Box Office: 'Leave nothing for the orange apes!'
Monday, March 12, 2012 at 1:53PM [With apologies to Dr. Seuss]
And up in the gold cave some people say,
if you look close enough you can still see, today,
where John Carter once stood
just as long as he could
before the Threns whisked John Carter away.
Who was John Carter?
And why was he there?
And why was he whisked away, taken somewhere
from that cave in Virginia to Barsoom's hatchling hole?
This box office battle won't break John Carter's way.
The old Pix-lar still lives here.
Ask Stanton. He knows.
You won't see the Pix-lar
The filming's long done.
He retreats to that compound with the cereal bar.
He lives in that office in Emeryville, son!
where they make their own films
out of zeros and ones.
But on special dry midnights in Arizona heat,
out from the compound
at junkets he speaks
to tell of John Carter to Mars whisked away
He'll tell you, perhaps...
if you're willing to pay.
Baker's Dozen (Estimates)
01 THE LORAX $39.1 (cum. $121.9)
02 JOHN CARTER $30.6 new [Review and Taylor Kitsch Beefcake]
03 PROJECT X $11.5 (cum. $40.1)
04 SILENT HOUSE $7 new
05 ACT OF VALOR $7 (cum. $56.1)
06 A THOUSAND WORDS $6.3 new
07 SAFE HOUSE $5 (cum. $115.8)
08 THE VOW $4 ($117.6)
09 THIS MEANS WAR $3.7 (cum. $46.8)
10 JOURNEY 2 THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND $3.6 (cum. $90.7)
11 TYLER PERRY'S GOOD DEEDS $3 ($30.5)
12 THE ARTIST $2.3 (cum. $40.4)
13 FRIENDS WITH KIDS $2.1 new
What did you see this weekend?
John Carter of Mars, The Lorax, box office
Reader Comments (10)
I did not see the Lorax
When it came out, I hid
I did not see John Carter
Maybe later, on vid
Twas The Footnote I saw
And like it I did
I had a very French weekend. I saw "Intouchables" and "Polisse".
"Intouchables" is a feel-good comedy. Never goes deep into anything, but it's not a complete embarrassment. Omar Sy is handsome and charismatic, but there's no way he was better than Dujardin or even his co-star, the great François Cluzet. It's kind of refreshing to realize that the French Academy also gives out sympathetic awards. Anyway, I'm pretty sure there must be an American remake in production.
"Polisse" was far more compelling. Contains very disturbing material regarding child abuse, but it's worth the effort. The performances of the whole cast are extremely good.
I loved Friends With Kids: http://www.lippsisters.com/2012/03/12/movie-review-friends-with-kids/
Silent House really surprised me. Usually audiences eat up those horror movies. This time they passed. Wonder why?
Saw "Wanderlust" and was pleasantly surprised, but I went with low expectations which helps, I think. Some bits worked better than others, but Paul Rudd's solo bit where he gives himself a pep talk before hooking with up the resident hippie hottie was the most I've laughed in a theater since "Bridesmaids." And I was surprised to find one of my favorite actresses, Lauren Ambrose, not only in it but surprisingly weird and funny. Totally worth it.
Than I saw "Wishful Drinking" with Carrie Fisher on DVD. It was interesting, but only OK overall. I think I would like the book, better. Her delivery just didn't work for me, and sometimes her quips made no sense.
David: Umm...it's not October? Horror may debut at #1 on occasion outside of October, but here's some stats:
2010 early year horror:
Daybreakers: $50 million international on $20 million budget. (Light success)
The Wolfman: $142 million international on $150 million budget. (lost studio $79 million dollars)
2010 released near Halloween horror:
Saw 3D: $136 million international gross on $17 million budget
Paranormal Activity 2: $177 million international gross on $3 million budget
Go back for the past five years and you'll see that proximity release to Halloween helps horror substantially. And yet...Halloween 2011 had only two horror films wide. The films: The crap looking CGI dominant prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing and the sequel to the horrendously paced and written Paranormal Activity. The result: Even if people with high brow tastes wanted to enjoy Halloween, they couldn't in 2011 with those being the only options. Where's the aggressive push on The Skin I Live In (Limited release: October 14)? Or a push on Martha Marcy May Marlene (Limited release: October 21)? And no horror's actually scheduled on Halloween weekend? And the same thing this year? You'd think a studio releasing something titled World War Z, for example, would KILL for Halloween weekend, right?
Volvagia - totally agreed re: World War Z - it seems insane to me that it is being held til Christmas, when, aside from Paranormal Activity 4, it could have Halloween all to itself an probably kill it at the box office.
As for this weekend, I did not see a single thing in theaters or at home - though I did see the Doc Oscar winner Undefeated last Thursday, if that counts. Was really blown away by it. Best sports movie (doc or otherwise) in years!
Congrats Nat (and AR)... Awesome Seuss posts! The Lorax doesn't arrive in Mexico til the end of the month, but I may end up seeing John Carter this weekend if my kids convince me...
Last weekend I finally saw 'Hugo'... delightful, but 'The Artist' remains my favorite nostalgic look at old Hollywood!
I saw A Separation. I loved it. What a film!
I saw Safe House and oh my god it was such a Bourne rip-off. The style, the story, everything- even down to having Vera Farmiga(!) and Brendan Gleeson as the Joan Allen and Brian Cox characters from the Bourne films. And Denzel, well he's just stopped caring. I left the cinema with a mixture of admiration for what Paul Greengrass did with those films and annoyance at him for unleashing all these shakycam copycats.