'Kick-Ass' Gets Its Ass Kicked at Friday Box-Office, but Still Lands at #1
$10 million shy of expectations is not good. What happened?
Nikki Finke at Deadline is the first with the early Friday box-office estimates (along with help from THR and Variety) and she actually had the numbers last night, but not the full top ten so I decided to hold off. However, the results are still the same, a very weak showing for both of this weekend's new releases, and one is actually in a dog fight for the #2 slot.
Before the weekend started Kick-Ass was predicted by most to be looking at a $30 million weekend. RopeofSilicon Box-Office Oracle, Laremy Legel, went slightly under at $26.6 million with his predictions. Too bad it looks like it may not even crack $20 million after $7.5 million on Friday and an estimated $19 million for the weekend, which may also be generous given the R-rating.
I'm a bit confused as to the results actually. Kick-Ass is not a great film, but it seemed to hit the target demo right on, but I did notice disappointed reactions from early moviegoers on Twitter and even in the comment section on my "B-" review. I know it had several midnight showings on Thursday night, but word was a lot of those were empty theaters. I can understand some people looking at it as a silly superhero movie with a guy that looks ridiculous, because that was always my impression, but being in the business I was able to get a clearer picture as to what it was all about. I'm sure many people only saw traditional TV spots so I'm not sure if the true nature of the film ever comes across.
Next up, tied for #2 is Death at a Funeral, a remake of the 2007 Brit comedy directed by Frank Oz and it too isn't a bad film, but the numbers don't show it getting any support from early moviegoers as it managed only $5.5 million on Friday and now looks to take around $16-17 million for the weekend. I'm not sure what kept people away from this one, it's actually not that bad, but if you have already seen the original there really isn't much reason to see it as it's nearly a shot-for-shot remake, but it still has its moments.
I guess the only other news is Date Night's ability to hold on and will actually be competing with Death at a Funeral for the number two slot and with a PG-13 rating may be able to take it. Date Night also scored $5.5 million on Friday and eyes the same $16-17 million for the weekend.
The complete Friday top ten is listed below and Laremy will be here tomorrow morning with a full recap.
- Kick-Ass – $7.5 million
- Death at a Funeral – $5.5 million
- Date Night – $5.5 million
- How to Train Your Dragon – $4.4 million
- Clash of the Titans – $4.3 million
- The Last Song – $1.9 million
- Why Did I Get Married Too? – $1.3 million
- Hot Tub Time Machine – $1 million
- Bounty Hunter – $965,000
- Alice in Wonderland – $930,000
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Not bad news for Date Night or HTTYD. very good numbers for them. as for kick ass and death at a funeral. Not great… but its R and not a franchise… whatd u expect?
Expectations were $30 million. I addressed that in the second paragraph.
the R rating hurts it as most of its demographic cant even really watch the film
Tracking was at $23 million, so this is really no surprise. And Kick-Ass is the kind of film that benefits from WOM, like Kill Bill or Zombieland.
Could it also the be the fact that if most of it's hype was over the internet that the target demo may very well have just dowlaoded the thing right after it opened at midnight. It wouldn't shock me. Though I guess the R rating, some relativley sketchy promotion, the fact that it parodied a genre that audiences have been in love with for the last ten years, and the fact that mid-April has never really been a great release date could also have contributed to it's under-performance.
Thats sad because Kick-Ass is quite an ejoyable film. Could the title have affected anyone too?
well the film had a really low budget right? so it wont loose money its bound to hit 55 mil in its entire run
When it comes down to it KA was just another casuality of internet hype. It's just like what happened to SOAP and Grindhouse. Both movies were constantly talked about online, but the general audience just doesn't care. Also I told you LG would screw up this movies maketing campaign somehow. They just can't promote anything right besides the Saw movies. They should just stick to their low budget horror movies.
I loved kick ass. It will probably get to a $25 opening weekend and it will be past $100(i hope).
@Laremy Legel: The film has already made $12.4 million in the U.K. and $8.5 million (including the $1 million from Thursday night showings) in the U.S. for a current total of $20.9 million. Even with a conservative take of only $15 million for Saturday & Sunday, Kick-Ass will still have generated over $30 million in the UK and US alone. Not bad for an R-Rated, independent film with a budget of only $30 million.
It is my personal belief that due to the R-rating and the fact that noone had ever heard of the comic before, Kick-Ass wasn't able to attract large demographics. However, it is my personal belief that Saturday & Sunday's number will be much larger than $15 million. Word-of-mouth on this one is going to ensure it stays around for awhile……at least, that's my one wish – there has got to be a Kick-Ass Sequel
Nikki had the top five estimates at 11:05, and she updated the results, I think, around 15 minutes later to include the top 9. Maybe she should wear a superhero costume.
Both new wide releases have drug use or drug content, a pet peeve of mine because I've seen peoples lives wrecked, and even ended, by drugs. So I thought The Joneses actually looked good, but it has teen drug use also. What's up Hollywood? Since critical reviews of movies usually include their rating, but not their ratings explanation, you might want to favorite http://www.filmratings.com
I include the rating reasons on every single upcoming film in the database and with The Joneses it says "drug use" of which I previewed on Friday.
I suppose I thought that with no comma after drinking in "…teen drinking and drug use.", it meant teen drug use, but it's a little unclear. I'm on the fence a little, but I think I'll see it to see how Demi Moore does, as I'm highly anticipating her next film.
I actually saw Kick-Ass at 7:40 last night and it was only about half-full. Not surprised to see the low total.
Saw Kick-Ass last night and thought it was a very, VERY mediocre film. I liked Mark Strong, Nic Cage, and Chloe Moretz. Also, there were some decent action scenes. Other than that the film had no clue what it wanted to be. Barely worth watching once. Have no desire to watch it again
One reason for the low total is a dispute with one of the Southeastern/Mideastern theater chains with Lionsgate, "Kick-Ass"' U.S. distributor. Apparently, Lionsgate wanted 100% of the profits (as opposed to the usual 80%-90%), the theaters said "no way" and right now, none of the Carmike Cinemas theaters are showing "Kick-Ass" as a result. I believe that had Lionsgate agreed to its usual deals, there would've been an extra $10M-21M added to its coffers.
Bad form, Lionsgate. Extremely bad form.
Interesting, and something I didn't know. But the exact numbers are important. Carmike, according to Wikipedia, only has 250 theaters, so the effect on Kick Ass' opening at 3065 theaters would be debatable.
Actually, according to their website, Carmike has 244 theaters with 2277 screens (average 9 per) in "small to mid-sized communities with populations of fewer than 100,000." It is the fourth largest cinema chain in the US behind Regal, Cinemark, and AMC (says a writer for the Herald Review, Decatur, IL).
I still agree that it won't make a huge difference to the final numkbers for Kick-Ass.
Kick Ass is a baby hero movie in a Ironman world.
Ha! Very nicely put.
Actually, "Death at a Funeral" is doing about as well as can be expected, and probably a lot better. I think I predicted just under $20mil, but that was never, ever a lock, or even an expectation. I have always been prepared for it to bomb, especially if it got bad reviews. I think a $15-16mil weekend will be a respectable turnout for it.
The reason I look at this result as more ominous is it leaves Denzel Washington and Wil Smith as the only two true box office draws in the black community (with the Tyler Perry exception). A big issue in Hollywood right now is who is going to replace classic stars who are aging out of the box office competition. So what young black person is going to move in to replace Denzed and Wil? Apparantly, Wil Smith is hoping it will be his son, but that's a longshot at this point.
I think a lot of the interest in Kick Ass is from underage teenage boys who can't get into the movie. And given how strongly Clash is holding up even though word of mouth is poor, i wouldn't be surprised if people were buying tickets and sneaking into Kick Ass.
I'm quite surprised how well Date Night is holding up especially since it got a B grade the same as Clash.
Perhaps most people are just waiting until Iron Man 2 comes out before they spend more money at the movies. Can't really blame them, looking at what's out right now, although I do want to see Kick-Ass.
I saw an 11:45 showing last night and was surprised by how empty the theater was, even for a late-night showing.
I sincerely hope Kick-Ass is able to make at least a modest profit. The director did the right thing by fully embracing the violent, vulgar material–which was what really made the movie worth watching–rather than shying away from it. I wouldn't want to see him get punished for his decision; that might send the wrong message to studios that are already prone to neuter movies down to a PG-13 rating in order to attract larger demographics.
(I concede, however, that if a movie is going to suck, the rating usually isn't going to save it. Just look at what happened with the two AvP movies, the first of which was PG-13 and the second R.)
I've heard Kick-Ass' Cinemascore is only a B. Not so good. Will be tepid at best. I hope it drops slow though. I'd love to see it in Lionsgate's top 10
Seeing as Kick-Ass was only made for $30M, what it has made so far isn't really all that bad. The results just won't be as good as people thought they would be. I'm not really sure what went wrong. I haven't seen it yet, but I know that it's got good acting, critical acclaim, and brilliant advertising. Maybe the fact that a little girl uses a gun and knives turned some people off?
Critical acclaim among the male dominated critics community. If women reviewed this film they would give it a failing grade. This is bourne out by the film apparantly having no interest among females over 25, and little interest among females under 25. It's like The Last Song in reverse.
Have you seen it? Sort of a bold claim if you haven't.
No, I haven't seen it. I'm reporting what Fandango, and other sites say about it. I could go back and pull the quotes, but it would be much easier just to ask people who have seen it how many women were there. I remember years ago seeing the film, Double Impact, with Jean Claude Van Damme, and there was only one woman in the crowded with guys theater. So how about it guys? See any women? How many?
Ahhh. The silent sound of agreement.
Agreeing with what? The fact you can't judge a movie until you've seen it? You have done nothing but speculate based on the opinion of others. Go check out the film and come back and a worthwhile conversation can be had.
You are way off base. I once told a girl I liked the Buffy the Vampire series, and she told me "all Buffy does is beat people up". Women don't have to see Kick Ass to know they wouldn't like if any more than you need to see The Last Song to know it's "not your cup of tea". That is your quote about The Last Song without your having seen it. I will go see Kick Ass and discuss if women prjudged it, if you will go see The Last Song and tell me if you, along with many guys prejudged it.
I never said The Last Song was a bad film, or that others would give it a failing grade as you have said about Kick-Ass. I simply said it wasn't my "cup of tea," which you have reminded us all of. I then also pointed out how I knew there was a large audience that was interested in the film. Just speaking for myself, not anyone else. I never knocked The Last Song, just said it wasn't for me. In fact, I wasn't even invited to review it.
Hooray for reverse sexism, why do you assume that if more women reviewed the last song it would have been better received? Both my sister (Who is a Hanna Montana fan), my girlfriend and their friends all saw it and you know what? Not a SINGLE one liked the film? I have not seen myself but when you considerer that films like Julie and Julia, Enchanted, Juno, The Young Victoria and (Going a bit old school here) Say Anything all have tomatometers of 75% or higher, I think it safe to assume that gender has a lot less to do with The Last Song's bad reviews. If you like it that is perfectly fine but stop pretending that there is some type of witch hunt here because its insulting to both genders.
This discussion is stupid. Mfan thinks gender has to do with reviews… In what century are you stuck in? Some people don't even notice genders anymore *cough* Lindsey Lohan *cough*. This is the new age, stop the drama. If your boyfriend left you for a guy, you don't have to take it out on us.
I stand by my contention that women and men judge films alike in some ways, but much differently in others. I am willing, though, to do an experiment. I will ask some women what were their top 10 films of 2009, and I will ask some guys what were their top 10 films of 2009, and then I will compare the lists. Maybe I will be surprised, but I highly doubt The Proposal is going to be high up on the list for the guys. But we will see.
The amazing thing is I didn't even think I was being controversial (though maybe a litter bitter about the inequality in the numbers of film reviewers). I mean really, how many guys on this board intend to go see Sex And The City 2? Show of hands.
Well, I know there were a lot of indie films released on Friday 2 in my town and that's odd for a town that never gets a indie film. Also you have to look at timing, this film is aimed for college audiences, but one they have no money and two most importantly it is crunch times finals are coming up soon.
I saw Kick Ass on friday evening at a local AMC theatre. I arrived about 15 minutes before the show was scheduled to begin. I was shocked to see that there was exactly ONE person in the theatre at that time. I estimate that there were less than 25 people in house by the time the film started. That is by far the fewest amount of people that I've ever seen show up on opening night for a nationally released studio film.
Have you heard? How To Train Your Dragon stole Saturday Night! Amazing! A movie on it's 4th week desperately seeking number 1! Now that's a Story!
YEA! It looks like HTTYD might win this weekend!!! With Date Night a close 3rd. Good news for me… my two favorite films this year HTTYD and DATE NIGHT are holding extremely well!!!!!!