Tron Pulls Away With Weekend Victory

It was an easy win at the box office this weekend for Tron: Legacy though it didn’t open as well as Disney had been wishing for. The film pulled in $43.6 million which is a solid take on a weekend that traditionally doesn’t launch in blockbuster fashion and it could have good staying power through the holidays. However after a huge marketing campaign that stretched over multiple years and a $170 million budget the expectations were for much more. Over the past few months though tracking had shown it wouldn’t break out in the manner they had hoped.

Things aren’t necessarily bleak for Tron: Legacy but it does bring into question the viability of it as a franchise. Disney had hoped to have a “boys” franchise and put all their might into making it happen. 66% of the audience was male but it seems to maybe have been too niche of a concept. The movie was boosted by 3D tickets which accounted for 82% of its gross. Reviews were mixed and word-of-mouth has been largely mixed as well. Worldwide though there are hopes that it will play especially well and eventually become profitable.

Coming in second was the hybrid live action/animation Yogi Bear which made $16.1 million. There never seemed to be much interest for the movie from any demographic and reviews were terrible. Considering the $80 million budget it still has the opportunity to make it back given pretty clear sailing in the family film market through the holidays other than contending with the holdovers.

Expanding to wide release was The Fighter which placed in fourth and Black Swan which came in seventh. They had the third and second best per-screen averages in the top 10 and are rolling along with Oscar buzz. They won’t have huge weekends but should stay steady in the weeks ahead.

The other new release this week was the romantic comedy How Do You Know which tanked in $7.6 million in eighth place. With a popular cast such that includes Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson as well as a director like James L. Brooks on board most would have expected a better result. Reviews have been poor and there doesn’t seem to be any traction with audiences. Prospects are not good and somehow it carried with it a $120 million budget.

Amongst holdovers it was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader holding in third in its second weekend with $12.4 million, The Tourist falling to fifth with $8.7 million, Tangled with the best hold of the bunch down just 39% to $8.7 million and sixth place. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Unstoppable rounded out the top 10.