"Wolverine's" strong performance with women appears to have affected "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," which opened to a somewhat softer-than-expected $15.3 million. That's the lowest launch ever for a Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy, though almost exactly in line with "Made of Honor," which opened to $14.8 million last year against "Iron Man."
But with no similarly themed films starting for a while, Warner Bros. and its New Line label are hoping that the $50-million-plus production will serve as effective counter-programming against the big-budget movies coming every Friday in May.
"We'll be weaving our way through the summer," predicted Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner.
There was apparently no room in the market for "Battle for Terra," the 3-D animated film distributed by Lionsgate for Roadside Attractions, which grossed a dismal $1.1 million. Though it had a small run of 1,162 locations, "Terra's" per-theater average was only $916, compared with $4,827 for "Girlfriends" and $21,225 for "Wolverine."
Most holdover films also took sizable drops. "Obsessed," which was last weekend's No. 1 film, declined 57% to $12.2 million. "Fighting" was down 62% to $4.2 million.
But Paramount's "The Soloist," based on a book by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, seemed to benefit from positive word of mouth, dropping only 42% to $5.6 million after a weak start. And "Monsters vs. Aliens" continued its remarkably resilient run, declining just 32% in its sixth weekend to $5.8 million. The total domestic gross for DreamWorks Animation's first 3-D feature is $182.4 million and will probably end up around $200 million.
On the art house circuit, Jim Jarmusch's "The Limits of Control" grossed a very strong $32,000 from one theater in New York City but didn't do as well in L.A., where the Focus Features release made just $22,000 combined at the Arclight and the Landmark.
Michael Keaton's directorial debut, "The Merry Gentleman," distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films, grossed a soft $72,240 at 24 locations. "Wolverine's" smaller opening than "Iron Man" made for an overall flat weekend compared with last year, a rarity in a year that has seen ticket sales surge 16% according to research firm Media by Numbers.
When final grosses are reported Monday, the weekend could actually be down a bit, as three rival studios estimated "Wolverine" made a bit less than Fox's $87-million figure.
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benfritz@yahoo.com
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BOX OFFICE
Preliminary results in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:
*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Weeks (studio) (millions) (millions) 1 X-Men Origins: Wolverine $87.0 $87.0 1 (Fox) 2 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past 15.3 15.3 1 (Warner Bros.) 3 Obsessed (Sony) 12.2 47.0 2 4 17 Again (Warner Bros.) 6.4 48.5 3 5 Monsters vs. Aliens 5.8 182.4 6 (DreamWorks) 6 The Soloist (Paramount) 5.6 18.1 2 7 Earth (Disney) 4.2 21.8 2 8 Fighting (Universal) 4.2 17.5 2 9 Hannah Montana (Disney) 4.1 70.9 4 10 State of Play (Universal) 3.7 30.9 3 *--*
Industry totals
*--* 3-day gross Change Year-to-date gross Change (in millions) from 2008 (in billions) from 2008 $160.0 +0.8% $3.2 +16.4% *--*
*--* Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue. Source: Media by Numbers Los Angeles Times *--*
