While CinemaScores are never sure predictors of success, the fact that The Help scored the first “A+” rating since The Blindside has proven to be a pretty good indication that the movie would have great box office “legs.”  The civil rights-themed drama became the first film since Christopher Nolan’s Inception to lead the box office for three weeks in a row.  Strong performances from holdover films overcame relatively weak debuts from a trio of newcomers as the top 12 films posted a 4% gain over the same weekend last year.

 

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): September 2 - 4, 2011
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	The Help	$14,606,000	2,843	$5,138	$118,997,000	4
2	The Debt	$9,916,000	1,826	$5,430	$11,818,000	1
3	Apollo 18	$8,700,000	3,328	$2,614	$8,700,000	1
4	Shark Night 3D	$8,390,000	2,806	$2,990	$8,390,000	1
5	Rise of the Planet of the Apes	$7,900,000	3,193	$2,474	$160,125,000	5
6	Colombiana	$7,450,000	2,614	$2,850	$22,012,000	2
7	Our Idiot Brother	$5,465,000	2,555	$2,139	$15,700,000	2
8	Don't Be Afraid of the Dark	$5,144,000	2,780	$1,850	$16,584,000	2
9	Spy Kids: All the Time in the World	$4,821,000	3,007	$1,603	$29,220,000	3
10	The Smurfs	$4,100,000	2,706	$1,515	$132,053,000	6

By far the best performing newcomer was the Nazi-hunting thriller The Debt, which earned $9.9 million over the three-day holiday (and an estimated $12.6 million for the full four-day weekend) from just 1,826 venues, which gave it a per-theater average of $5,430.  Typical of the more adult-skewing fare that is heading for theaters over the next few months, The Debt, which starred Helen Mirren, attracted an audience that is positively ancient by movie-going standards—70% of the crowd, which was evenly split between men and women, was over 40! A full 95% of the Debt’s audience was over 25, and 49% were over 50.  The Debt’s “just OK” CinemaScore of “B” doesn’t indicate strong word-of-mouth, but the film’s strong reviews (77% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) may be even more important in reaching the older audience the film is attracting..

 

The dueling horror films Apollo 18 and Shark Night 3D attracted much younger folks, but just not many of them.  The “found footage” horror film Apollo 18 had the widest release (3,328 theaters), but could manage only a poor $2,614 per theater average.  Made for just $5 million, Apollo 18 won’t end up losing money for the Weinstein Company, but it didn’t fool audiences either.  The film attracted a crowd that was 57% male and 56% under 25—and they hated it, giving it a “D” CinemaScore (since CinemaScore grades on a curve that is equivalent to an “F-“). 

 

Shark Night 3D didn’t fare much better.  It finished in third place, but actually had a slightly better per-theater average ($2,990). Its audience was 52% female, 57% under 25, and 56% Hispanic.  It did manage a slightly better CinemaScore than Apollo 18 (a “C,” which is an indication of a less than mediocre response), but then it cost $25 million to produce and will likely have a tough time making more than $20 million domestically, which means it will have to do very well overseas to break even.  An overwhelming 86% of Shark Night’s revenue came from 3D, though it should also be noted that the film was shown in 3D on 89% of the screens where it appeared, so it’s not like audiences had that much of a choice.  More importantly like the recently released Final Destination 5 3D, Shark Night simply didn’t attract a sizeable enough a crowd to be thought of as anything other than a disappointment.

 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was right behind in fifth place as it earned $10.3 million and brought its total to $162.5 million after five weekends.  RotPotA is clearly one of the surprise hits of the late summer as is The Help, though it should be noted that the latter has earned just $123.4 million (though it hasn’t slowed down much either and could end up in the $170-180 million range. 

 

The revenge-themed action movie Columbiana, which stars Zoe Saldana, fell just 28.4% and finished in sixth place, followed by the Paul Rudd-starring comedy Our Idiot Brother, which dropped just 22.1%.  Both those films disappointed in their debut weeks, but fared somewhat better in their sophomore sessions.  That was not the case unfortunately for Guillermo Del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, which posted the biggest drop among all the holdovers, falling 40% as it brought its two week total to $16.6 million.  With production costs of $25 million, it too will have to do very well overseas to break even.  The Smurfs, another late summer hit, remained in the top ten, as it dropped 13.8% and earned $4.1 million over the 3-day weekend, its sixth weekend in theaters.  The live-action/animated hybrid has earned $132 million domestically, which makes a sequel inevitable.