark by the end of its domestic run.
Fourth and fifth places went to two Warner late-summer hits. Fourth place was the political comedy The Campaign, which lost 43% of its previous weekend’s constituents to bring an estimated $7.4 million from 3,302 theaters. To date, the Jay Roach-directed laffer has earned a decent $64.5 million and should finish just over the $80 million mark.
Fifth place went to the box office juggernaut The Dark Knight Rises. Still on 2,606 screens, the final chapter of the Christopher Nolan Batman series slid a modest 35% in its sixth weekend to earn an estimated $7.15 million. To date, Rises total is at $422 million, which is just $600,000 shy of cracking the all-time top ten domestic grosses (pre-inflation adjustment). The film is still eying a final haul near the $445 million mark. Overseas, the movie has earned a big $519 million so far.
Sixth place went to Disney’s family drama The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which eased a moderate 34% to earn $7.12 million and bring its twelve-day total to $27 million. In seventh place was the first of the three dud debuts put forth by the studios, Sony’s bicycle drama Premium Rush with an estimated $6.3 million from 2,255 theaters. Despite earning solid reviews from critics (75% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes), the Joseph Gordon-Levitt flick failed to connect with weekend audiences.
Rocky Mountain’s 2016: Obama’s America landed in eighth place with an estimated $6.2 million from 1,091 theaters. The movie has been in limited release for the past six weeks and timed its wide release to coincide with the upcoming Republican National Convention.
Sony’s adult drama Hope Springs took ninth with an estimated $6 million from 2,402 theaters. After three weeks, the Meryl Streep film has earned a respectable $45 million and might finish near the $60 million mark. Rounding out the top ten was Open Road’s Hit & Run, which hit a roadblock right out of the gate with a meek $4.6 million from 2,870 screens. Since last Wednesday, the comedy has earned $5.8 million.
Next weekend, the 2012 Summer Movie Season formally wraps up with three new releases, the Prohibition drama Lawless, the animated feature Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure and the horror feature The Possession. Expect The Expendables 2 to crack the top three again with relative ease.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
