Weekend Box Office (June 11 - 13, 2010)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND Eleven-year-old Jaden Smith defeated four grown men in a battle of the 1980s remakes as The Karate Kid soared above expectations easily outgunning The A-Team at the North American box office. Kid powered its way to $55.7M over the weekend from 3,663 theaters for a sensational $15,197 average, according to final studio figures.

Produced for only $40M, the PG-rated film presented a modern take on the 1984 Ralph Macchio-Pat Morita favorite and starred Jackie Chan as the mentor. The setting was shifted to Beijing and despite the title, the film centered on kung fu instead of karate. Sony launched the marketing campaign with a highly effective trailer that used the son of Will to generate excitement with kids while also using nostalgia to pump up parents and other adults. Add in an end-credit song from teen sensation Justin Bieber (with a rap by Jaden) and a much-talked-about promotion at last weekend's MTV Movie Awards and young people were hyped up and ready to buy tickets.

Despite a lengthy 140-minute running time, Karate pleased audiences with an encouraging A CinemaScore grade and even scored an exceptionally high 94% in the top two boxes from exit polls. Females made up 53% of the crowd while 56% was under 25. It was the ninth biggest June opening of all-time and sixth best when only counting live-action films. Will Smith routinely opens summer blockbusters in the $50M range and contributes to his own soundtracks and now has a son following in his footsteps. Overseas potential is formidable especially across Asia.

Opening far back in second place was The A-Team with $25.7M coming in below expectations. The Fox release launched very wide in 3,535 locations and averaged $7,262 per theater. A remake of the 1980s action television series, the PG-13 film starring Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper witnessed a slight 3% dip on Saturday and may not have the positive buzz needed for a long summer run. Reviews were mixed. In the battle of the 80s flicks, The A-Team and The Karate Kid were expected to have been much closer in ticket sales this weekend.

After a three-week reign at number one, Shrek Forever After continued to show off the strong legs seen by most 3D films these days. The ogre flick declined by only 38% to $15.8M which was impressive given how much Karate Kid was taking away business from family audiences. Forever broke the $200M mark and boosted its cume to $210M.

Universal's Get Him to the Greek enjoyed the smallest decline among last weekend's four new releases dipping 43% to $9.9M in fourth place. The raunchy rock star comedy has collected $36.4M in ten days and could be headed for a finish in the neighborhood of $65M. Fellow sophomore Killers fell by 49% to $8M giving Lionsgate $30.3M. Look for a $50M final.

Filling up the next four spots were a video game, comic strip, television show, and comic book all turned into feature films. Tumbling 54% to $6.5M was Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time which has collected just $72.2M in 17 days for Disney. Fox's Marmaduke fell 48% in its second round to $6M putting the ten-day sum at $22.3M. Falling 56% to $5.4M in its third lap was Sex and the City 2 which has taken in a disappointing $84.7M to date.

Iron Man 2 came within a hair of joining the triple-century club with its weekend gross of $4.5M. Off 43%, the Paramount release jumped up to $299.3M putting it at number 34 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters surpassing the $296.6M of last November's The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The horror pic Splice rounded out the top ten with $2.9M, down 60%, for a weak ten-day total of $13.2M.

The top ten films grossed $140.5M which was up 9% from last year when The Hangover remained in the top spot with $32.8M; but down 20% from 2008 when The Incredible Hulk debuted at number one with $55.4M.


Compared to projections, The Karate Kid doubled my $27M forecast while The A-Team debuted a few notches below my $32M prediction.

Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com on Twitter.

Check the UPDATED chart for the Top June Openings. For reviews of The Karate Kid and The A-Team, visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Toy Story 3 and Jonah Hex both open.

Marketplace - Shop for DVDs, electronics, books, and posters at discounted prices:

# Title Jun 11 - 13 Jun 4 - 6 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 The Karate Kid $ 55,665,805 3,663 1 $ 15,197 $ 55,665,805 Sony
2 The A-Team 25,669,455 3,535 1 7,262 25,669,455 Fox
3 Shrek Forever After 15,770,491 25,486,465 -38.1 3,868 4 4,077 210,022,557 Paramount
4 Get Him to the Greek 9,942,405 17,570,955 -43.4 2,702 2 3,680 36,400,720 Universal
5 Killers 8,008,007 15,837,266 -49.4 2,859 2 2,801 30,261,624 Lionsgate
6 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 6,486,150 14,019,131 -53.7 3,108 3 2,087 72,228,302 Buena Vista
7 Marmaduke 6,006,704 11,599,661 -48.2 3,213 2 1,870 22,285,540 Fox
8 Sex and the City 2 5,438,345 12,344,303 -55.9 2,750 3 1,978 84,658,826 Warner Bros.
9 Iron Man 2 4,521,206 7,918,708 -42.9 2,305 6 1,961 299,282,390 Paramount
10 Splice 2,942,492 7,385,277 -60.2 2,450 2 1,201 13,153,956 Warner Bros.
11 Robin Hood 2,615,130 5,366,940 -51.3 1,895 5 1,380 99,463,670 Universal
12 Letters to Juliet 1,693,941 3,036,367 -44.2 1,331 5 1,273 46,754,242 Summit
13 Date Night 601,291 775,810 -22.5 430 10 1,398 96,266,718 Fox
14 Solitary Man 369,703 174,453 111.9 53 4 6,976 871,081 Anchor Bay
15 The Bounty Hunter 351,716 201,928 74.2 236 13 1,490 66,418,931 Sony
16 The Secret in Their Eyes 347,925 397,705 -12.5 162 9 2,148 4,506,655 Sony Classics
17 How To Train Your Dragon 330,459 488,283 -32.3 281 12 1,176 214,426,381 Paramount
18 Clash of the Titans 329,183 122,207 169.4 333 11 989 161,958,303 Warner Bros.
19 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 323,915 313,774 3.2 174 13 1,862 7,871,852 Music Box
20 Just Wright 320,441 767,818 -58.3 279 5 1,149 20,795,571 Fox Searchlight
Top 5 $ 115,056,163 $ 85,258,120 35.0
Top 10 140,451,060 120,565,073 16.5
Top 20 147,734,764 125,285,587 17.9
Top 20 vs. 2009 147,734,764 135,167,483 9.3

Last Updated: June 14, 2010 at 6:00PM ET