Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues feels like it will win the weekend, but then again it felt (to me) as though it would win its opening weekend too. At this point, you’d have to call Anchorman 2 an underperformer, though this weekend will be a big determining factor. I say over $30 million, but there’s a twist, we’re not predicting this one, because there’s four new releases we have to get to. So we’ll do that now.
First up, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It’s hard to say what the general public will think of this one, Brad didn’t love it (he gave it a C), plus that 48 percent on RottenTomatoes isn’t exactly sparkling. Oddly enough, I liked it, found it heartening, and am hoping others will too. I like it to bring in $24.7 million because it’s the broadest, most accessible holiday offering, and that “B+” CinemaScore rating kinda/sorta backs me up. For those new to CinemaScore, general audiences routinely hand out A or A- to almost everything, but the B+ doesn’t mean they hated it. We’ll find out together.
The Wolf of Wall Street is rated R and almost three hours, but it has the most “buzz” of any new release, but a “C” CinemaScore from opening day audiences looms large. It earned $9.1 million on Christmas Day, so I’m likely low with the $24.1 million. I wasn’t able to find tracking, so this weekend is a bit of a blindfold and dartboard exercise.
If the above two titles are contenders, then 47 Ronin is dead on arrival. They’ve trotted out a few trailers, and Keanu Reeves made the PR rounds, but there’s just no pulse to resuscitate. Still, after a $7 million opening day, I could be low here too, but my top twelve is already above $200 million, a huge leap over $163 million over the same timeframe 2012. I put it at $17.5 million, your experience may vary.
Which brings us to Grudge Match, which is pretty horrid. This one only managed $4 million on opening day, though it’s another title that was granted a “B+” CinemaScore. I foresee $15.7 million on what could be the eighth best weekend of 2013.
That’s all the analysis you’re getting today, as I’m massively under the weather, may the predicting gods be ever in your favor.
NOTE: Last weekend’s actuals have not yet been updated yet because Paramount is waiting until January 3 for some reason. So it will be an interesting year end update once actuals for last weekend and this weekend arrive.
Current Record: 38-61-1 against the wisdom of crowds.
Major Theater Chain (MTC) Tracking
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: N/A
- The Wolf of Wall Street: N/A
- 47 Ronin: N/A
- Grudge Match: N/A
SIDE NOTE: Some of the theater numbers below are estimates. We’ll have the actual counts in Sunday’s wrap-up article.
