It’s the start of the baseball season so it only makes sense 42 would be a hit, but it’s also interesting to note the $27.2 million it opened with this weekend is actually the largest opening for a baseball movie ever, even when you adjust the numbers for inflation. With this kind of number the $40 million budgeted Jackie Robinson biopic is certainly looking to have long legs, especially considering an “A+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences and tomorrow being Jackie Robinson day in the MLB. Look out $100 million, here we come.
On the opposite end of the “good news” spectrum is Scary Movie 5, which was only budgeted at $20 million so we aren’t talking about a huge disappointment here, but when you consider Scary Movie 4 opened with $40.2 million in 2006, the $15.2 million Scary Movie 5 opened with this weekend is not going to pack it and the “C-” CinemaScore says that even those willing to shell out any money for the latest installment in the spoof franchise weren’t impressed.
Speaking of not impressed, last weekend’s #1 film, Evil Dead, dipped 63% from $25.7 million to $9.5 million. With a $17 million budget and a cume of $41.5 million so far things aren’t so bad, but I’m not sure Sony will be too quick to pull the trigger on another installment, at least not without Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell involved as director and star.
Meanwhile, on a smaller scale, The Place Beyond the Pines finds itself sneaking into the top ten, playing in only 514 theaters the film brought in $4 million this weekend.
On an even smaller scale, Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder played 18 theaters and brought in $130,000 ($7,222 per theater) and expanding to 11 theaters, Shane Carruth‘s Upstream Color brought in $74,140. Remember, you can save $5 if you preorder a digital copy of the film using the discount code “ropeofsilicon” at the film’s official site, or just click here and it will automatically be applied. The code will remain active until May 7 so get your preorders in now.
Looking over Thursday’s predictions, Laremy was really close with his $29 million prediction for 42 and while he did go a bit lower than the $22 million tracking for Scary Movie 5 he didn’t go low enough.
When it comes to the reader predictions, Roger Judd was closest on 42 with a solid $27.6 million prediction, while most everyone seemed to hover in that mid-to-low $20 million range on the film, only some dipping a bit lower. As for Scary Movie 5, predictions ranged from $9.2-$34 million, but it was Chris Etrata‘s $15.3 million prediction that damn near hit it on the button.
Next weekend sees Tom Cruise‘s Oblivion fly into theaters, which opened in 52 international territories this weekend and was already looking at an estimated $60.5 million for its first weekend. Will it enjoy big time success stateside?
Additionally, Rob Zombie‘s The Lords of Salem will open in a little over 300 theaters and I can tell you now I think it’s a film worth seeing. We’ll have much more on it and Zombie’s first ten years as a filmmaker later throughout the coming week, but be on the lookout, especially if you’re a horror fan.
