This week a massively popular columnist, Bill Simmons, opened an article by calling Hot Tub Time Machine a “surprise hit.” This sort of thing happens all the time, and it never fails to annoy the hell out of me. Hot Tub Time Machine earned $57m on a $36m budget. Due to studio/theater splits and marketing it almost certainly lost money. How is that a “surprise hit?” Because most people only look at the numbers $57m and $36m and call it good. So we’ve still got plenty of educating to do to get to the point where we’re not giving the studios credit for failure.
Now that’s out of my system, and without further bickering, let’s break this extremely well contested weekend down!
You’ve really got to wonder about the three million poor souls who will venture out to see Marmaduke. They didn’t screen it for us (though Ebert got to review it), so I can’t officially say it’s awful, but the trailer made me very sad.
Films tend to fall about 30 percent the weekend after Memorial Day. Yes, there are exceptions, but five of the six films this weekend follow this trend.
When was the last time eight films made over $10m? Ever? What a fragmented field. Trivia: six films did it on this same weekend last year. This one feels a lot like 30 percent of Mr. and Mrs. Smith‘s opening take, per theater.
Contractually, I can’t be forced to talk about Letters to Juliet. So instead I’ll say this… I’ve got Icebox in the Belmont.
Prediction: $2.92 million
How say you? Want to take Marmaduke? See a Get Him to the Greek upset in our future? Have I underestimated the appeal of Heigl/Kutcher? Place your bets in the comments and do so before Friday so I can reference your picks in the Sunday Wrap-Up.
Check out our new Box-Office charts hereand subscribe to our updated Box-Office RSS feed here
Following the re-release trend, Vijay Thalapathy’s blockbuster film, Ghilli, returned to theaters on April 20, marking the film’s 20th anniversary. Fans are…
