"Jack and the Giant Slayer" led a weak box office while "Phantom" scored one of the worst opening weekends for a wide release.
The Warner Bros retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk" scored $28 million over the three days. The 3D film starring Nicolas Hoult and Ewan McGregor was the first big budget tent pole with an estimated price tag of $300 million. With its weak opening, the film is already being compared to "John Carter" and "Battleship" which lost a massive amount of money at the box office. "Slayer" looks to score a total of $60 million by the end of its run and with competition from "OZ: The Great and Powerful" next week, the film could suffer even greater losses.
In second place "Identity Thief" continued a successful run scoring $9.7 million. "Thief" has become the first 2013 film to reach the $100 million with a $107 million gross.
In third place "21 and Over" failed to replicate "Project X" from last year as it opened to $9 million. The film's audience was made of men and women, and skewed toward younger audiences under 25 years old.
In fourth place "The Last Exorcism Part II" earned $8 million, which is a fraction of the first installment's $20.4 million opening. It was also lower than last weekend's "Dark Skies" which opened to $8.1 million. With bad reviews and a lack of word of mouth, "Part II" may not end up earning $20 million by the end of run.
The last of the new releases, "Phantom," scored $475,000 in 1,000 theaters. The lack of advertising most likely hurt the film's gross.
The Academy Award winners, however, were helped by their accolades. "Silver Linings Playbook" improved three percent and made an estimated $5.94 million. The film has now grossed $115.5 million. "Life of Pi" also benefited as it was up 43 percent and made $2.3 million. The film has now grossed $116.9 million and $600 million worldwide.
Finally the Best Picture winner "Argo" improved 21 percent to an estimated $2.2 million for a $132.8 million total gross. The weekend gross is impressive considering the film is currently on DVD/Blu-Ray and Video on Demand.
In art house cinemas "Stoker," starring Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska, opened to solid numbers in seven theaters. The film made $158,800 for a $22,686 per theater average. The Academy Award nominated foreign film "War Witch" however failed to impress making $10,300 in 2 theaters.
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