Wow. Fast and Furious just posted the best April opening ever… by THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS. That’s lunacy. It’s also the best opening weekend of the year, and it topped 2 Fast 2 Furious by $22.5m too. I thought my prediction might be a little light, but I didn’t think I’d be $34m short. In the comments only Chuck B. dared to go higher, and he was still under $50m. Essentially Fast and Furious pwned the weekend. Let’s recap.
#1 movie predicted correctly: 2 Week In A Row
People were starved for an “event” movie weekend, and Fast and Furious had nostalgic value too. Do you realize this opened $17m higher than Watchmen? Right now Universal is doing the Lionel Richie ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ routine. Dios mios. I don’t have enough hyperbole in me to to justice to this result.
Result: 72.5 million (My rank: #1, $34.4m off)
Back on track! No, but seriously, this one had nice word-of-mouth and no competition. Dreamworks plays another hand to perfection.
Result: 33.5 million (My rank: #2, $1.8m off)
I was off a few percent here. No biggie. This follows the typical horror dip. I just want to meet the guy who can make another mainstream crossover a la Scream.
Result: 9.5 million (My rank: #3, $1m off)
4. Knowing
Saw this over the weekend and came away impressed. I know it’s got brutal acting, and I know that it doesn’t really make sense. But the concepts presented are pretty ambitious. For that I tip my cap.
Result: 8.3 million (My rank: #4, $1.1m off)
Five for five and staying alive. But when you miss that top spot by nearly $35m it’s hard to brag. For the record, it was the third busiest weekend of ’09.
Result: 7.8 million (My rank: #5, $1.6m off)
Oddly, I feel like they should be happy with this. I mean, who was the audience? Adults who were alive in the ’80s? Or teen fans, because the cast was stocked with younglings? See the issue?
Result: 6.0 million (My rank: #6, $1.5m off)
7. Duplicity
Dead on! Next week I’m just going to add $30m to my top slot projection and call it good.
Result: 4.3 million (My rank: #7, $0m off)
My streak ends. Curses. No budget has been released here but it stands at $64m total. I know that a lot of the stunt work was non-CGI, so perhaps they are starting to think profit. Especially once the DVD gets cranking.
Result: 3.3 million (My rank: #9, $.7m off)
9. 12 Rounds
I had it dropping 53%. Instead it dropped nearly 57%. Sank like a stone.
Result: 2.3 million (My rank: #, $m off)
Per theater it actually finished third. Sadly, now it probably won’t get enough theaters to compete. Needed a bigger splash this weekend.
Result: 1.8 million (My rank: #8, $1.8m off)
I think Fast and Furious wins again next weekend against Observe and Report, Hannah Montana, and Dragonball Evolution. How about you?
