When it's summer, it is difficult to ignore the weekend box office results on a Monday. The numbers are so colossal that they require our attention. A few millions seem like peanuts, as records are shattered or come close to being shattered, and the possibility of future sequels of a movie franchise or its eventual doom into the darkness may just be decided on such a weekend. And the weekend that has most recently bid us adieu has been one of the brightest for Hollywood this year so far.
Iron Man 3 has, as expected, led the charts, earning $72.5 million in its second weekend in North America. But its fall of 58% from the first weekend earnings is a bit more than I expected. Iron Man fell by only 48% in the second weekend, and The Avengers fell by 50%. Iron Man 2 fell by 59% though it of course did not have such strong opening weekend figures as Iron Man 3. If the subsequent weekend declines do not stabilise, Iron Man 3 may find itself falling short of the $500 million mark, say by about $50 million. The foreign markets are however jumping all over the red and gold suit with total worldwide figures reaching close to $950 million already! The special attention paid by Disney to the Chinese audience has very much paid off as China has added $95 million already to the kitty making Iron Man 3 a bigger hit than even The Avengers in this region. And this is true not only for China, but also for Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Crossing the $1 billion mark is going to be a piece of cake now for Stark & Co., but how further can Iron Man fly hereon, is the question that remains to be seen.
The pleasant surprise (or call it shocker) for the weekend was the strong performance of The Great Gatsby which earned $51 million in its opening weekend. For a romantic drama based on the classic novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald, this movie's earnings would have surpassed expectations of even the studio Warner Bros. And despite Leonardo Di Caprio's stellar acting career and steady box office performances, The Great Gatsby provides him his second best opening weekend figures after Inception. Strong numbers have floated in this weekend in the US box office and the trend is expected to continue with Star Trek Into Darkness to release in US in the coming weekend. The international release of J.J. Abrams' flick in some foreign markets last weekend has already seen a collection figure 70% higher than the earnings from these markets for the previous Star Trek. So if all goes as per plan, Star Trek Into Darkness could be set to become the all-time highest grossing movie of the Star Trek franchise. It could very well turn out to be a bright green summer indeed!
No comments:
Post a Comment