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Monday June 13, 2011
Hollywood B.O.: Bridesmaids Always a Bridesmaid But Manhandling Competition
“Bridesmaids” has always been a bridesmaid; it has never hit no. 1 on the weekend box office charts. But it is in the process of manhandling a bunch of the He-Men of Summer.
In its first weekend, May 13-15, the only other big opener was the apocalypse/vampire flick “Priest,” which finished with about half of “Bridesmaid”'s gross—$14 million to $26 million—while “Bridesmaids” finished second to the second weekend of “Thor”:
1. | Thor | $34m | -47% |
2. | Bridesmaids |
$26m |
NEW |
3. | Fast Five | $20m | -37% |
4 | Priest | $14m | NEW |
The next weekend, “Thor” fell 55%, “Bridesmaids” only 20%, so Wiig and copmany were now ahead of the God of Thunder; but their movie still finished second, way second, to the latest “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie: $20 million to $90 million. (Keep that $70 million difference in your back pocket for a moment.) “Priest” fell a whopping 68% for fifth place. It was soon out of the picture.
1. | Pirates of the Caribbean 4 | $90m | NEW |
2. | Bridemaids | $20m | -20% |
3. | Thor | $15m | -55% |
4. | Fast Five | $10m | -48% |
Memorial weekend? That was the “Hangover II” weekend, with a relatively weak open for “Kung Fu Panda 2” and a huge drop for “Pirates 4.” “Bridesmaids” dropped marginally: another 20%.
1. | Hangover II | $85m | NEW |
2. | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $47m | NEW |
3. | Pirates of the Caribbean 4 | $39m | -55% |
4. | Bridesmaids | $16m | -20% |
5. | Thor | $9m | -38% |
First weekend in June? “X-Men: First Class” opened with $55 million and pushed “Bridesmaids” to fifth place. This was the biggest drop, percentage-wise, for the film, 27%, but it was still dropping at only half the rate of the men around it. Oh, and that $70 million “Pirates” advantage you kept in your back pocket? Take it out now. It's down to $5 million:
1. | X-Men: First Class | $55m | NEW |
2. | The Hangover II | $31m | -63% |
3. | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $23m | -50% |
4. | Pirates of the Caribbean 4 | $17m | -55% |
5. | Bridesmaids | $12m | -27% |
6. | Thor | $4m | -55% |
Which brings us to this past weekend. “Bridesmaids” and “Pirates 4” are now neck-in-neck.
1. | Super 8 | $37m | NEW |
2. | X-Men: First Class | $25m | -54% |
3. | Hangover II | $18m | -41% |
4. | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $16m | -30% |
5. | Pirates of the Caribbean 4 | $10.7m | -39% |
6. | Bridesmaids | $10.1m | -15% |
“Bridesmaids”'s opening weekend was the 15th best opening of the year but the movie's domestic gross, $123 million, is now 7th best for the year. That's legs. That's word-of-mouth. The movie keeps on keeping on.