1. Think Like A Man- $18M/$60.9M
If you thought Think Like A Man, which packs a cast full of folks usually stuck in supporting roles, would be crushed by the powerhouse rom-com, The Five-Year Engagement, well think again. The film slipped a relatively minor 46%, but the biggest indicator of just how well-received it's been with audiences is that it continues to only play in just over 2,000 theaters, far and away less than most others in the top 10. The $8900 per site average crushes every other competitor, and all this for a film that cost roughly $12M. Can we say "sequel"?
2. The Pirates! Band of Misfits- $11.4M
American audiences continue to fall in love with these Brit stop-motion animated flicks, especially the ones from Aardman Animations, the studio behind Chicken Run and last year's Arthur Christmas. The Pirates! Band of Misfits took advantage of a serious lack of family friendly entertainment to shockingly surpass the other, higher profile new releases.
3. The Lucky One- $11.3M/$39.9M
Following a similar path as other Nicholas Sparks adaptations, the Zac Efron-led romance dropped about 50%, and seems destined to be another mid level hit. How many books did this dude write, anyway? Surely they're almost all done?
4. The Hunger Games- $11.25M/$372.5M
$400M domestic? Definitely. And it's closing in on $600M worldwide, and will likely top out over $650M when all is said and done. Not even incoming director, Francis Lawrence, could screw something like that up. Right?
5. The Five-Year Engagement- $11.15M
Oh. Now this has to have some Universal execs quaking in their boots. It used to be that throwing around the Judd Apatow name guaranteed a certain level of success. However, it's been used so often that its impact has greatly diminished, with last year's Bridesmaids perhaps as the last gasp. With the recent failure of Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston's Wanderlust, this makes two straight Apatow produced films that have performed very poorly.The marketing for this was spotty, and despite their likability, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt aren't going to sell out theaters on their name alone. At least not yet. As for when Apatow will bounce back? You'd think his next directorial effort, This is Forty, would be the time, but with so much competition during the month of December there is nothing certain.
6. Safe- $7.7M
Blame Lionsgate for not properly hyping Jason Statham's latest action flick as anything more than...well, just another Jason Statham action flick. It's significantly better than that, but you'd never know it based on the ads which just had him running around kicking people in the face while a little Asian girl hovered in the background. Then again, perhaps Lionsgate is comfortable marketing the film in a way that those who love Statham's films will know exactly what they're getting. There's nothing wrong with that, I guess, although if they actually put some effort into it they might reap some unexpected rewards.
7. The Raven- $7.25M
Well, there once was a time when people had a lot of hope for The Raven. It had a relatively novel concept, with Edgar Allan Poe playing a more sour version of Sherlock Holmes, and an inspired cast with John Cusack in the lead. Then hack director, James McTeigue came aboard, promptly turned the film into shlock mush and Relativity says screw it and dumps the film in barely 2200 theaters.
8. Chimpanzee- $5.46M/$19.1M
9. The Three Stooges- $5.4M/$37.1M
10. The Cabin in the Woods- $4.5M/$34.6M
Marvel's The Avengers is killin' it overseas, opening this past Wednesday in 39 markets, earning $178M so far. It opened at #1 in every single territory, and with this only representing about 70% of its foreign run, we could be looking at some incredible totals before it even opens here next weekend.
