Is 2012 the year of the heroic female protagonist at the movies? Judging from the success of The Hunger Games, Snow White and the Huntsman, and now Pixar’s Brave, the answer is a resounding yes. Pixar’s first release based on an original property in three years earned an estimated $66.7 million, well above expectations and the fifth best opening ever for a film from the Disney computer-animation unit. In an enviable record unmatched by other Hollywood studios, all thirteen of Pixar’s feature releases have taken the top spot at the box office in their first weekend of release. Overall the total of the top 12 films was down 6.4% from the same frame last year when Pixar’s Cars 2 debuted with $66.1 million.
Brave, which could manage only a 74% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes (good for most films, but not that high for a Pixar release), outperformed expectations in part thanks to a clever marketing campaign from Disney that targeted both boys (with action shots of Scottish hijinks) and girls (with a focus on the struggles of the film’s heroine Merida to control her own fate). Still the opening weekend audience was still predominantly female (57%). Brave will likely remain a player for awhile until Ice Age: Continental Drift debuts in mid-July thanks to the Pixar film’s "A" CinemaScore, which should provide solid word of mouth.
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): June 22 - 24, 2012 | ||||||
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| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
| 1 | Brave | $66,739,000 | 4,164 | $16,028 | $66,739,000 | 1 |
| 2 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | $20,200,000 | 3,920 | $5,153 | $157,574,000 | 3 |
| 3 | Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | $16,500,000 | 3,108 | $5,309 | $16,500,000 | 1 |
| 4 | Prometheus | $10,000,000 | 2,862 | $3,494 | $108,547,000 | 3 |
| 5 | Rock of Ages | $8,000,000 | 3,470 | $2,305 | $28,763,000 | 2 |
| 6 | Snow White and the Huntsman | $8,000,000 | 2,919 | $2,741 | $137,100,000 | 4 |
| 7 | That's My Boy | $7,900,000 | 3,030 | $2,607 | $28,180,000 | 2 |
| 8 | The Avengers | $7,040,000 | 2,230 | $3,157 | $598,300,000 | 8 |
| 9 | MIB 3 | $5,600,000 | 2,462 | $2,275 | $163,339,000 | 5 |
| 10 | Seeking a Friend for the End of the World | $3,836,000 | 1,625 | $2,361 | $3,836,000 | 1 |
Madagascar 3, which ruled the box office for the past two weeks, slipped 41% to an estimated $20.2 million. The Dreamworks animated feature has now earned $157.5 million domestically. Some analysts even thought that Madagascar 3 might have a chance this to win the weekend—no Pixar film had ever debuted in such proximity to another major animated release, and the popular Madagascar sequel was considered a better fit for boys—but they overly discounted the immense amount of goodwill and name recognition that Pixar has created for itself. Looking back on this era from the future film historians will likely pick out the rise of Pixar as the most important and influential cinematic development of the past two decades.
The high concept horror film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter debuted somewhat disappointingly with an estimated $16.5 million. The $70 million "R" rated production skewed both male (56%) and slightly older (53% over 25), though it did manage a solid 47% of the audience in the 18-25 range. The problem for the Timur Bekmambetov-helmed bit of supernaturally-revised history was that audiences just didn’t like it very much giving it a poor "C+" CinemaScore, which likely means a short stay in the "Top 10."
Ridley Scott’s Prometheus dropped 51.7% in its third frame as it earned an estimated $10 million. The science fiction/horror epic has now earned $108.5 million domestically and will likely finish in the $125 to $135 million range, which means that coupled with a solid performance overseas, Prometheus will earn its $130 million cost of production back during its theatrical run.
Last week’s disappointments, Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy had relatively small declines, but since they debuted so poorly their chances of profitability remain murky.
Mention should be made of Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, which finished at #8 in its eighth week of release, managed to add another $10 million to its mammoth domestic total, which has now reached $598 million. The superhero team-up film should pass the $600 million barrier this week.
Sony’s Men in Black 3 has also done fairly well especially overseas, but it continues to soldier on here as well as it earned an estimated $5.6 million and brought its domestic total to $163.3 million.
The apocalyptic comedy/drama Seeking a Friend for the End of the World debuted in just 1,625 theaters. The Steve Carroll/Keira Knightley vehicle earned a weak $2,361 per venue and could manage only a "C+" CinemaScore. The good news for Focus Features is that the film has a modest budget of just $10 million.
Seeking a Friend was almost beaten by another Focus release, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which is just in 325 theaters and still managed to earn an estimated $3.4 million and maintain a solid $8,635 per theater average.
Stop back here next week to see if Brave can repeat as a trio of newcomers including Seth (Family Guy) Macfarlane’s Ted, Magic Mike, and People Like Us all debut.
