Weekend Box Office (August 27 - 29, 2010)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND In a rare reversal of chart positions for two films opening at the top of the charts, Sony's heist thriller Takers emerged as the true box office champ on Monday after estimates reported on Sunday showed it in a close second place finish. The devilish thriller The Last Exorcism ended up in the number two spot with the pair separated by less than $150,000. Regardless of position, both films surprised industry observers as the new releases were not expected to soar so high. Characteristic of the final weekend of August, box office sales slumped to their worst level of the entire summer with the top ten failing to break the $100M mark - and even the $90M mark - for the first time all season.

The urban action thriller Takers enjoyed a surprisingly potent debut grossing $20.5M this weekend, according to final studio figures, from a not-so-extravagantly-wide 2,206 playdates for a sizzling $9,298 average leading all films in wide release. The PG-13 film about a cop investigating a criminal enterprise stars Matt Dillon who got top billing, but was mostly absent from the marketing materials like trailers and posters. The heist film, which also stars Idris Elba, Paul Walker, rapper T.I., and singer Chris Brown, was not expected to be much of a force, especially given its late August release slot, but excited action fans of all ethnicities with starpower and style. The two music stars also were executive producers. It caps off a sensational summer for Sony which has had no losers this season.

The mock documentary The Last Exorcism scared up big numbers in the runner-up spot grossing $20.4M from 2,874 theaters for a sturdy $7,087 average per location. Rated PG-13, the Lionsgate release downplayed the doc format in its marketing and used Hostel director Eli Roth's name in the ads as the presenter to help pull in fans of hardcore horror. Opening night audiences were turned off by what they got - probably differing greatly from what they expected - as sales fell sharply on Saturday by a troubling 25%. Reviews were particularly good for a film of this genre, however.

Sylvester Stallone's two-week run at the top ended but The Expendables still held up relatively well for an action title dropping 44% to $9.5M bumping the 17-day total to $82M for Lionsgate. Sony enjoyed a similar decline for its estrogen flick Eat Pray Love which grossed $6.8M, down 44%, for a $60.5M cume.

The hit comedy The Other Guys followed in fifth with a slim dip of only 38% to $6.3M thanks to a marketplace with few big comedy alternatives. Total is $99M. Tumbling 57% to $5.2M, the spoof pic Vampires Suck gave Fox a mediocre $27.8M sum to date.

The mind-bending smash Inception grossed $4.9M in its seventh weekend of release, off 38%, and lifted the total to $270.5M. That puts the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller at number 48 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters just behind the $277.3M of last summer's The Hangover. The family sequel Nanny McPhee Returns followed its weak debut with another disappointing frame collecting $4.7M, dropping 44%. Universal has taken in a dismal $17M in ten days from North America.

Playing to an equally small audience was Jennifer Aniston's comedy The Switch which fell 46% in its second weekend to $4.6M giving Buena Vista just $16.4M in ten days. The horror entry Piranha 3D tumbled 57% in its sophomore outing to $4.3M. The Weinstein Co. has collected only $18.3M.

Landing just outside the top ten was the Special Edition release of Avatar which grossed $4M from 812 3D engagements for a solid $4,936 average. The lifetime total climbed up to $753.8M.

The top ten films grossed $87.2M which was down 17% from last year when The Final Destination opened in the top spot with $27.4M; but up 27% from 2008 when Tropic Thunder stayed at number one for the third week in a row with $11.5M.


Compared to projections, both The Last Exorcism and Takers opened much higher than my respective forecasts of $14M and $7M. Avatar was close to my $3M prediction.

Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com on Twitter. For a DVD review of My Name is Khan visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Machete, Going the Distance, and The American close off the summer over the Labor Day holiday session.

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

# Title Aug 27 - 29 Aug 20 - 22 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Takers $ 20,512,304 2,206 1 $ 9,298 $ 20,512,304 Sony
2 The Last Exorcism 20,366,613 2,874 1 7,087 20,366,613 Lionsgate
3 The Expendables 9,527,937 16,968,032 -43.8 3,398 3 2,804 82,040,183 Lionsgate
4 Eat Pray Love 6,815,555 12,111,162 -43.7 3,108 3 2,193 60,531,326 Sony
5 The Other Guys 6,285,712 10,163,337 -38.2 3,181 4 1,976 99,018,172 Sony
6 Vampires Suck 5,221,780 12,202,831 -57.2 3,233 2 1,615 27,834,256 Fox
7 Inception 4,876,356 7,838,179 -37.8 2,070 7 2,356 270,519,920 Warner Bros.
8 Nanny McPhee Returns 4,714,215 8,407,685 -43.9 2,798 2 1,685 16,991,285 Universal
9 The Switch 4,583,481 8,436,713 -45.7 2,017 2 2,272 16,410,009 Buena Vista/Maple
10 Piranha 3D 4,302,878 10,106,872 -57.4 2,491 2 1,727 18,266,889 Weinstein Co.
11 Avatar: Special Edition 4,007,750 812 2 4,936 753,773,889 Fox
12 Lottery Ticket 3,854,303 10,652,297 -63.8 1,974 2 1,953 17,284,641 Warner Bros.
13 Despicable Me 2,859,680 4,662,065 -38.7 1,833 8 1,560 236,276,085 Universal
14 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World 2,505,555 5,201,970 -51.8 1,566 3 1,600 26,166,945 Universal
15 Salt 1,883,890 3,410,012 -44.8 1,168 6 1,613 113,260,644 Sony
16 Dinner for Schmucks 1,779,540 3,520,805 -49.5 1,501 5 1,186 69,204,372 Paramount
17 Get Low 1,640,176 713,794 129.8 570 5 2,878 3,633,451 Sony Classics
18 Step Up 3D 1,227,816 3,150,401 -61.0 901 4 1,363 39,715,304 Buena Vista
19 Toy Story 3 1,010,710 1,523,124 -33.6 600 11 1,685 405,659,221 Buena Vista
20 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge... 675,231 1,701,134 -60.3 823 5 820 41,279,244 Warner Bros.
Top 5 $ 63,508,121 $ 62,097,659 2.3
Top 10 87,206,831 102,089,078 -14.6
Top 20 108,651,482 122,631,525 -11.4
Top 20 vs. 2009 108,651,482 119,165,693 -8.8

Last Updated: August 30, 2010 at 4:15PM ET

Watch Gitesh Pandya's weekly box office preview on CNN International airing live each Thursday at 7:40pm ET.