Dreamworks’ 3-D animated feature Megamind topped the weekend box office with an estimated $47.7 million. With Todd (The Hangover) Phillips’ comedy Due Date earning $33.5 million and Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide bringing in $20.1 million, the total of the top ten films was up a potent 38% from the same weekend last year. Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of Warren Ellis’ Red continued to demonstrate great legs, dropping just 17% in its fourth weekend. The highly enjoyable “geri-action” movie has now earned $72 million and has a good chance at hitting the century mark. How exactly did Warner Bros. let the DC Comics-published Red get away and make movies based on The Losers and Jonah Hex?
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): November 5 - 7, 2010 | ||||||
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| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
| 1 | Megamind | $47,650,000 | 3,944 | $12,082 | $47,650,000 | 1 |
| 2 | Due Date | $33,500,000 | 3,355 | $9,985 | $33,500,000 | 1 |
| 3 | For Colored Girls | $20,100,000 | 2,127 | $9,450 | $20,100,000 | 1 |
| 4 | Red | $8,858,000 | 3,229 | $2,743 | $71,871,000 | 4 |
| 5 | Saw 3D | $8,200,000 | 2,808 | $2,920 | $38,801,000 | 2 |
| 6 | Paranormal Activity 2 | $7,298,000 | 3,168 | $2,304 | $77,224,000 | 3 |
| 7 | Jackass 3-D | $5,097,000 | 2,165 | $2,354 | $110,814,000 | 4 |
| 8 | Hereafter | $4,020,000 | 2,365 | $1,700 | $28,730,000 | 4 |
| 9 | Secretariat | $4,002,000 | 2,614 | $1,531 | $50,965,000 | 5 |
| 10 | The Social Network | $3,600,000 | 1,860 | $1,935 | $85,047,000 | 6 |
While Megamind gives Dreamworks its third #1 3-D cartoon feature of 2010, its opening fell short of the highly similar Despicable Me ($56.4 million) and Monsters vs. Aliens ($59.3 million). Megamind’s grosses were also inflated by higher prices for 3-D admissions, which were responsible for 66% of the film’s opening weekend gross. Pixar’s The Incredibles, which like Megamind has a superhero theme and opened in the same weekend in November of 2004, actually logged twice as many admissions as Megamind. Still Megamind could have a considerable run—debut audiences gave the film an “A-“ CinemaScore. Megamind, which features the voice of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Brad Pitt, attracted an audience that was 57% female, and 52% under 25.
Due Date, which stars Robert Downey, Jr., and Zack Galifianakis posted the biggest November opening ever for an “R-Rated” comedy. Males made up 53% of the film’s opening weekend audience, and the 17-35 demographic provided 59% of the crowd. Unlike The Hangover, Due Date wasn’t a hit with the critics (only 39% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), and audiences only gave the film a mediocre “B” CinemaScore, but raunchy comedies often demonstrate great “legs.” In spite of its strong opening and directorial pedigree, the Due Date’s prospects remain cloudy.
Tyler Perry is without a doubt the most consistently successful African American director working today. While the “R-Rated” For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide represents something of departure for Perry, the film, which is based on the successful 1975 stage play by Ntozake Shange, manage to attract Perry's core audience of older (87% over 25), female (82%), African-Americans (81%)—and they loved it, giving the film an “A” CinemaScore.
While Red, which finished at #4, Secretariat (#9), and The Social Network (#10) all posted minimal declines, last week’s winner Saw 3-D plummeted 64%, and fellow horror film Paranormal Activity 2 dropped off 56% as the Halloween glow fades turning prosaic horror films into rotting Jack-o-Lanterns at the box office.
The graphic novel-based Tamara Drewe added 14 theaters (for a total of 27) and posted a semi-decent average, which provides at least some hope of a wider art house release. Stay tuned.
