The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Tuesday for the final figures based on actual box office.
The 4th of July weekend saw the release of Summit Entertainment’s anticipated threequel The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, reuniting Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner with new director David Slade at the helm for the third movie based on Stephenie Meyer’s popular supernatural romance. It started off its six-day extended run by setting a new Wednesday record with $68.5 million (essentially making back its production costs), dropping drastically on Thursday, then adding another estimated $82.5 million over the four-day holiday weekend including estimates for Monday for a six-day total of $175.3 million. $9 million of that gross came from IMAX screenings, while internationally, Eclipse brought in $100.2 million in 42 countries over the three-day weekend.
The most interesting comparison for Eclipse is Spider-Man 2, which was released in the same manner over Fourth of July in 2004. The “Spider-Man” sequel opened weaker with $40.4 million on its Wednesday then grossing $88.1 million over the three-day weekend, almost twice its opening day, and then setting a new record for the holiday, one that Eclipse failed to surpass. Eclipse essentially made the same in its first three-day weekend as its opening day due to its record $30 million from midnight screenings on Tuesday night. While Spider-Man 2 went on to gross $373 million, Eclipse is more likely to end up in the $300 mil. range.
Despite horrid reviews, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender (Paramount) defied most if not all expectations to gross $70.5 million over its first five days, making it Shyamalan’s biggest opening since The Village. It opened on Thursday with $16.3 million, then added another estimated $53.2 million over the four-day weekend, averaging $16.7 thousand per venue.
DisneyPixar’s Toy Story 3 added another $42.2 million over the four-day weekend to bring its total to just over the $300 million mark. It’s the third movie of the year to cross that mark after Alice in Wonderland and Iron Man 2, and it’s the seventh-fastest movie to attain that amount. It’s already the second-highest grossing movie for Pixar Animation, and it’s gunning for the $340 million grossed by Finding Nemo.
Adam Sandler’s ensemble summer comedy Grown Ups (Sony) dropped to fourth place in its second weekend with $26.5 million over the extended weekend and $85.1 million in ten days, while the action-comedy Knight and Day (20th Century Fox), starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, dropped to fifth place with $14 million and $49.3 million total.
Sixth place went to the Sony remake of The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, with $11.5 million and $155 million after four weeks in theaters. Joe Carnahan’s The A-Team (20th Century Fox) dropped to #7 with $4.3 million and $70.4 million in the same period of time.
The Jonah Hill-Russell Brand road comedy Get Him to the Greek (Universal) added another $1.7 million to take eighth place, bringing its total to $57.9 million.
While DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek Forever After (DreamWorks/Paramount) only made $1.3 million for ninth place in the United States, it opened in a number of territories internationally adding another $41 million to its $135 million international gross compared to the $232 million its grossed in the United States since opening in May.
Moving up to 10th place despite only being in 77 theaters was the Duplass Brothers comedy Cyrus starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei, with a cool million, averaging over $13 thousand per site.
The box office was up dramatically from last 4th of July thanks to Eclipse, the Top 10 grossing 20% more than the same frame last weekend when Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs fell just short of topping Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in its second weekend. Michael Mann’s Public Enemies settled for third with $25.3 million the same weekend.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
