Three weekends of at least $68 million. This is getting ridiculous, America. We know it’s cold and dreary outside, and you probably want to stay away from your families for the holidays. But, we dunno, isn’t there something better to do with your time? “Avatar” is a good bit of fun, for sure, but does this film really merit these ridiculous grosses? At $350 million domestic, part of a billion dollar worldwide take (Jesus, man!), “Avatar” is unquestionably the people’s choice. But maybe you should read a book or something. Have sex with your significant other. But wear a condom, lest “Avatar” become a $2 billion movie.
“Sherlock Holmes,” last week’s bridesmaid, wasn’t so lucky. Because of the holidays and limited new releases, “Holmes” didn’t take the expected 50% drop, but it still lost quite a bit of momentum behind “Avatar.” After ten days, “Holmes” will have guessed up a $140 million total, though word-of-mouth suggests $200 will be a challenge. Still, a success, and after a declining stock, producer Joel Silver lives to fight another day. Right behind was “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel,” which is breathing down the detective’s neck with $37 million and a ridiculous $158 million total. It’s January, so these three juggernauts will likely continue to run all over the competition, and “Squeakuel” could still be standing by the time we get into March.
Predictably, “It’s Complicated” played strongly in its second weekend, producing an “Avatar”-like hold to stay in the #4 spot. It’s not in the same air of the top three blockbusters, but it doesn’t need to be, and a few more weekends of solid legs could easily get the film to $100. The question is, does international bring the heat here? “Mamma Mia” made $465 million outside of America, so foreigners do seem to like Meryl Streep, but are they going to like her looking at Alec Baldwin’s cock and smoking weed with Steve Martin? Oh man, someone just typed that sentence, and it was US.
The rest of the lineup stayed the same save for the stumbling of the Weinsteins’ “Nine,” which appears to be a huge flop for the studio. They spent expecting “Chicago” numbers, but the plot of the film is inside baseball, and Daniel Day-Lewis could only get “There Will Be Blood” to $40 million domestic (apparently you were busy seeing “Meet The Spartans” and “Untraceable”). People have been proposing gloom-and-doom for the studio for awhile, but they have hopes for this weekend’s “Youth In Revolt.” Are these guys running on fumes or is at business as usual at the Weinstein Company? Depends on who you ask, we suppose.
In limited release, the Bollywood film “3 Idiots” broke through with a surprising $1.5 million, coming close to many more high profile American releases, though Box Office Mojo hasn’t reported the numbers for the two-week-old release, which would have placed it 12th on the weekend above “Brothers.” Sure “Brothers” is closing in on $30 million at the end of its run, a good showing for a wartime film with such a topic, but let’s give “3 Idiots” (which might be interesting or terrible – we won’t pretend to champion the content of the film itself) a bit of credit, guys.
In other limited releases, all films generally saw an uptick in business from last weekend, including “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” which again had the week’s best per-screen average at $32k per. In four theaters, the film pulled in $131k, which is significantly less than the $215k pulled in by thirteen-week-old “Couples Retreat” (which had far more screens, in fairness) which certainly detracts from those who felt the success of “The Dark Knight” was due to the performance of a dead celebrity. Both films had stronger numbers than the week’s only real significant debut, “The White Ribbon,” which pulled in over $61k on only three screens, still impressive, but we are worse as a society when the new Michael Haneke film is less-attended than the ten-week-old “Boondock Saints II” (again, more screens, but facts are facts). The message behind all this? 2010 begins with people still favoring generic garbage over what we have to believe is a now-dead “counterculture” that didn’t stand a chance from a socially-conservative attitude upswing post-9/11. Also, the sky is blue. Make a New Year’s Resolution, and support your local indie theater, because you sure as fuck didn’t last year.
1. Avatar – $68.3 million ($352 mil.)
2. Sherlock Holmes – $38.4 million ($141 mil.)
3. Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Reaping – $36.6 million ($157 mil.)
4. It’s Complicated – $18.7 million ($59 mil.)
5. The Blind Side – $12.7 million ($209 mil. – not a misprint)
6. Up In The Air – $11.4 million ($45 mil.)
7. The Princess And The Frog – $10 million ($86 mil.)
8. Did You Hear About The Morgans? – $5.2 million ($26 mil.)
9. Nine – $4.3 million ($14 mil.)
10. Invictus – $4.1 million ($31 mil.)
thanks for telling me how to spend my time
books are for fags
The independents have to up their game. I don't think they brought it in 2009.
No, they brought it, it's just no one saw the movies because the bottom has fallen out of the indie film market.
This year saw the release of Two Lovers, Just Another Love Story, In The Loop, World's Greatest Dad, Sin Nombre, Goodbye Solo, Summer Hours, The White Ribbon, Still Walking, Beeswax, Humpday, The Headless Woman, Sugar, Revanche, Moon, Julia, Tulpan, Broken Embraces, The Messenger, Bad Lieutenant, The Limits Of Control, Police Adjective, Antichrist, Bright Star, House Of The Devil, Good Hair, Of Time And The City, Treeless Mountain, Big Fan, Bronson, The Girlfriend Experience, Lorna's Silence, Silent Light, and The Baader-Meinhoff Comlex, not to mention more well-known stuff like The Road, Precious, Crazy Heart, 500 Days Of Summer, Away We Go, An Education, etc.
Nearly all of those are better than Avatar (not that they are very comporable). And the combined box office of those films woudn't even equal Avatar's first week gross. Heck, probably its first weekend.
That's a bit depressing.
Not to mention Thirst, The Cove, Paper Heart, Not Quite Hollywood, Tokyo!, and probably several others I'm forgetting.
Do they factor in inflated 3D movie pricing for Avatar's returns? Lots of other movies could make more if people were spending more to see them. (I usually spend $12.50 and spent $15.50 to see Avatar, and that wasn't even IMAX pricing.)
white ribbon is the #1 movie of 2009. hands down. the fact that it isnt going to be a best pic nominee considering 10 nominations is hilarious.
I gotta say, I didn't care for the White Ribbon much. It won't even make my top 20 films of 2009. Intellectually suspect; not my favorite Haneke at all.
"Intellectually suspect" Ehh?
Care to elaborate?
Hey Bonzo, why don't YOU go read a book? The size, scope and inclusiveness of movies as an audio-visual experience is why they make more money than other artistic mediums. One of the joys us civilians get from them is the being-blown-away factor. Of the movies you've listed that I've seen, all have been smarter and more intellectually stimulating than Avatar, but that's not what makes movies great. Stop being depressed that a bunch of people went to go see something awesome, it's unbecoming.
These Sunday night box office rants are approaching intolerability. I don't think you're gonna see 35 Shots of Rum in the top 10 anytime soon, man.
Let's predict The Playlist box office reports for 2010.
In a surprise to absolutely no one, the monotremes marched [i]en masse[/i] to Louis Leterrier's stunningly awful (hyperlink to review) Clash of the Titans reboot/remake. Galvanized by those premium 3D ticket prices was Sam Worthington, who, 53.5 million dollars in the coffer (ugh), now becomes the first actor ever to anchor three number one movies in a row without actually doing any acting.
Carson, fuck you and your stupid blog.
i actually agree. this blog is getting even too abstract for me. Anyway. 35 Shots of Rum. Was that in 3D?
Tim Burton, fresh off his sublime MoMA exhibit (We go to museums), continues to send his once promising career down the rabbit hole with his take on Alice in Wonderland… and, no surprise!, North American audiences ate it up. Buttressed no doubt by the pricey IMAX/3D tickets, the Johnny Depp starrer (hyperlink to D+ review by some guy) grossed a will-breaking 68.7 million. Tim. Johnny. We love you guys, but can you please stop doing this? Just throwing a dart at an "Ooh, that's something Tim Burton should do" property, getting Depp signed on, then letting Hot Topic do the rest? You guys are better than this. How about another Ed Wood? How about a trial separation? Johnny, how about another Arizona Dream? No? Fine.
Mia Wasikowska meanwhile, who was stellar in last year's little-seen That Evening Sun, trips right out of the gate.
Meanwhile, Jacques Audiard's stellar, (hyperlink to review) Cannes-approved (hyperlink to Cannes coverage) A Prophet expanded to 100 theatres, and of course no one cares. Leave it to post-9/11 America.
This is amusing. Keep it up. 🙂
u guys ever seen a flick called o'horten?
(The following Box Office Report Yet To Come is brought to you after 27 posts devoted to Due Date, including news of its teaser poster, nearly all mentioning Todd Phillips' talent, and most branding Old School as one of the best comedies of the previous decade.)
Once again, the frat boys rule the box office. Brahs nationwide put down their Red Bull and fullscreen copies of District 9 (God, was that overrated) long enough to hove their way to the local multiplex for Todd Phillips' Due Date, which surpassed WB's loftiest expectations with a 95.3 million weekend, an October record. That's post-9/11 America for you. As Alan would said in Phillips' last cinematic misstep, "Thanks a lot, Bin Laden."
We were cautiously optimistic (hyperlink to trailer post which includes the phrase "cautiously optimistic") about this, the latest feather in the cap of Robert Downey Jr., but those hopes proved unfounded (hyperlink to C- review) once we saw that it had a CinemaScore of A+.
This is my last one 'til I'm on the payroll.
Dude, I've accused the Playlist of elitism before, so I think you're barking up the wrong tree attacking me. I don't begrudge Avatar's success, I haven't even seen it yet.
And for the record, Aliens is one of my favorite films (the Terminator movies are pretty great too).
I also wasn't the one who said "go read a book."
All I was saying was:
1) There have been a LOT of good indies released this year.
2) The indies released this year have largely underperformed while Avatar is cleaning up, which is depressing.
I don't think less people should see Avatar. I just think more people should see these indies.
And I'm not delusional enough to think these indies are suddenly going to crack the top ten. But there's a big difference between an independent making two million
dollars and twenty million, you know?
I find the Playlist's cranky and hilarious box office reports highly entertaining.
* Though not as funny as Anon's parodies. Nice work.
it's not necessarily elitist to dislike a movie equivalent of an elementary school message puppet show. if you like being condescended to with strong visuals and no story to learn some dumbed down, flat and empty liberal message about what we've done/are doing to the planet than by all means, do so.
but even the wicker man (Nic Cage) had more to say than avatar. (Wicker Man is really great, by the way, that's no sarcasm.)
i think people are really flocking to theaters because of the strong buzz words. Cameron is a nice person I think. I wish him well and hope he has good fortune in the future with all his works and hopes.
I've seen 75% of the movies on the list above and yet I still somehow enjoyed avatar (odd, seeing that you bestowed this generic garbage a "B," Gabe). Can't movies just be fun?Like I said last week, it's not like this movie is 10,00 BC or 2012…….lighten up nerds.
Really? The "can't movies just be fun," excuse? That's such a tired argument.
Yes, of course movies can just be fun. But wouldn't littering your script with cliches like "you're not in Kansas anymore," make the movie less fun, not more? Fun and quality aren't mutually exclusive.
And I love the idea that the people who DON'T want to see a sci-fi blockbuster are the nerds.
bonzob. you are a nerd for debating against a movie that will be the #2 grosser of all time. its worldwide gross friend. so blame. hmmm. the world? i didnt LOVE avatar. but i see its appeal. and honestly, half of the indies on your list were shit.
Of Time And The City? kill me and goddamn i hate all of europe now.
Bronson? about a 40 minute movie with 30 minutes of filler
500 days of summer? dude, your making yourself look bad
away we go? wow.wow.wow.wow
good night sir. heres a taste of what was good this year. and bad so you can reshape your thoughts.
(500) Days of Summer (**)
9 (**½)
2012 (*)
Adventureland (***½)
An Education (***)
Angels and Demons (*½)
Antichrist (**)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (**½)
Avatar (***)
Away We Go (*½)
Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans (****)
Big Fan (**)
The Boat That Rocked (**)
The Box (***½)
Bright Star
Broken Embraces (****)
Bronson (***)
Brothers (***½)
The Brothers Bloom (*½)
Bruno (***)
The Burning Plain (**)
Capitalism: A Love Story (**)
Cheri (**)
A Christmas Carol (***)
Cold Souls (**)
Coco Before Chanel (*½)
Coraline (****)
Couple’s Retreat (*)
The Cove (****)
Crazy Heart
Crossing Over (**)
The Damned United (**½)
Dead Snow (*½)
District 9 (***½)
Downloading Nancy (*½)
Duplicity (**)
Drag Me to Hell (***)
Extract (**½)
Fanboys (*)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (***½)
Fast and Furious (*)
Food, Inc.(**)
The Fourth Kind (***)
Friday the 13th (*)
Funny People (***½)
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (**½)
The Girlfriend Experience (**½)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (*)
The Great Buck Howard (**½)
The Hangover (***)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (****)
Humpday (***)
The Hurt Locker (***)
I Love You, Man (**½)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Informant! (***½)
The Informers (***)
Inglourious Basterds (****)
The International (**)
In The Loop (***)
The Invention Of Lying (***½)
Invictus (**½)
Is There Anybody There? (***½)
It Might Get Loud (***½)
Jennifer’s Body (**½)
Julie & Julia (**½)
Killshot (*½)
Knowing (***)
Land of the Lost (**)
The Last House on the Left (**½)
The Limits of Control (***)
The Lovely Bones
Me and Orson Welles (****)
The Men Who Stare at Goats (**½)
The Messenger (***)
Miss March (**)
Monsters vs. Aliens (**)
Moon (***½)
More Than a Game (**½)
My Bloody Valentine (*)
Next Day Air (zero stars)
Nine (*½)
Ninja Assassin (*)
Notorious (**)
O’Horten
Observe and Report (***)
Obsessed (½*)
Orphan (**)
The Other Man (**)
Paper Heart (**)
Paranormal Activity (**½)
A Perfect Getaway (*)
Ponyo (**½)
Powder Blue (½*)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (**)
Public Enemies (***½)
Push (*½)
Red Cliff (***)
Revanche (****)
The Road (***½)
Rudo y Cursi (***)
The September Issue (**)
A Serious Man (***½)
Sherlock Holmes (***½)
Shrink (**)
Sin Nombre (***)
A Single Man (***)
The Soloist (**)
Spread (**½)
Star Trek (***½)
State of Play (***½)
The Stepfather (**)
Sugar (***½)
Summer Hours (***)
Sunshine Cleaning (***½)
Surrogates (*)
Surveillance (**½)
Taken (*)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (**)
Taking Woodstock (*½)
Terminator Salvation (**)
Thirst (**½)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (½*)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (½*)
Two Lovers (***½)
Tyson (****)
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (*)
Up (***½)
Up in the Air (***½)
Watchmen (****)
Whatever Works (**½)
Where the Wild Things Are (***½)
Whip It (***½)
The White Ribbon (****)
World's Greatest Dad (**½)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (*)
Year One (*)
The Young Victoria(**)
Zombieland (***)
Again, I'm not critiquing Avatar. I haven't seen it. The only thing I mentioned as a negative was in the trailer.
Since when does a movie making shitloads of money make it impervious to criticism? Hell, Titanic isn't a very good movie, either. Neither is Transformers 2, which is still the year's top domestic grosser. I see the appeal with those movies too: they appeal to hormonal teenage girls and brainless teenage boys, respectively. Guess I'm a nerd for saying so.
Personally, I think an alphabetical listing of the films you've seen this year (complete with star ratings!) is about as nerdy as it gets.
And, not that I really care to debate your ratings, but four stars to Inglourious Basterds AND Watchmen? Ugh. Just ugh.
go figure. pinpoint 2 movies with commercial appeal. dudes predictable as my girls monthly cleanse. funny to knock a list of flicks considering this blog is littered with them.
I don't even know what you are saying anymore. Is that English? Are you saying Watchmen had commercial appeal? To who? I thought that thing bombed all over the place.
The thing is, when The Playlist makes a list, it's usually accompanied by some well-written commentary, not a fucking star rating.
Who gives a shit how many stars "Kip Suess" thought Sunshine Cleaning deserved?
And AGAIN, I'm not anti-commercial. I haven't seen Avatar (and I want to). Star Trek and Zombieland are both on my current top ten of '09. Give it up.
watchmen wasnt a commercial release? grasping for air. so you want me to write you a review of over 100 films? good point jasper. why do you write me a review of away we go and then we can workshop it.
Um, commercial means potential for commerce, not just "a studio release." A financial bomb is not commercial. Watchmen bombed.
No, I don't want you to write reviews, but I ALSO don't want to read your list in the first place. No one cares.
I'm not the biggest fan of Away We Go, and I know all the complaints against it, but I still think it has value and is far better than Watchmen.
I have about as much desire of workshopping this with you as I do of… I dunno, seeing Watchmen again.
on a side note, ive now reconsidered away we go and love it because i imagined a poor paul thomas anderson in the lead. Kip Seuss says dont be so serious. you might live longer. but yeah, your taste does blow. and if you thought i was serious about "workshopping" then i can see why your taste is in fact, so shitty.
If you think the tone of my posts is "serious," you need to work on your reading comprehension.
I would work on your composition while you're at it, as your posts are borderline incomprehensible.
You have no idea what my tastes are. I just listed a bunch of indie films that no one saw. Some of them I'm not even that fond of, but I I still felt they deserved more success than they achieved.
I, on the other hand, have a very good understanding of your tastes (thanks again to that ridiculous list), and they aren't as far off from my own as you'd like to think (IB and Watchmen excluded).
This has been fun, but I have a feeling most of it will be deleted by morning. Alas.
P.S. Okay, the PTA joke was funny.
fair enough.
Holy Crap thats fantastic. Good movie.
in my home,that costs $12 to see Avatar(we only can see it in 3D) so it's a fraud,it's $3 free for box-office every time
Oh, man, I told you guys to go have sex with your significant others. Now I'M gonna have to do it. Poor form, boys.
I think you're opinion on Avatar is a sure sign that you are completely out of touch with the modern moviegoer's tastes. The Playlist staff's pretension clearly knows no bounds.
We're out of touch with Joe Sixpack. OH DEAR WHAT WILL WE DO.