Evidently American audiences were ready for a patriotic action film starring real Navy Seals in a fictional adventure as Act of Valor easily topped the weekend box office with an estimated $24.7 million in spite of competition from other debuting films populated by well known actors. Produced for just $12 million Act of Valor definitely benefited from a muscular ad campaign that included no fewer than four Super Bowl spots plus lots of additional ads during recent college and pro sports events. Valor helped keep Hollywood’s winning streak going as the total of the top 10 films was up 18% over the same frame last year when Hall Pass opened with $13.5 million.
As might be expected Act of Valor attracted an audience that was overwhelming male (71%) and older (60% over 25). The audience loved Act of Valor giving it a solid “A” CinemaScore, a grade that was in stark contrast to the critics’ estimations of the film, which earned a poor rating of just “30% positive” on reviewer aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): February 24 - 26, 2012 | ||||||
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| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
| 1 | Act of Valor | $24,700,000 | 3,039 | $8,128 | $24,700,000 | 1 |
| 2 | Tyler Perry's Good Deeds | $16,000,000 | 2,132 | $7,505 | $16,000,000 | 1 |
| 3 | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | $13,475,000 | 3,350 | $4,022 | $76,731,000 | 3 |
| 4 | Safe House | $11,400,000 | 3,052 | $3,735 | $98,100,000 | 3 |
| 5 | The Vow | $10,000,000 | 3,038 | $3,292 | $103,007,000 | 3 |
| 6 | Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | $8,800,000 | 3,174 | $2,773 | $37,832,000 | 2 |
| 7 | This Means War | $8,500,000 | 3,189 | $2,665 | $33,571,000 | 2 |
| 8 | Wanderlust | $6,600,000 | 2,002 | $3,297 | $6,600,000 | 1 |
| 9 | Gone | $5,000,000 | 2,186 | $2,287 | $5,000,000 | 1 |
| 10 | The Secret World of Arrietty | $4,503,000 | 1,522 | $2,959 | $14,660,000 | 2 |
Second place went to Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, but its estimated $16 million opening in the second worst in the prolific writer/director/star’s career. Perry wasn’t portraying his signature character Medea in Good Deeds, but the predominantly female (76%) and older (85% over 25) audience loved the movie, giving it a solid “A” CinemaScore, so Good Deeds may be able to avoid a steep decline.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island continues to confound as it dropped just 32% in its third weekend in theaters during which it has brought in nearly $77 million. In spite of a “cheesy” factor the size of Alaska, Journey 2 is definitely destined to make well over $100 million domestically as is the Denzel Washington-starring Safe House, which slipped 52%, but still ended up in fourth place as it brought its cumulative to $98.2 million.
But the first 2012 film to reach $100 million is the romantic movie The Vow, starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, which slipped 57%, but did well enough during its Valentine’s Day debut to have the best domestic total of 2012 so far with $103 million.
The Marvel Comics-based Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance posted the biggest drop in the top ten plummeting 60.2% in its second weekend, a steeper drop than the first Ghost Rider film, which had much farther to fall, but only slipped 56%. With a domestic total of just $37.8 million so far, this $57 million production, which has just earned over $10 million overseas, will have a hard time making its cost back theatrically. The poor box office showing by Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance puts this franchise in serious need of reboot, if indeed it can be revived at all.
The action/comedy This Means War posted a solid “A-“ CinemaScore in the midst of its disappointing opening last weekend, but so far the film’s good grade has not resulted in improved box office performance. Comedies occasionally take time to gain traction, but time is running out for This Means War.
One of this week’s biggest disappointments was the Judd Apatow-produced Wanderlust, which stars Paul Rudd and Jennifer Anniston. Universal did mount a TV campaign for the film, but it appears that Wanderlust’s major hope could be gaining some sort of cult status on DVD.
Wanderlust may have been a disappointment, but it fared considerably better than Gone, a thriller starring Amanda Seyfried that opened in ninth place with an estimated $5 million and a per theater average that was nearly a third lower than Wanderlust’s.
The Studio Ghibli-produced anime feature The Secret World of Arrietty slipped just 30.1% and added $4.5 million to its total. Sometime during the next few days Arrietty will become the top-grossing Ghibli film ever in North America and could end up with nearly double previous record holder Ponyo’s $15 million total. It appears that American audiences are finally waking up to the consistent excellence of Ghibli films.
Check back next week to see if Hollywood can keep its win streak going and how Universal’s adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and the teen party extravaganza Project X fare at the box office.
