Image Credit: Rob McEwanDisney’s 3-D juggernaut Alice in Wonderland continues to surpass expectations with a top spot at the box office its third weekend in theaters. With only a 45% fall, the CG spectacle starring Johnny Depp grossed an additional $34.5 million to put its total take at $266 million. That’s not good news for DreamWorks Animation, which is hoping to steal the majority of the 2500 3-D screens available for its family film How to Train Your Dragon, which bows next weekend. The Jeffrey Katzenberg-led studio is going to have to do quite a sales job to wrest those theaters away from Alice.
The execs at Twentieth Century Fox must be pleased this morning. Their live-action kid flick based on the best-selling book Diary of a Wimpy Kid (pictured) did well its opening weekend, grossing an estimated $22 million. With spring break staggered over the next few weeks, this film should hold in theaters; its biggest threat also comes from Dragon. But hopefully audiences, who gave it an A- in the Cinemascore exit polling, will show up in strong enough numbers that the studio decides to greenlight a sequel to the beloved series. Wimpy was also stronger than The Bounty Hunter, which had been the favored winner of this weekend’s new releases. Starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, this PG-13-rated romantic action comedy grossed an estimated $21 million for a third-place finish. It only scored a B- with audiences in its Cinemascore poll, so it is likely to take a steep fall next weekend. Unfortunately, Universal didn’t have as much luck with its new release Repo Men. The R-rated sci-fi flick starring Forest Whitaker and Jude Law opened to a paltry $6.1 million. The film wasn’t too expensive, but expectations for the release were originally in the low double-digits. Paramount is claiming the fifth spot for its R-rated comedy She’s Out of My League. With a strong 38% hold, the low-budget comedy added another $6 million to its cume.
Universal Pictures took the sixth slot with its Matt Damon-starrer Green Zone. In its second weekend in release, the R-rated Iraq actioner fell a steep 58% to an estimated $5.9 million. Its two-week total now stands at almost $25 million. Shutter Island is still in the top ten. In its fifth week of release, the Martin Scorsese-directed thriller grossed close to $5 million for a total cume that now stands at $115.7 million. Avatar took spot eight with an additional $4 million in box office receipts. The film, in its 14th weekend in theaters, has now earned $737 million domestically. Fox Searchlight’s Our Family Wedding was in the ninth spot its sophomore session. The film, starring America Ferrera, grossed an estimated $3.8 million, a 50% fall from its opening weekend. Its total take now stands at close to $14 million. And spot ten went to the Robert Pattinson-starrer Remember Me. Falling a steep 59%, the low-budget drama earned an additional $3.3 million for an overall cume of close to $14 million.
In limited release, Apparition released the Kristen Stewart-starring rock biopic The Runaways on 244 screens. The film didn’t score all that well in its limited capacity, earning less than $1 million for a per-screen average of $3,294. Leaving the Twilight fold isn’t as easy as it seems! Check back next weekend as the 3-D battle for theaters gets heated.
More on Diary of a Wimpy Kid from EW:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Using pipsqueak bodies to tell grown-up truths
Alice is still in Wonderland, Wimpy aint that Wimpy, Repo got its audience Reposessed, and Bounty Hunter did ok!!
Are you practicing to become the next Gene Shalit?
alice f***ing dominates!!
Hahaha. If only he had kept up the stamina all the way through.
I just review boxofficemojo and Bounty cost $40 and pulled in $21Mill which is half the cost. Add about $5Mil for the promo, and it cost about $45. I will break even and maybe make a bit more.
nah-ah sally from chicago! this tv starlet should retire!!
Hey Sally, I highly doubt that the movie cost $5 million to market. $5 million probably is what it cost to fly Gerard Butler & Jennifer Aniston to have interviews in New York for the movie last week as well as covering some costs for billboards. The marketing for this movie was ridiculous. Let’s try $20-30 million, at least.
The Bounty Hunter is PG-13 . . .
This article is incorrect. The Bounty Hunter was PG-13.
The article says it was pg-13…
REMEMBER ME? More like ALREADY FORGOTTEN.. I love how ew is trying to excuse the poor performance by claiming it as a low budget film
It is a low budget film….
Tell that to Paranormal Activity.
*This*
Not only is it a low budget film, it is an excellently done low budget film that a few critics panned and discouraged movie goers from seeing. it is a well crafted story with superior acting all the way around starting with the mega talented Robert Pattinson right down to Martha Plimpton’s one scene on the train platform at the beginning of the film. Do yourself a favor and go see it. This is a film that you will remember.
Fuew, are you kidding me? EW’s so called movie critic panned Remember Me big time. She was probably the most negative of all of the reviewers giving it a D- which I can assure you it did not deserve nor did any other reviewer give it that low of marks, and not only did EW put it on the website but splashed it all over every supermarket in the country so even the audience who might have been drawn to this small beautifully crafted drama didn’t go. EW is no fan of Rob Pattinson. And, I am no fan of EW’s movie critic. I won’t believe another word she says because I saw the movie and have now seen it multiple times I was so touched by the story and the wonderful acting from all involved.
Technically speaking, Wimpy Kid did way better than the Bounty. It actually sold way more tickets! Don’t forget that alot of the people who went and saw this movie were kids, and kids movies tickets cost about 40% less than what an adult movie ticket costs. Yes I understand that Kid grossed higher than Bounty. I just think the price in tickets should also be mentioned.
You’re right about that. Jennifer Aniston needs to go away for a while. I’m surprised she didn’t give some interview where she insinuated something about Brangelina this time around. Isn’t that usually how she boosts interest in her movies?
So JUDE LAW, MATT DAMON, FORREST WITAKER, RPATZ, and a ton of other people should actually be in line to go away before her, because all of there movies bombed… my guess is you are a fat girl with terrible hair… those are usually the type of women that hate on Aniston.
Josh,
the things is except for Robert Pattinson, they are all good actors.
Jennifer Aniston does well at the box office, but isn’t a good actress.
And the fat comment doesn’t make you sound petty or childish at all.
Josh, did you see The Good Girl?
She’s definitely a good actor.
Robert Pattinson is an excellent actor. If you have not seen Remember me, and i doubt by your ignorant comments that you have, you really cannot judge him. You are simply showing your bias against really great looking, talented guys who have achieved early success. And for the record, he did some outstanding acting in the Twilight series too. Most posters who pan him have not actually see a single film that he’s made, making you of course far less than experts on the topic. For the record, none of these people, Matt, Robert, Jennifer should “go away”. They are all excellent actors who have touched and entertained many people.
Matt Damon AND RPatz couldn’t even make it to 20 million against Alice. Making 21 million, when nearly every reviewer has said “don’t go see this movie” is pretty good.
If Jennifer Aniston has to go away, then what should R-Patz and Matt Damon do
i agree!
At least Madd Damon and R-Patz don’t release same movie every year. According to imdb there are already one Aniston rom com completed and one is currenlty filming….
Then again i remember that 2008 or 2009 Aniston had the best ratio of what her movies cost and what they made (bang for buck). I’m sure the bounty hunter will make also profit, imdb doesn’t have the budget listed, but i don’t think it cost too much.
What should Matt and Rob do? Stick with their half BILLION dollar grossing franchises, and their penchant to be NOT be famewh*res, UNLIKE Aniston. Comparing Aniston to Damon is like comparing her to Jolie – ridiculous. I’d remind you, that neither Damon nor Pattinson (a 23 yr old untried kid)had another supposed ‘sex symbol’ action dude (Butler) on the marquis as draw, like Aniston, they opened these new flicks themselves. But it’s just like Aniston’s so-called ‘supporters,’ to lash out at other Hollywood actors to explain away the Aniston fatigue and loathing. The reason her movie hit as high as 3rd, is because Butler was in it (her sad old cow fans, LOVE fantasizing about their old girl with someone remotely ‘Brad’-like). Both of her previous crap coms were even bigger disasters because no one wanted to see her in movies that she headlined on her own, with unknown ‘not hot’ character actors.
I think the reason The Green Zone has been floundering at the box office is because people aren’t interested in seeing movies about the Iraq War, which we are still fighting! Movies are about excapism, and I think people don’t want to watch the War on Terror on the Big Screen. Plus it’s budget was way too high.
I know Robert Pattison CANT open a movie….same as Megan Fox can open a film either. Lets all glad this Vagina hating guy cant open a movie and that b*** ungrateful hoe cant either. They should do a movie together so both their career will go down the drain. Hope Michael Bay killed off her character the first 2 mins in the next Transformer movie.
Is this a case of wishful thinking or can’t you read the facts? Remember Me will recoup it’s budget and then some and the stars were aware it was a small movie. I’m sure the studio is satisfied.
It may recoup its production costs (which were about $16 million). However, it may not make enough to be profitable. The $16 million doesn’t include marketing costs, for one. And movies need to make about 2-3 times what the studio put into them in order to be considered profitable.
In other words, assuming $14 million in marketing (which I think is probably undercutting it), it would need to make like $60 million to have turned a profit. Even considering foreign markets, that’s a tall order.
Emma… u are an idiot
Why are you hating on these actors? Should you be hating on the people who turn out for Twilight in droves? Kristen S might be a no-talent, but it’s not her fault that people eat up that crap.
cuz its mean to hate of pre-teen fat girls
Jon, get a life. Why do you care if Rob Pattinson makes a joke about a vagina? I’ve got one and his joke was not offensive to me. I understood it. Actually it is not the pre-teen fat girls who are the bulk of the millions of Rob Pattinson fans. But it is just as mean to hate Rob for being handsome and talented. Since you don’t know him at all, I can’t imagine that you have any other reason for hating him. But I get it. This is a place where apparently it is fine to be hateful. Emma is not an idiot. She is exactly right. Remember Me will more than pay for itself. Brett, why should you judge what people enjoy? Some people like violent movies. I don’t. Some like horror movies. I don’t. I loved the Twilight series. Since Rob Pattinson is nothing at all like Edward Cullen in real life, I would say he did a pretty phenomenal job of acting to bring that character to life. Kristen Stewart’s Runaways is getting excellent reviews. Robert Pattinson’s performance in Remember Me has received some excellent reviews even from those who objected to the end of the movie. People are not idiots just because they disagree with you.
Remember Me was great. It’s too bad the male critics weren’t able to hold in their disdain for the female dominated Twilight franchise enough to give the movie a chance. Maybe next time.
Considering how steep it dropped, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of FEMALES weren’t dazzled by it, either.
Many if not most of the Rob Pattinson fans have seen the movie and many have seen it multiple times. Poor reviews by some critics who clearly did not understand the movie and criticized the ending have discouraged other movie goers from seeing it and it is frankly a shame. Everyone in it did a remarkable job. It dropped so drastically in American audiences because it needs new viewers not just the Rob Pattinson fans. I am anxious to see how it does in other countries and am hopeful for those less connected to the events of the ending the intent of the movie will be more clear.
Chris-Are you gay?
Hey… don’t even try to peg that twilight sh*t on us gays… thats clearly horny teenage girls with a lack of hunger for GOOD literature supporting that movie!
Although to be honest, the only males I know who like that stuff are homosexual. But Remember is not making money because it’s simply a terrible film. I have two friends who are twilight fans and neither of them had any desire to see it at all let alone in the theaters. All of the twilight actors (K-Stew, Lautner, etc.) do not have any pull at the box office unless it’s a twilight film. And even then I’m not so sure they have any pull. If any of the characters were replaced with the exception of Pattinson, the twilight films would still make money.
I think you’re right. They could replace just about any actor in the Twilight series with any other actor (and in some cases, they have) and unless it was Pattinson, no one would care. And even that’s a moot point given that Pattinson apparently can’t open a movie on his own.
i saw it… it was terrible… i kept getting distracted by Rob’s dirty teeth
I thought it was a great film. By the way, I looked very, very closely at his face through the entire movie and didn’t notice he had dirty teeth.
I’ve seen Remember me 8 times and will see it more often. Not because it is a Rob Pattinson film, although he was great in it, but because it is a beautifully done movie worth seeing. It is thought provoking and touching. Joe, there is no way in hxll you saw remember me unless you are the biggest hypocrite in the world. You are first class Rob hater. Why would you pay good money to watch someone you hate? The movie was quite good and Rob was outstanding in it. I am even offended at your mocking comments with regard to Megan Fox and i am not a fan of hers. Why are you so negative and hateful? Do you like anyone? Is there anyone out there that you feel worthy of a positive comment?
Uh…the Runaways made “$3,294 million” per screen. That is a mistake or it is now one of the highest grossing movies of all time.
Great for Wimpy Kid beating Bounty Hunter, since Bounty Hunter looked like a (fill in word of choice here).
But the Bounty Hunter did way better than Remember me or Green Zone or Forest Whitaker, did.
haha, that’s a pretty funny mistake.
I think you need to go read the article again, it says “earning less than $1 million for a per-screen average of $3,294.” No where in the article does it say the film made 3,294 million dollars. Saying it made 3,294 million dollars doesn’t even make sense mathematically.
Gotta say I’m surprised at how well Wimpy Kid did. Maybe moms took the kids to see it while the dads stayed in and watch basketball?
Bounty Hunter should’ve done MUCH better as a sales pitch to women sick of watching the games.
And Remember Me’s drop is pretty bad, let’s be honest. I know some people thought it’d stay a little more solid on decent word of mouth (Pattinson fans mostly liked it, I guess), but apparently not.
Also disappointed in The Runaways performance. A per-theater average that low in such limited release is a bummer. Which sucks because it actually looks like a good movie. The studio was also stupid enough to make its wide release weekend be the same time that Date Night opens. It’s like they WANT it to fail.
Why do people continue to assume that women don’t watch sports? I’m loving this weekend, with all the great games.
I’m a woman and I watch sports, but I know a lot of them don’t. And I know a lot of women who don’t watch sports go to the movies and/or take their kids to the movies when sports are on. There are enough women out there for many of them to be both watching sports AND seeing movies.
There was no promotion for the movie, first off. Second, they didn’t have a platform release. They opened on 244 screens, which dilutes the audience. If the movie opened in one theater, I’m sure it would’ve had a strong screen average. But they opened it too wide- the demand wasn’t there.
It is difficult for a small budget independent film to do well at the box office even ones that have positive critical reviews like the Runaways. Opening week box office is important and an indicator, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The studios were not expecting that Twilight would have the massive appeal that it had. That phenomenon is very rare. Neither are particularly suitable for the Twilight audience and both were carried by Twilight stars. Both need to find a new audience in addition to the hard core Robert and Kristen fans. I am still hopeful for both because both movies are worth seeing.
I thought that Bounty Hunter would hit No. 1 and Alice would cool down a bit. Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston were on countless morning and late night talk shows the past week hyping and plugging the movie. I figured the escapism from the lull of cold days with this movie and comedy would make it do well Still, $21 million is a strong start. They did what they could. I think that Wimpy did well with kids who can’t watch the adult content and humor of Bounty–strong $22 million start for them. Alice is starting to slip a bit. That $34 million result might make it have room for another movie to hit No. 1 next week. A reason for Bounty hitting 3rd place is Aniston’s sameness. She makes the same kinds of romantic comedies just like she did with Vince Vaughn and others and I think some people passed on this movie. She needs to change it up with the kinds of movies she makes. I actually like Gerard Butler in action movies like the solid Law Abiding Citizen. Comedies don’t work for him!
When every media outlet has practically forbidden people to see the Bounty Hunter for no good reason at all, making 21 million was phenomenal, none of those movies you mentioned was up against a media bias like the Bounty Hunter was, for that matter why are most of these outlets releasing these numbers before Monday, its like they waited until Winpy had a slight advantage and then decided to publish the “results” prematurely
Remember me also opened to criticism. If critics other than Roger Ebert and the reviewer from the LA Chronicle had praised the film, it may have garnered a bigger share of the movie going audience. I also think you have to look at the timing. Remember Me opened one week after the $100 million budget special effects master piece Alice, along side of the $80 million budget Green Zone, and just after the Oscars when the $200 million budgeted Avatar 3D IMAX sensation and many other Oscar winning films were still in theaters. For a little film like Remember Me to finish fourth shows me Robert Pattinson can indeed open a film single handedly. With a bit more support from critics in the Washington and New York newspapers and online columns the film would continue to do well because it is simply a very good movie.
Bounty Hunter did as well as expected, it was predicted to make around 20-22 million and it made 21 million, I don’t know why people are saying that it should have done better.
The surprise was Wimpy, I haven’t read the book nor seen the movies but usually movies about dorky kids finding themselves in a heartwarming tale do well and it is family friendly.
No surprise about Alice in Wonderland either.
I think most people were counting on BH to do better because of the media Blitz that Aniston and Butler put out. That and people keep saying that Aniston is A-list.
Agreed, Butler and Aniston are so incredibly over-hyped. They are all over the press, so I guess insiders thought that, coupled along with it being a supposedly “fun” date movie, it would bring in more money.
EXACTLY. the bounty hunter and anniston/butler’s “relationship” have been hyped to death for months (you can’t watch any tv channel without seeing a promo for it). diary of a wimpy kid had zero promo, zero big names, and still beat it.
Good point but I’m just saying most Media outlets predicted BH to make 20 million and it did so technically BH didn’t underperform
I watched Wimpy with my little sister and was actually surprised that i liked it. Im a full-grown adult but i was still laughing at some of the parts. Ususally i groan and whine during kid movies. Not surprised it did well.
You Suck Nerdwen
Why do you even post?
Thank you for your compelling arguement. Why did YOU even post?
Oh please none of those movies were up against a very clear media bias, have you seen most of the media outlets on The BH, they practically forbid people to go and see it
Media bias? Please. Aniston’s Gerard Butler movie (Bounty) was EMBARGO’d up until the 11th hour, and the press couldn’t even start reviewing the horrid thing until it’s release date on Friday. Even they knew it was liquid caca. Sorry but you can’t use the media as an excuse. If anything, Aniston can thank the ubiquitous Butler for the interest she got this time, that she failed to have her last two films – her dwindling cat lady fans were hoping he’d be her remotely ‘brad-like’ prince charming on screen and off. Hahahaha!! I’ve never seen someone who has the bar set as low as Aniston does. If she wakes up in the morning she gets a standing ovation. So please, eff OFF with the ‘media bias’ if anything it’s FOR her, based on her scary PR team who browbeats people into laughable positive descriptors about ‘the beauty.’ ROFLMAO
So the media “forbids” people from seeing bad movies? That makes a lot of sense. In reality, I’m guessing about everyone who sees this type of movie would proudly say “I never listen to the critics; they’re always wrong”
I’m not saying that The Bounty Hunter should have done better and I’m not saying anything that supports it. I’m just pointing out that some people are saying it should have done better when it actually did as well as predicted. I’m not making any excuses or claiming media bias or the star power behind it, I’m just pointing out it was expected to make 20-22 million and it made 21 million, those are the facts. Now I don’t know why my post caused such a riot.
Alice in Wonderland deserved and did win the week, Wimpy is probably a better movie than Bounty Hunter and it took second place. That is what I said and meant, I’m just saying that The Bounty Hunter did NOT underperform nor did it overperform, it did just as well as expected. Next week it will take a big hit, as expected. That is what I said and meant, I don’t know why people (Ambiente Lite) are jumping on me for my post
I believe the movies did well because the NCAA basketball tournament was really a somewhat weak set of teams this year. Some of the top seeded teams lost their games, so what happens? See ya!…heading to a movie! and this is the end result.
Are you kidding? This is one of the most exciting tournaments in years. People watch it for the upsets, not the big-name teams.
“earning less than $1 million for a per-screen average of $3,294 million” I don’t get it… 3,294 million per screen?
@ JON: YOU DU*M@$$, MEGAN FOX MOVIE WAS 16 MILLION MAKE AND IT MADE TWICE THAT 32 MIL. WORLDWIDE! SAME FOR PATTERSON, HIS MOVIE COST 16 MILLION AND ITS CLOSE TO 16 MILL SO IT DIDNT BOMB!
$16million to make but that does not include how much money they had to put into marketing. So they would need to turn a profit of 3x $16million to actually be in the green. I’m not saying it can’t but just correcting your belief that if it hits $16mil or in that range, it’ll brake even (not close, unfortunately). So Megan Fox’s movie making $32mil is deemed as an underperformance.
How do you know that the budget for the film does not include its marketing? Just curious. I would think that it definitely would include marketing. Remember Me had only two days with Rob Pattinson even in the country. The Runaways had an opening in LA and one in New York. Remember Me had an American debut in New York and the European debut in England. There was nowhere near the media blitz for these small budget films as there was for the Bounty :Hunter. I haven’t see it yet but like both Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston. It may yet find its audience.
I haven’t really liked a Jennifer Anniston movie since Picture Perfect in what? – ’97?