erik lundegaard

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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.

Posted at 06:21 AM on Monday June 13, 2011 in category Movies - Box Office