This week's new releases "Rock of Ages" and "That's My Boy" flopped at the box office while "Madagascar 3" and "Prometheus" continued solid business.
The first of the new releases "Rock of Ages" debuted with a disappointing $15.1 million and only placed third on the charts. The film, which stars Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin and Catherine Zeta Jones, failed to connect with younger audiences despite including younger stars Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta. 75 percent of the audience was made up of females and adults over the age of 25. Of the opening Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution stated that "The numbers aren't great. It's hard to fathom since the movie plays so well," and "I'm still optimistic we can over perform during the week because of women." "Rock of Ages'" opening fell far behind director Adam Shankman's last musical "Hairspray" which opened with $27 million.
The second big film opening this past weekend was "That's My Boy," which grossed a dismal $13 million and ended up coming in at No. 5. The film was bested by holdover "Snow White and the Huntsman" ($13.8 million), which has been playing for three weeks. The film marked the worst opening for an Adam Sandler film since 2004's "Spanglish" and marked the first R rated Sandler film since "Funny People."
Rory Bruer, president of distribution of Sony, stated that "Sure we had hoped for more. It is a crazy, off-the-wall raunchy R-rated comedy that audiences laugh like crazy at. Kudos to Adam for mixing it up," and that "We love being in the Adam Sandler business."
Sandler's last film "Jack and Jill" also underperformed domestically, grossing roughly $74 million. Sandler's film played evenly among males (54 percent) and females (46 percent), even though the picture had been tracking best among younger males.
"Madagascar 3" placed first for the second straight weekend grossing $35.5 million. The gross represented a 42% drop for a total gross of $120 million domestically. The film is now estimated to end with a final gross of $220 million. That number would be the best in the franchise.
"Prometheus" also continued its success story grossing $20.2 million and placing second. The film has now grossed $88.9 million and is estimated to end its run with a $130 million gross.
As previously mentioned "Snow White and the Huntsman" placed fourth grossing $13.8 million bringing the film to a $122.6 million gross. The film's sequel has already been greenlit due to the successful gross.
In the arthouse realm, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "Moonrise Kingdom" continued to land on the top 10 chart domestically. Fox Searchlight's "Marigold Hotel" came in at No. 8 with $2.2 million from 1,184 theaters for a North American gross of $35.1 million. Focus Features' "Moonrise" continued to expand and conquer the box office grossing $2.1 million from 178 theaters for an outstanding gross of $6.8 million.
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