ANNOUNCEMENT: Trade Blockbuster Warrants and profit from a movie's long run at the box office.

SPIN FACTOR® - The HSX Blog



Whisper Numbers: Will The Hobbit have long legs?



Despite setting a new opening weekend record for December, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [HOBIT] faces an uncertain holiday season. Reviews are not as good as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, while the HFR version has been divisive amongst audiences. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King decreased 30% in its second weekend, but that came after Christmas. With its sophomore weekend falling on the pre-Christmas shopping weekend, The Hobbit may decline about 45% to $45 million.

Tom Cruise [TCRUI] stars as Jack Reacher [1SHOT] based on the book series by Lee Childs. Despite bearing little physical resemblance to the 6”5' tall character, Cruise and the Paramount release has earned great reviews. The PG-13 rated film is an action throwback with old-fashioned fisticuffs instead of explosive stunts. Targeted at older men, Jack Reacher could punch out $18.5 million from 3352 theaters.

Paul Rudd [PRUDD] and Leslie Mann [LMANN] reprise their roles from Knocked Up in the spin-off sequel This is 40 [TIS40], once again written and directed by Judd Apatow [JAPAT]. The R-rated comedy focuses on the couple’s issues with turning 40. Since Rudd and Mann are not exactly box office draws, the marketing has played up appearances by Megan Fox [MEFOX], Jason Segel [JSEGE] and Melissa McCarthy [MMCCA]. But much like Apatow’s unfunny Funny People, the average moviegoers may not related to the first world problems of the well-off. Debuting in 2912 theaters, This is 40 may knock out $14 million.

With its prequel Monster University set to open next summer, Monsters, Inc. 3D [MON3D] becomes the latest animated film to be re-released in 3D. As Disney reaches deeper into their vault, the re-releases have observed diminishing returns. Although the lackluster Rise of the Guardians is the only competition, parents are hestitant to spurge on yet another 3D film that’s already in their home video collection. Monsters, Inc. 3D opened in 2618 theaters on Wednesday and may net $13 million over the weekend.

The PG-13 rated comedy The Guilt Trip [GTRIP] stars Seth Rogen [SROGE] and Barbra Streisand [BSTRE] as son and mother taking a cross-country road trip. The film appears too light-hearted to draw Rogen's young male fanbase, leaving older women as its priamry audience.  The Guilt Trip got a head start on the weekend with $1 million on Wednesday and looks gas up $8.5 million over the weekend from 2431 locations.

That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.



Tag(s): HOBIT, TCRUI, 1SHOT, PRUDD, LMANN, TIS40, JAPAT, MEFOX, JSEGE, MMCCA, MON3D, GTRIP, SROGE, BSTRE

View more Blog posts »



By Box Office Whisperer on Thursday, December 20, 2012 @ 05:05 PM        1028 views


Recent Comments

    No recent comments.


@HSXMOVIES on Twitter





    Follow HSX on Twitter!

    Only God Forgives (OGODF) 50000 1.28 (-0.03)         Cuban Fury (CUBAF) 100000 1.07 (+0.59)         American Sniper (AMSNP) 100000 31.76 (+3.66)         American Sniper (AMSNP) 100000 31.76 (+3.66)         Kick-Ass 2 H$25 Put (KCKA2.PU) 9000 2.48 (+0.02)         The Girl Who Played With Fire (TGRL2) 1 26.22 (-0.16)         American Sniper (AMSNP) 5000 31.76 (+3.66)         Adventures of Tintin 2 (TINT2) 100000 33.49 (-0.08)         The Giver (GIVER) 100000 13.31 (0.00)         Elysium (ELYSM) 50000 76.70 (-5.65)         The Girl Who Played With Fire (TGRL2) 1 26.22 (-0.16)         Patrick Wilson (PWILS) 1200 59.53 (+0.39)         The Last Witch Hunter (TLWH) 1 19.19 (+0.01)         The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (SPID6) 75309 180.76 (+3.01)         Elysium (ELYSM) 5000 76.70 (-5.65)         We're the Millers (WEMIL) 99999 78.74 (-4.45)         The Last Witch Hunter (TLWH) 1 19.19 (+0.01)         Elysium (ELYSM) 99999 76.70 (-5.65)         We're the Millers (WEMIL) 90000 78.74 (-4.45)         CBGB (CBGB) 10000 3.13 (-0.18)         Planes (PLANE) 99999 63.23 (+2.41)         The Little Mermaid 3D (TLM3D) 100000 1.80 (-0.06)         Million Dollar Arm (MDARM) 4000 30.03 (-0.15)         Planes (PLANE) 40000 63.23 (+2.41)         The Purge 2 (PURG2) 100000 36.92 (+0.29)         Eliza Graves (ELIZG) 1 10.42 (-0.07)         Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (PJAC2) 99999 43.99 (-4.29)         Anchorman: The Legend Continues (ANCH2) 1 121.69 (-1.69)         Eliza Graves (ELIZG) 1 10.42 (-0.07)         Anchorman: The Legend Continues (ANCH2) 24623 121.69 (-1.69)         Dumb and Dumber To (DUMB3) 14999 29.77 (+4.03)         RoboCop (ROBOC) 100000 68.99 (-0.34)         Minions (MNION) 3000 139.68 (-0.37)         Godzilla (GODZL) 50000 103.98 (-0.12)         Serena (SERNA) 500 10.65 (+1.53)         Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (PJAC2) 99999 43.99 (-4.29)         The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (SPID6) 44612 180.76 (+3.01)         Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (PJAC2) 70000 43.99 (-4.29)         Inferno (NFERN) 99999 85.35 (+1.27)         We're the Millers (WEMIL) 99999 78.74 (-4.45)         All is Bright aka Lucky Dog (LCKYD) 10000 2.85 (-0.26)         The Hobbit: There and Back Again (HOBT3) 500 234.06 (+0.09)         American Sniper (AMSNP) 5000 31.76 (+3.66)         The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (SPID6) 100000 180.76 (+3.01)         Elysium (ELYSM) 100000 76.70 (-5.65)         Dumb and Dumber To (DUMB3) 500 29.77 (+4.03)         Elysium (ELYSM) 63090 76.70 (-5.65)         Peregrine's Home for Peculiars (PRGRN) 1 36.57 (-0.35)         The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (SPID6) 10000 180.76 (+3.01)         Jobs (JOBS) 200 23.89 (-2.20)