Like it or not, it looks like Disney’s John Carter will meet expectations. Early estimates pegged the film at $9.9 million for Friday (including $500,000 from midnight showings), but more accurate numbers are in and it slipped slightly with $9.8 million, which puts even a $30 million almost out of reach.
Made on a $250 million budget, John Carter has been under fire for some time, and to my personal surprise critics haven’t been too kind either awarding it a 50% at RottenTomatoes, which is surprising since I haven’t seen anyone come down too harsh on it. Audiences, which are typically easy graders, haven’t been entirely glowing either giving the film a B+ CinemaScore, which isn’t good enough to expect very long legs.
Finishing in second for Friday, but still expected to take first for a second weekend in a row, is Universal’s Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax with $9.6 million on Friday, which is actually slightly weaker than some expected after its massive $70.2 million opening last week.
Laremy predicted it would hit almost $50 million this weekend, but $40 million is probably a more accurate number. Of course, while that may be a bit lower than projected it’s still a strong holdover as the film is now over $91 million and will be the third $100 million earner of 2012 by week’s end.
The weekend’s new horror film, the single-take thriller Silent House starring Elizabeth Olsen opened in only 1,890 theaters, but still managed $2.6 million and should be able to reach $6.2 million once the weekend is up. I haven’t seen budgetary numbers on this one, but I have to assume Open Road purchased it on the cheap and I expect it will do decent numbers on home video.
Elsewhere, Eddie Murphy’s new film, A Thousand Words, has been savaged by critics who dared go see the “comedy” after Paramount didn’t screen it for advance reviews. Earning a hard to achieve 0% at RottenTomatoes the film opened in 2,124 theaters and brought in an early estimate of $1.9 million and will likely fizzle out the weekend around $5 million.
I’ve posted the Friday top ten directly below and will be back on Sunday morning with a complete wrap-up.
- John Carter – $9.8 million
- The Lorax – $9.6 million
- Project X – $3.9 million
- Silent House – $2.6 million
- Act Of Valor – $2 million
- A Thousand Words – $1.9 million
- Safe House – $1.3 million
- The Vow – $1.2 million
- This Means War – $1.2 million
- Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – $850,000
