Weekend Wrap-Up: Iron Man Earns Silver, but Can't Avenge Weak Yearly Box Office
May 6, 2013
There was some good news and some bad news over the weekend. The good new was Iron Man 3, which lived up to our lofty expectations and became the second biggest opening weekend of all time. This one film earned more than the entire box office earned last weekend, leading to an 136% increase week-over-week to $217 million. The bad news is The Avengers, which did even better when it opened this weekend last year. Year-over-year, 2013 suffered a 16% decline. Meanwhile, year-to-date, 2013 is now behind 2012's pace by 11% at $3.13 billion to $3.52 billion.
We were a little more bullish that most analysts were with Iron Man 3, but it lived up to our expectations nearly perfectly with $174.14 million. This is almost $50 million more than Iron Man 2's opening weekend, while its worldwide total is already the largest in the franchise. Assuming it cost $200 million to make, which is a pretty fair assumption, the film has already made a profit for the studio. Add in strong reviews and the film will have no trouble earning enough profit to pay for the rest of The Avengers films for this year, perhaps even for next year.
Pain and Gain was in a distant second place with $7.51 million over the weekend for a total of $33.83 million after two. This film fell a little bit faster than expected and now $50 million is likely out of reach.
42 was one of the few films not crushed by Iron Man 3. It still fell 43% to $6.06 million over the weekend for a running tally of $78.18 million. It should top $90 million before too long, but getting to $100 million is probably asking too much.
Oblivion probably won't get to $90 million. The film plummeted 68% to $5.64 million over the weekend for a running tally of $75.81 million. Its per theater average is low enough that it will start shedding theaters at an accelerated pace, especially when Star Trek Into Darkness debuts.
The Croods spent one more weekend in the top five earning $4.20 million over the weekend for a total of $168.72 million after seven weeks of release. I'm not sure what is more impressive, its running tally, or the fact that it has spent seven weeks in the top five.
There was just one sophomore film not in the top five. The Big Wedding fell to sixth place with $3.88 million over the weekend for a total of $14.22 million after two. Its per theater average is below $1,500, which means theater owners will be looking to drop it this coming weekend.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Croods, Iron Man 3, Pain & Gain, Oblivion, The Big Wedding, 42, Iron Man