Green Lantern Wins Soft Opening (Mania.com)

By:Jarrod Sarafin
Date: Sunday, June 19, 2011

 

It looks like Warner Bros. Pictures just could not capture the opening audience it wanted for their premiere of Green Lantern. A film opening up with $52.7 million would normally be a great debut for most film releases throughout the calendar year but as this is the summer tent pole season with big studios throwing down huge chunks of cash before their film ever arrives on the silver screen, those debut expectations reach the stratosphere from executives in Hollywood. Such was the case here with the studio hoping the superhero adaptation of Lantern would pull in $55 million or higher in its domestic bow.
 
The nearly $53 million it did grab from 3,816 theaters across the nation has it landing behind the recent comic openings of Thor ($65.7 million) and X-Men: First Class ($55.1 million). It’s also well short of past comic ventures like Fantastic Four ($56.0 mil), Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer ($58.0 mil) and The Incredible Hulk ($55.4 mil). Its estimated Father’s Day weekend attendance was even less than known comic fare such as Daredevil and Ghost Rider.
 
With a production budget of $200 million (not including marketing), Warner Bros. Pictures president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman hopes that the release will pick back up over the next few weeks with strong repeat performances.
 
“I would have loved to see $55 million, but we have to let things play out. Schools are out now, so if we left anything on the table, we should pick it up during the week,” Fellman said.
 
In its early foreign markets, Green Lantern found only $17 million from international waters, translating to a global opening weekend of only $69.6 million for the studio. Males made up a majority of the audience at 64%, with 63% of those buying tickets being over the age of 25.
 
Following in 2nd place is last weekend’s winner, Super 8. The J.J. Abrams-directed sci-fi thriller fell only 40% in its sophomore effort, finding another $21.2 million in coin. With the film showing in 3,408 theaters across the states, the second frame’s numbers increased its domestic cume to $72.7 million after 10 days of release. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg managed to keep its production budget down to only $50 million so it’s a decent venture for the folks at Paramount.
 
Fox had the other new wide release this weekend with Mr. Popper’s Penguins debuting in 3rd place. Despite its marketing campaign geared straight towards the Father’s Day audience and coming in with the family-friendly PG rating, the adaptation of the classic children’s tale found only $18.2 million on 3,339 theaters. Still, it’s not too bad an opening for Jim Carrey here as director Mark S. Waters kept his budget down to $55 million.
 
With 58% of its audience under the age of 25, Fox’s president Bert Livingston seemed optimistic about its replay value and the next few reports.
 
“It’s a funny movie, and it’s got penguins. You know how popular penguins are. And Jim Carrey has been in some of my favorite movies,” Livingston said.
 
Taking down the 4th place spot is the returning X-Men: First Class. The Fox comic prequel crossed the $100 million mark at the beginning of the week and with the $11.5 million it found over its third frame has a domestic score of $119.9 million. With an international haul of $162.1 million over it first two weeks in foreign markets, the latest X-Men installment has $282.0 million worldwide. Budget was set at $160 million.
 
And taking up the 5th place spot is R-rated comedy which continues to impress. That would be Warner Bros. Pictures’ sequel The Hangover Part II finding another $9.6 million on 3,460 theaters over its fourth weekend. Despite all the heavy competition saturating the markets out there, the comedic re-teaming of the Wolf Pack now stands atop the domestic race this year with $232.6 million in local receipts. With the film also finding another $256.0 million overseas, the studio has a global cume of $488.6 million. Not bad for a film costing only $80 mil to produce.
 
The domestic box office took a 24% slide downward overall with none of the new releases hoping to keep stride with last year’s release of Toy Story 3.
 
Before we get to the rest of the top 10 and the global box office race, we’d like to take this moment to wish all the dads out there a great Father’s Day.
 

Rank
Movie
Weekend
Theaters
Average
Total
Budget
1
Green Lantern
$52.6 mil
3,816
$13,806
$52.6 mil
$200
2
Super 8
$21.2 mil
3,408
$6,235
$72.7 mil
$50
3
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
$18.2 mil
3,339
$5,451
$18.2 mil
$55
4
X-Men: First Class
$11.5 mil
3,375
$3,407
$119.9 mil
$160
5
Hangover Part II
$9.6 mil
3,460
$2,785
$232.6 mil
$80
6
Kung Fu Panda 2
$8.7 mil
3,469
$2,508
$143.3 mil
$150
7
Bridesmaids
$7.4 mil
2,573
$2,910
$136.8 mil
$32.5
8
Pirates of the Caribbean 4
$6.2 mil
2,742
$2,274
$220.3 mil
$250
9
Midnight in Paris
$5.2 mil
1,038
$5,045
$21.7 mil
$30
10
Judy Moody
$2.2 mil
2,524
$888
$11.1 mil
$20

 
Here’s the global summer numbers as they currently stack. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides inches closer towards the coveted billion dollar mark for Walt Disney Pictures while Warner Bros. find themselves in 3rd place with The Hangover Part II overtaking Thor’s global tally.
 
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Numbers:
Budget: $250 mil
Opening: $90.1 mil
Domestic: $220.3 mil
Foreign: $731.9 mil
Worldwide: $952.2 mil
 
Fast Five Numbers:
Budget: $125 mil
Opening: $86.1 mil
Domestic: $206.8 mil
Foreign: $385.0 mil
Worldwide: $591.8 mil
 
The Hangover II Numbers:
Budget: $80 mil
Opening: $85.9 mil
Domestic: $232.6 mil
Foreign: $256.0 mil
Worldwide: $488.6 mil
 
Thor Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $65.7 mil
Domestic: $176.1 mil
Foreign: $259.1 mil
Worldwide: $435.2 mil
  
Kung Fu Panda 2 Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $47.6 mil
Domestic: $143.3 mil
Foreign: $280.0 mil
Worldwide: $423.3 mil
 
X-Men: First Class Numbers:
Budget: $160 mil
Opening: $55.1 mil
Domestic: $119.9 mil
Foreign: $162.1 mil
Worldwide: $282.0 mil
 
Green Lantern Numbers:
Budget: $200 mil
Opening: $52.6 mil
Domestic: $52.6 mil
Foreign: $17.0 mil
Worldwide: $69.6 mil
 
 
Friday, June 24, 2011 Releases:
Wide
Cars 2 (3,900+)
Bad Teacher (3,000+)
Limited
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
A Better Life
Around June
Raw Faith
Strangers Online
Turtle: The Incredible Journey
The Man Who Fell to Earth
If a Tree Falls
 


Series: Green Lantern, The, Thor, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class