Universal Studios is letting out a small sigh of relief this afternoon after final box office numbers put Cowboys & Aliens ahead of Sony’s The Smurfs at the weekend box office.
Yesterday afternoon, both studios reported their respective new films have lassoed $36.2 million in domestic ticket sales. The Smurfs had the advantage on Friday, while Cowboys & Aliens jumped ahead on Saturday. Sunday’s finalized numbers were needed to determine a victor.
Universal’s initial weekend estimates for Cowboys & Aliens turned out low as the final tally comes in at $36.4 million. The Smurfs, on the other hand, will have to be content with $35.6 million.
Though the two films battled mightily at the box office, their respective studios will likely react differently to the numbers. Cowboys & Aliens, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and starring James Bond (i.e. Daniel Craig) and Indiana Jones (i.e. Harrison Ford) was expected to be a blockbuster and open north of $40 million, if not $50 million. The soft opening, and potential for a sharp decline this upcoming weekend, doesn’t bode well for any future installments.
Sony, meanwhile, is probably drinking blueberry margaritas right now. The Smurfs wasn’t expected to break beyond the $25 million mark, much less $10 million above it. Critics hated it based on the 80% rotten score at Rotten Tomatoes, but enough 30-somethings and families were lured in for a trip down nostalgia lane.
Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Universal’s The Change-Up are expected to take the one and two spots away from Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs next weekend. The way R-rated comedies have performed this summer, Universal is probably already thinking ahead to The Change-Up’s potential and writing off Cowboys & Aliens’ lackluster opening.
