The Hunger Games topped the box office for the fourth weekend in a row with an estimated $21.5 million, enough to top two male-skewing newcomers that didn't bomb, but managed to steal enough of each other's thunder to allow the distaff-appealing Hunger Games to continue its dominance.  Overall the total of the top 12 films was down 8% from the same weekend last year when Rio topped the charts with a $39.2 million debut.

 

The Hunger Games declined just 35% as it continued to post the best per-theater average in the top 10.  The film has now earned $337 million domestically (and another $194 million overseas), and still has an outside chance of passing the $400 million mark here in North America.  The Hunger Games probably won't end up as the top film of 2012, but it certainly is setting a scorching pace, and will definitely finish in the top five for the year.

 

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): April 13 - 15, 2012
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	The Hunger Games	$21,500,000	3,916	$5,490	$337,070,000	4
2	The Three Stooges	$17,100,000	3,477	$4,918	$17,100,000	1
3	The Cabin in the Woods	$14,850,000	2,811	$5,283	$14,850,000	1
4	Titanic 3D	$11,625,000	2,697	$4,310	$44,419,000	2
5	American Reunion	$10,700,000	3,203	$3,341	$39,900,000	2
6	Mirror Mirror	$7,000,000	3,206	$2,183	$49,468,000	3
7	Wrath of the Titans	$6,905,000	3,102	$2,226	$71,251,000	3
8	21 Jump Street	$6,800,000	2,735	$2,486	$120,565,000	5
9	Lockout	$6,250,000	2,308	$2,708	$6,250,000	1
10	Dr. Seuss' The Lorax	$3,020,000	2,112	$1,430	$204,483,000	7

 

The Farrelly brothers' The Three Stooges didn’t exactly set the world on fire as it opened with $17.1 million, lower than other TV-based properties such as Bewitched ($20.1 million) and Land of the Lost ($18.8 million), to say nothing of Get Smart’s $38.7 million, but it still marked the Farrelly brothers' best opening since Shallow Hal in 2001.  Interestingly enough women made up 41% of the opening weekend audience, a rather high number considering that "liking the Three Stooges" is often considered a prime male gender indicator.  The crowd was also on the young side, 52% was under 25, and those under 18 gave the film a solid "A" CinemaScore, while the older patrons managed to bring the average down to a sorry "B-" over all age ranges.  Predicting how this film will do is difficult.  There is a bizarre anachronistic quality to the ad spots for the movie, and some were predicting absolute disaster, but it will take at least another week to make an informed judgment.

 

The future of Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's Cabin in the Woods, which finished third with an estimated $14.9 million, is even harder to predict.  Because of MGM's series of bankrupties and an ill-conceived plan to process the film in 3-D, Cabin in the Woods sat on the shelf for three years, which is usually the sign of an absolute bomb.  Yet Rotten Tomatoes gives the high-concept Cabin in the Woods a 92% fresh rating, which is almost unheard of for a horror movie.  On the other hand the audience, which was 57% male and 65% over 25, gave the movie a lousy "C" CinemaScore.  Ordinarily a score like that for a horror movie means that it will surely bomb in the coming weeks, though in this case, where the filmmakers couldn't reveal the film's satirical secrets, horror movie fans may have been resistant to the film's satire, which depends on its hyper-stereotyped "stock" horror movie characters.  In other words, may be the wrong audience saw the movie—word-of-mouth may bring the expectations of the movie's audience more in line with what it provides, but whether this $30 million horror comedy will find its audience in theaters remains in doubt.

 

In fourth place Titanic 3D slipped just 33%, demonstrating the kind of "legs" that made the film so successful in its initial theatrical run.  American Reunion finished at #5 as it dropped 50% and earned an estimated $10.7 million.  It now appears certain that this will be the first American Pie film to fail to earn at least $100 million domestically.

 

Warner Bros.' Wrath of the Titans slipped to #7 as it dropped 53.1% in its third weekend.  The green screen mythological mash-up is doing far better overseas, where it has earned $188 million (72.5%) versus just $71.2 million here, but it has to continue its strong showing outside of North America for a few more weeks if it wants to earn back its $150 million cost.

 

The other new widely distributed film, Lockout debuted in 9th place with an estimated $6.2 million, which has to be a major disappointment for producer Luc Besson (From Paris With Love, Transporter).  The audience demographics were right for an action film, with a crowd that was 65% male and 50% under 25—there just weren’t very many of them and they gave the film a mediocre "B-" CinemaScore, which doesn’t bode well for the future.

 

Disney's John Carter slipped all the way to #18 as it earned just $346,000 in its sixth weekend.  It will finish its domestic run under $70 million, and though it added $5 million in ticket sales overseas last week, it appears now that it will end up well below the $300 million mark worldwide.

 

Check back next week to see if the Zack Effron romance The Lucky One will be able to attract enough female viewers to defeat The Hunger Games.