Weekend Box Office: Release the blurry fire-thingy
Though it’s hard to label a movie that plunges 60% from its opening weekend a success, when that movie is The Hunger Games and that drop still means a $61.1 million haul, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a success. (Considering the last Twilight movie dropped nearly 70% and the last Harry Potter dropped 72%, it looks even healthier by comparison.) By the same token, it’s hard to label a movie that opens to $34.2 million a failure, but against a $150 million budget, Wrath Of The Titans looks like a disappointment and also an unforced error on Warner Brothers’ fault. As Box Office Mojo’s Ray Subers points out, expectations for a sequel to Clash Of The Titans should have been low, given the earlier film’s 5.8 IMDb rating and general reputation as a failure. (Also: Where’s the Kraken?) Elsewhere, the first of two competing Snow White projects, Mirror Mirror, landed a distant third behind The Hunger Games and Wrath Of The Titans, with a meek $19 million to go along with the tepid marketing campaign, mediocre reviews, and a general feeling that the other Snow White movie is looking better.