Weekend Estimates: Karate Kid Defeats A-Team

June 13, 2010

The Karate Kid won the battle of the '80s revivals over the weekend with a solid $56,000,000, well ahead of The A-Team, which could only manage $26,000,000. In what has been a very disappointing Summer so far, a $50 million plus opening for a franchise revival has to be considered a success, and it will almost certainly give Sony their first $100 million hit of the year.

The A-Team's $26 million opening follows Marmaduke's even more disappointing $11 million debut last weekend, and makes Fox's earlier success in 2010 look like something of a distant memory.

Among returning movies, only Shrek Forever After showed any real legs, falling 38% to $15.8 million and topping $200 million.

Several limited releases enjoyed great opening weekends, however, suggesting that a lack of quality entertainment in wide release is causing some moviegoers to look for less run-of-the-mill offerings. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work managed a remarkable $171,500 opening weekend in just seven theaters for the best per theater average of the weekend. Right behind it, Sundance winner Winter's Bone scored a fantastic $85,000 from four theaters for Roadside Attractions. The Lottery hit $17,000 in a single theater for Variance Films and Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky averaged over $16,000 in three theaters for Sony Classics. All four films did better on a per theater basis than anything the major studios had to offer this weekend.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The A-Team, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, Shrek Forever After, The Karate Kid, Winter’s Bone, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work