Successful Openings at the Box Office Topped by Rango
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The animated film Rango turned in a fantastic performance in its opening weekend particularly considering the absence of a 3D factor. Coming in second was the romantic thriller The Adjustment Bureau which performed well by marginally exceeding industry expectations. Beastly debuted to third place while the 80’s themed comedy Take Me Home Tonight tanked with an 11th place finish.
Though it held questionable appeal to younger kids Rango made an impressive $38 million. Filling a void in the family film market that had been carried on its own by Gnomeo and Juliet for the last month, the Johnny Depp-Gore Verbinski collaboration received overwhelmingly positive reviews (though I was not blown away by it). Legs will likely be quite strong and with that it should be able to surpass the $135 million budget. It should have clear sailing ahead as Mars Needs Moms will be the only competition within the next month and expectations on that are relatively low.
A very good opening for The Adjustment Bureau as it made $20.9 million. The Matt Damon-Emily Blunt starrer played well to older crowds and received generally positive reviews (read mine here). A particularly strong marketing campaign can also be credited for the positive start. Most expectations were for the film to land in the mid-to-upper teens. Considering the good word of mouth and the crowd it appeals to it should have moderately strong legs going forward.
Third place was Beastly, the modern day take on Beauty and the Beast starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens. Despite poor reviews it opened to $10.1 million. Considering it had a budget of just $17 million it looks to be a profitable venture. The final new film this weekend was the party-heavy Take Me Home Tonight. The biggest issue may have been the ads for the film which literally gave away all the plot developments. It finished in 11th place with just $3.5 million.
The 4-10 spots in the top 10 filled out with Hall Pass, Gnomeo and Juliet, Unknown, The King’s Speech, Just Go With It, I Am Number Four, and Never Say Never. In its second weekend Hall Pass had a surprisingly decent frame dropping just 33%.