Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the belated sequel to the 1987 drama Wall Street, was bullish in defeating three other wide releases at the North American box office this weekend. The new Warner 3D animated feature Legend of the Guardians had an okay opening in what was expected to be a nailbiter finish with Money Never Sleeps but was never close, while Disney’s You Again and Sony’s The Virginity Hit were non-starters. Overall, box office was up a healthy 13% from the top ten a year ago this weekend.
Reuniting the original’s director (Oliver Stone) and star (Michael Douglas), Money Never Sleeps nabbed an estimated $19 million from a wide 3,565 screen count. The $65 million drama, which also stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Carey Mulligan, represents the biggest debut for an Oliver Stone film (pre-inflation), surpassing World Trade Center’s $18.7 million debut four years ago. It also marks Douglas’ first number one debut since Don’t Say A Word in September 2001.
While reviews were mixed for the PG-13 film, viewers still turned out for the return of Gordon Gekko thanks to recent economic meltdown, Douglas’ much-publicized battle with cancer and those who saw and loved Douglas’ Oscar-winning turn in the 1987 original. The film was originally scheduled to be released this past April but was pushed back five months at the last minute as Twentieth Century Fox opted to let Stone fine-tune the film and debut it at the Cannes Film Festival last May, where it was warmly received.
Warner Brothers occupied the next two spots at the box office. In second place was the 3D animated feature Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole on 3,575 screens. Even with the ultra-wide screen count and the benefit of higher-priced 3D tickets, the film could only yield a mild $16.3 million in ticket sales. Directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen), the animated feature opened quietly on Friday to $4.5 million but saw a big uptick thanks to matinee sales on Saturday to $7 million which were almost enough to unseat the Wall Street for the day. Featuring the voice talents of Helen Mirren, Jim Sturges, Hugo Weaving and Geoffrey Rush, reviews for Snyder’s first PG-rated feature were mixed at best.
In third place for the weekend was Ben Affleck’s lauded crime flick The Town which held very well in its second weekend to nab $16 million in estimated sales. Off only 32% from last weekend (the best hold in the top ten), the $37 million production is definitely benefitting from word-of-mouth and could reach the $85-90 million range, possibly more if the film scores some awards recognition at year’s end. It currently stands at $49 million after 10 days.
Also holding up well is Sony’s high school comedy Easy A which eased a decent 39% from last weekend to nab $10.7 million for a new ten-day total of $32.8 million. The Emma Stone-starrer, much like The Town, is benefitting from strong word-of-mouth that is pulling in viewers outside of the film’s targeted demographic. Depending on how the film holds, the well-reviewed comedy could finish its run near the $50 million mark.
Disney launched the female ensemble comedy You Again on 2,545 screens this weekend to bring in a weak $8.3 million. Despite a cast that features Kristin Bell, Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Betty White, viewers showed about as much interest in the comedy as critics did, which wasn’t all that much (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 12%). Debuting way, way outside the top ten this weekend was Sony’s critically-reviled The Virginity Hit for a pathetic $300,000 weekend gross off 700 screens. Not much to say about the teen sex comedy outside of the word ouch.
Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan-produced thriller Devil dropped 47% to an estimated $6.4 million to land in sixth place, bringing its ten day total to a sparse $22 million. The Satanic elevator film should wind up its brief run with approximately $30 million. Sony’s Resident Evil: Afterlife in landed seventh place with an estimated $4.9 million, down 51% from last weekend. With $52 million in domestic box office sales, the fourth film in the long-running series has become the highest grossing of the series. Overseas, the movie has done very well with over $100 million in foreign sales thus far.
Lionsgate’s 3D animated offering Alpha and Omega lost roughly half of its audience from last weekend for a $4.7 million weekend gross and a new ten-day total of just $15 million. The film should make its way to roughly $20 million before heading off to the home video afterlife. Ninth place went to the surprise Sony crime hit Takers which hauled in $1.65 million in its fifth weekend to bring its total to the $55 million mark. Rounding out the top ten was Warner’s long running hit Inception which tacked on another $1.2 million to its new $287 million domestic total.
Next weekend David Fincher’s The Social Network debuts alongside Let Me In, the American remake of the Swedish horror film Let the Right One In, and “Case 39”, a Paramount thriller starring Renee Zellweger that has sat on the shelf for the past few years. Predict what these films will make for a chance at Blu-ray and DVD prizes in our weekly Weekend Box Office Prophet Game, launching this upcoming Tuesday or Wednesday.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
