The summer box office has officially gone south.
As two new releases, "The Taking of Pelham 123" and "Imagine That," failed to catch fire this weekend, total ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada for the summer movie season that started May 1 have slipped below the total for the same period in 2008.
Though the drop is less than 1%, according to data compiled by Hollywood.com, that's a significant change from the 17% rise seen during the first four months of 2009. This weekend's box-office receipts were down 22% from the same weekend last year.
Several surprise hits like January's "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and event films scheduled earlier than usual, including April's "Fast & Furious," fueled theories that the recession was increasing moviegoing, but that no longer appears to be true. This summer's slew of event films have proved a bit less popular than last year's, especially when accounting for ticket price inflation.
Two movies expected to have huge openings, Paramount Pictures' "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," will be released in the next month, so it's possible for the summer box office to again enter positive territory.
If it does, it will at best be a small rise and is sure to significantly drag down the year-to-date growth in domestic ticket sales, which currently stands at 11%.
Summer's lack of sizzle was evident at this weekend's box office, where returning films "The Hangover" and "Up" dominated again.
"The Hangover" dropped only 26%, the lowest such figure for any film this summer. Industry executives who closely follow the box office now expect Warner Bros.' and Legendary Pictures' R-rated comedy, which cost $35 million to produce and $40 million to market, to end up earning more than $200 million domestically.
"This takes word of mouth that's extraordinary," observed Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of distribution for Warner Bros.
Disney's "Up" dropped 31% on its third weekend and is declining at a slower pace than any Pixar animated feature since 2003's "Finding Nemo." If "Up" continues to perform as well as that picture, it could top $300 million in the U.S. and Canada by the end of its run.
"The Hangover" and "Up" will quite possibly remain No. 1 and No. 2 yet again next weekend, since neither of the new films opening Friday, Disney's "The Proposal" and Sony Pictures' "Year One," are likely to have big openings.
