Image Credit: Barry WetcherWall Street: Money Never Sleeps won a weekend that started off with a bang but ended up weaker than predicted. The Oliver Stone-directed sequel to his 1987 classic generated $19 million for the frame, off from the low $20 million it was expected to gross. The Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas-starrer is still a big success for Stone, though, as it marks the veteran director’s highest opening weekend. It also far surpassed Warner Bros. animated owl pic, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. The Zack Snyder-directed film, which was expected to cross the $20 million mark this weekend, only earned $16.3 million for the frame. Despite the dearth of kid’s fare in the marketplace recently, and the extra bells and whistles Guardians offered with 3-D and IMAX, the film failed to bring in the families.
Audiences, however, liked the owl flick far more than Wall Street. According to exit pollster Cinemascore, audiences gave Guardians an A-, while Wall Street only generated a B-.
Some of the most impressive performances for the frame went to last weekend’s holdovers. The Town saw a weekend haul of $16 million, for a total gross of $49 million. The Ben Affleck-directed heist film seems to really be catching on. It will be interesting to see how it fares next weekend when The Social Network bows nationwide. Easy A also scored a nice gross its second weekend in theaters. The Emma Stone-starrer fell only 40 percent for a take of $10.7 million. The $8 million production has now earned $32.8 million in just ten days of release.
Spot five went to the third new release of the frame, You Again. The Disney film grossed only $8.3 million for its first three days in theaters. Despite an appealing cast of Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, and Betty White, the muddled marketing campaign did little to lure in the female audience the film was directed towards.
Devil also held well its sophomore session. Even with weak reviews, the horror-in-an-elevator film fell only 47 percent for an additional $6.5 million. The film’s two week gross now stands at $21.7 million. Resident Evil: Afterlife took the seventh slot, grossing $4.9 million for a $52 million cume. The film is now the highest-grossing of the series.
Alpha and Omega made $4.7 million its second weekend in theaters. The film dropped 48 percent for a total gross of $15 million. Sony’s Takers grossed another $1.6 million for a total gross of $54.9 million and a ninth spot in the rankings. And Inception rounded out the top ten, earning another $1.2 million its 11th weekend in theaters. The Chris Nolan-directed flick’s total haul now stands at $287 million.
Check back next weekend when The Social Network opens against the horror remake Let Me In and the long-shelved Case 39.
I didn’t really think that Legend of the Guardian would catch on – it looks dark for young kids. Wall Street just didn’t look all that good. Great holds for The Town and Easy A – nice to see good films being rewarded at the box office!
you again sucked….i was looking forward to it but it sucked.
i wish you again would have done better
Why? It is supposed to be terrible.
The 12% on Rotten Tomatoes speaks for itself.
they only had it on 2500 or so screens so they couldn’t have expected much? Jamie lee and betty white dont pull in huge salaries. I think it will do fine. hopefully the company did not think betties popularity right now would give them much more. See Community on tv for another example of that.
Why do they post the weekend take on Sunday – doesn’t Sunday afternoon and Sunday night count as part of the weekend? Wouldn’t it be likely that Wall Street made its goal after the Sunday night showings? Ditto for the other movie.
These are just predictions (they usually can pretty accurately say the grosses by now.) Come monday these numbers may change.
Don’t try to use logic. It’s always a waste of time with these types of things. Like when they say that a movie had a record setting weekend, but the movie came out on a Wednesday night and got to count Wed-Sun in its total.
Kate you are mistaken.
They would still only count the Friday-Sunday gross not Wed-Sun like you said. Not sure where you came up with that one.
Well, now is time m1 to let us know how much he hates inception.. Such pathetic 12 year old loser
I will pray for you. Go lock yourself six feet underground.
Go and develop a taste for real movies rather then being a pathetic wannabe film connoisseur .. You uptight snob
@Troy: Been there, done that. Oh, and by the way, get help! You’re such a rude idiot! Thinking that Inception is overrated does not automatically deplete my credibility! It’s not like it is any masterpiece, idiot!
No but coming here every week and b-tching about that movie EVERY FREAKING TIME makes you a whiny, annoying little c-nt.. Shut up already you dumb, brainless tard!
Troy and m1.. Two idiots that clearly know nothing about film, yet argue like 2 dumba$$es without a sense of irony…. Keep It up, it is really entertaining
@Deacon: Oh, shut up. I did not provoke this weekend’s argument, so kindly direct your attention to Troy. It isn’t as if you haven’t made a few criticism blunders yourself.
Pixar films are cinematic gold and modern day classics!! Dreamworks flicks, Ice Age sequels, The Incredibles knock-offs and Happy Feet as owls are pure pop trash!!!
True That!.. Oh My gods how I hated happy feet.. Although, I do have too say that how to train your dragon and kung fu panda were enjoyable
True That!.. Oh My gods how I hated happy feet.. Although, I do have too say that how to train your dragon and kung fu panda were enjoyable
Go away already David.
Happy Feet and Shrek were excellent films!
M, Happy Feet sucked, Shrek however was good and How To Train Your Dragon was awesome, but early Dreamworks before they went all CGI (The Prince of Egypt, Antz, Chicken Run) were the best
@Jose: Happy Feet did not suck. It was enjoyable, funny, and adorable, unlike some other films. The animation was brilliant, and so was the voice talent. When a movie as fantastic as this has the same IMDb score as The Proposal, you know something’s wrong.
Pixar is nothing more than cookie cutter, poorly animated, unfunny slapstick trash aimed at 2 year olds. They have single handedly destroyed animation (with the exception of wall-e) and have made darker and more intriguing animations such as Guardians, virtually impossible to produce. Guardians wasnt dark, but because Pixar has made every movie so light and fluffy, people are under the impression its dark. Go look up ‘The Secret of NIMH’ and ‘The Dark Crystal’, those are true animated movies. And it will show what Pixar has truly done.
Ugh – this movie was sooo boring. It will drop severely next weekend from word of mouth.
We saw You Again. Not a very good movie, although it is fun to see the cast working together and Kristen Bell is great. Too bad they didn’t hire a good writer.
Legend of The Guardians is a better film that Wall Street I think in my opinion. Hopefully good word of mouth will let audiences know that its a gret film.
Owls are mean.
Legend of the Guardians was a beautifully made film. It’s sad that it didn’t do better.
David and all who hates on other studios…what is wrong with Dreamworks animation. They are quality as well. Stop giving Pixar every awards you can think of. They are way overrated. Dreamsworks is a great company and they know how to make movies too. I mean it started by Hollywood genius Spielberg. What does the current Disney CEO know about movies? Nothing
I will always hate Dreamworks just a little bit for making Monsters Vs. Aliens. What a terrible, unfunny movie.
Honestly you can’t compare the 2. Pixar does one thing, animation, and makes some of the best animated films ever. No one is saying Dreamworks isn’t a good studio, but their animated movies really aren’t at the level of Pixar’s
Ah yes, Spielberg. The man who approved both crapformers movies and the one responsible for kingdom of the crystal skull (alongside Lucas).. Anyway, if you think monsters vs. aliens and the two idiotic madagascar movies are “quality pictures”, then I feel sorry for you
Ah, yes, Spielberg. The man who made masterpieces like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List. What an awful man (eye roll).
And E.T.
And Jaws.
I have to agree with Troy on this one. Spielberg hasn’t made a good movie since 2002′s “Catch Me If You Can” Since then, I think he is getting sloppy and his heyday is behind him.
@John: What about Munich?
I partly agree with you. Some of the Dreamworks animated movies are fantastic, like Shrek (the first two), Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train your Dragon. So there really is no reason to criticize the studio as a whole and generalize all their films as being trash. Like you said, they obviously know how to make quality films. However, their track record is nothing like Pixar’s. I don’t find Pixar to be overrated at all. They have deserved every accolade that has come their way.
Well, the Dreamworks films you mentioned contained little-to-no pop culture jokes and such. The others, however, are just CGI, extended Robot Chicken eps.
That’s why I pointed out that they are able to make quality films. It’s just too bad that they don’t always do it. And while Shrek does contain a lot of pop culture references, it was done well in my opinion, as opposed to some of the other Dreamworks films like Shark Tale.
@BW: Shrek was every bit as good as some of the best Pixar films. And Shark Tale was underrated IMO.
However, the overkill usage of pop culture jokes of the other two Shrek films, and the others (with Kung-Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon as the exceptions) kill any credibility of the studio, making them the Robot Chicken of Theatrical Animation.
Actually, no. Shrek was Not every bit as good as some of the best Pixar films. Though it’s understandable for 8 year olds to think such things.
@Joey Jo Jo: It is also understandable for dumbasses to act like hell. I’d expect you to know a lot like that.
I really hope Kristen Bell stops making these types of comedies and rom coms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not someone who thinks rom coms are inherently bad; some of them can be quite good. But You Again, and When in Rome, and Couples Retreat? She really needs to start making better choices with her career. She’s better than this (as is pretty much everyone else involved in You Again).
I am sick of the Rom-Coms where the 30ish woman is “desparate” to land a man and a ring. Or else she is a “loser” or “Old Maid”.
And conservatives claim Hollywood is “liberal”?
Well, either do an artsy fartsy flick or fire her agent.
I truly hated When in Rome so it was as bad as that? Ugh I’m avoiding it.
I want to see the evil owls!!!
Kristen Bell is the bomb, flop movies, flop tv shows
Yeah, she is another interchangable ‘cute blond 20-something’. When she hits 30+, she will go back to TV or fade away.
No. Considering I’m fairly certain she already is 30 something.
ah I loved You Again. Hope people go see it. It’s funny.
Thanks, but NO THANKS.
Lisa Kudrow is in “Easy A” and it’s doing well. So, according to the gossip media, she is doing better than Jen. I see Lisa doing more supporting character roles in mvoies, and Jen going back to TV.
I need folks to stop praising Pixar so much and kissing up to them. They do not make the best animated films. I seen some that are just pure crap. Dreamworks animation have hits and miss of course but they are still the genius in hollywood.
Pixar DOES make the best animated movies today…
Ha, ha! That was funny.
Jon, you must have a thing for pop culture jokes and references huh?
When I went to Easy A, the theater was nearly crowded and everyone was laughing their heads off. Everyone clapped at the end. I’m glad to see it is doing well.