Last week, it was initially reported here and elsewhere that the meta-superhero movie Kick-Ass had debuted in second while the DreamWorks animated hit How To Train Your Dragon, in its fourth week, had taken the top spot. But such reports are merely estimates; the “actuals” sometimes tell another story. When the “actuals” were released, the two films swapped places, with Kick-Ass in first with $19.8 million and Dragon in second with $19.6 million. The difference in actual gross for Kick-Ass was negligible, only $100,000 higher than initial estimates, but the perception of having lost the weekend was likely damaging, given the currency box-office reports tend to have in a culture where results are widely disseminated. The manner in which box-office estimates have been manipulated past and present is a can of worms we won’t open here, but it’s a shame that Kick-Ass was temporarily victimized by it.
This week, however, there was no such ambiguity. Five weeks into its run, How To Train Your Dragon held onto its audience and finished solidly in first with $15 million. That left all the films premiering in the frame in various states of embarrassment: The Jennifer Lopez comeback rom-com The Back-Up Plan was the least tepid of the bunch, earning a middling $12.3 million on the strength of middling ads and middling reviews. The Losers lived up to its title, taking just $9.6 million for fourth, and offering rare proof that the moviegoing public won’t see everything based on a comic book. The Disneynature documentary Oceans finished all the way back at #8 with $6 million, though in terms of per-screen numbers, its $4,975 was better than any other movie in wide release, including How To Train Your Dragon.
No news available yet on how openers did on the arthouse circuit. (Numbers have not yet been reported.) But the Banksy documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop continued to light it up in its second week, earning the highest per screen average of any release with $13,545. Also doing well in week two was the Oscar-winner The Secret In Their Eyes, which added another 23 theaters and still netted $11,273 per screen.
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.