Weekend Estimates: Real Steel Wins Opening Bout
October 9, 2011
Updated with info on The Way
This weekend is turning out almost precisely as predicted in our Friday preview, with Real Steel cruising to a comfortable with with an estimated $27.3 million and Ides of March under-performing a bit with $10.4 million. Both movies seem to have found their intended audiences fairly successfully, but March was clearly hindered by mediocre reviews.
With no other major openings this weekend, the rest of the upper reaches of the chart have a familiar look to them. Dolphin Tale will be strong again, dropping just 34% from last weekend and nearing $50 million in total box office. The only returning film to report so far that will average over $5,000 per theater is Take Shelter, which is projected to take in a little over $55,000 in five theaters.
It looks as though the performance of new limited releases will be generally unspectacular, although The Way has made an encouraging start with a projected $132,000 in 33 theaters and should get some more bookings in the weeks to come. Two other films did less well. 1911 will earn a shade over $50,000 in 33 venues, and Dirty Girl will pick up about $17,500 in 9 theaters. Neither film is likely to expand much based on those results.
Bruce Nash bruce.nash@the-numbers.com
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Dolphin Tale, Dirty Girl, Real Steel, The Way, Take Shelter, The Ides of March, Xinhai geming