Halloween Helps Scare Up Movie Business
November 2, 2010
As expected, Halloween hurt the overall box office, which plummeted 27% from last weekend to just $95 million from Friday to Sunday. However, the top film on the chart did do better than expected on Sunday, while the overall box office was 5% higher than the same weekend last year when Halloween fell on a Saturday. Year-to-date, 2010 still has a 3% lead over 2009 with a running tally of $8.78 billion, while there's very little time left to blow that lead. On the other hand, ticket sales are down 2%, so there's little hope to catch up in that regard.
Saw VII 3D helped the franchise become the most successful horror franchise of all time with a first place, $24.23 million opening, which was almost $2 million more than Sunday's estimate. So far the franchise as made $370 million, but given its reviews, its genre, Sequelitis, etc., the film might not make $24.23 million during the rest of its run and in the end the franchise could finish just below the $400 million mark domestically.
Paranormal Activity 2 landed on the low end of Thursday's predictions with $16.51 million over the weekend and $65.67 million after two. This is already more than original expectations, while it might be enough to show a profit, depending on how much it cost to advertise. On the other hand, it won't match the original at the box office.
Red held on much better than expected, adding $10.73 million over the past three days to take its running tally to $58.82 million after seventeen days of release. It has already nearly matched its production budget, while by this time next week the film should have about $70 million on its way to $80 million to $90 million.
Jackass 3D became the first film in the franchise to reach $100 million. It earned $8.50 million over the weekend and now has $101.66 million after three weeks in theaters.
Hereafter slipped a spot to fifth with $6.42 million over the weekend for a total of $22.26 million after three (including one week of limited release). It might fail to reach $35 million, which would make it Clint Eastwood's weakest box office performer since Letters from Iwo Jima. It is also his worst-performing film with critics since Absolute Power. Hopefully he will bounce back with the Hoover biopic.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D, Red, Hereafter, Jackass 3D