The first blush reporting on The Wolverine has been interesting as it talks a lot about how it won the worldwide box office while noting that it didn’t live up to expectations in the North American market, bringing in just $55 million there and a total of $141 million worldwide. The new film, which you can’t really call a sequel the Origins movie, didn’t do as well as that film at launch, but it’s doing very well when looked at as a whole and obviously the bean counters are going to be pleased through the various tax credits, etc. that it’s getting and promotional considerations that ease the cost of the film. It launched in 102 markets but still has a few key areas like Japan (where it opens in September) and China to play in and it’s getting a very positive A- score from CinemaScore attendees, so word of mouth should be good. But it’s amusing to see that the film, with just one bankable actor and really only two white actors in it makes $55 million in the US and $141 million worldwide is being called an underperformer, even with its $121 million budget.
Warner had a decent weekend once again with The Conjuring bringing in another $22 million which with its wordwide take brings it to $98 million since its debut on a $20 million budget, making it a solid film.
There was little else going on this weekend that did strong numbers, though the kids fare is doing decently and others have fallen off quickly, like Pacific Rim and Red 2 already, though RIPD has at least managed to increase its take from the awful $12 million opening to a $24 total so far domestically. That film is playing a very limited overseas market at the moment in just twelve territories and it’s only added another $9 million there.
| RANK | TITLE | DISTRIBUTOR NAME | WEEKEND REVENUE | CUME REVENUE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REVENUE | # OF LOCATIONS* | LOC AVG | ||||
| 1 | Wolverine, The | 20th Century Fox | $55,000,000 | 3,924 | 14,016 | $55,000,000 |
| 2 | Conjuring, The | Warner Bros. | $22,130,000 | 3,022 | 7,322 | $83,866,628 |
| 3 | Despicable Me 2 | Universal | $16,024,360 | 3,476 | 4,610 | $306,412,945 |
| 4 | Turbo | 20th Century Fox | $13,325,000 | 3,809 | 3,498 | $55,767,998 |
| 5 | Grown Ups 2 | Sony | $11,500,000 | 3,258 | 3,529 | $101,663,771 |
| 6 | Red 2 | Lionsgate | $9,400,000 | 3,016 | 3,116 | $35,074,356 |
| 7 | Pacific Rim | Warner Bros. | $7,540,000 | 2,602 | 2,897 | $84,026,104 |
| 8 | Heat, The | 20th Century Fox | $6,850,000 | 2,384 | 2,873 | $141,244,744 |
| 9 | R.I.P.D. | Universal | $5,856,750 | 2,850 | 2,055 | $24,351,730 |
| 10 | Fruitvale Station | The Weinstein Company | $4,657,000 | 1,064 | 4,376 | $6,339,316 |
| 11 | Way, Way Back, The | Fox Searchlight | $3,300,000 | 886 | 3,724 | $8,931,441 |
| 12 | World War Z | Paramount | $2,760,000 | 1,440 | 1,916 | $192,619,546 |
I can’t believe that Pacific Rim made that much money. It was horrid. Bad camera work, bad CG, bad character development and a plot so shallow that it makes the average story arc in an Shounen series seem like Shakespeare. Speaking of, why did Charlie Hunnam, star of “Hamlet on Motorcycles”, agree to lead this plotless piece of junk?
I might have forgiven the movie’s lack of a plot if the Jagers had used the sword (as seen on the cover art) from the get-go as it was their most effective weapon. Countless people died because the Jager teams didn’t even consider the sword until the very last moment of desperation. Mel Gibson was right: Pride is a weakness.
Also, couldn’t they have gotten a less scary looking female companion for Hunnam? I thought that the Japanese metaphor of the “Christmas Cake” was overblown but after seeing this movie and seeing that this actress is only in her early 30s, I have reconsidered that thought.
The suck of Pacific Rim has cost The Wolverine my money as I just can’t go back to a theater until I get past the brutality of that.