Wanted scored a larger-than-expected opening this
weekend with a whopping $51 million. While Wall-E took the top spot with $63 million like everyone
thought it would, Wanted actually had a higher per-theater average
because it's playing in about 800 fewer theaters.
Particularly interesting in Wanted's case is that it
was originally scheduled to be a spring release. Universal had planned on giving Forgetting
Sarah Marshall a spot on their summer schedule, mimicking the successful
release of Knocked Up in 2007, but when they decided that the comedy
would work better in the Spring, that left a hole in their schedule. Plugging it with an action thriller, based on
an unknown comic book, starring a skinny Scottish guy most people don't know
was risky, and now they get to reap the rewards.
It's been a strange summer for business. No sooner had my "5 Predicted Flops This
Summer" arrived that Speed Racer -- not on my list -- crashed and
burned. Okay, if I was better at this, I
might have been able to predict that. But then even Narnia disappointed: while The Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe made $290 million, Prince Caspian only stands at
$138 million to date. You can pull out
the very valid reasons -- the book was less popular than the first, it opened
too far before kids were out of school -- but even taking those into account,
it was "supposed" to do much better.
Only two movies on my top five list have been released so
far, and my track record is 50%, give or take. Thwarting my prediction, Sex and the City
was a success by all accounts, but The Incredible Hulk trails even Ang
Lee's scorned 2003 version. That's a particularly
strange case, since the reactions on the whole have been significantly better. Despite his legendary status as a comic book
character, perhaps the Hulk can just never tap into widespread appeal.
Other surprises: The Love Guru crashes and burns --
and at least part of the blame has to go to the execs who didn't move it away
from the release of Get Smart. The
Happening kicks off with a much-stronger-than-expected $30 million opening,
only to plummet in subsequent weekends thanks to a horrific response from
critics and audiences alike.
Even You Don't Mess with the Zohan, which opened
exactly in line with Adam Sandler's past movies, hasn't followed the formula:
while his films usually hit $125 million each summer like clockwork, Zohan
is currently struggling to reach $100 million.
Lessons to be learned? Who knows? Last summer was the
Summer of Threequels (or the Summer of Apatow, take your pick); the year before
that was the Summer of Pirates 2 (it made double its nearest
competitor); the year before that was the depressing Summer of Remakes. This year? We've got a little bit of everything. It might be harder for us bloggers to categorize, but that just makes it
all the more exciting, right?
Michael Dance
StrandedinManhattan.com
**Read more articles by Michael Dance**
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