Whether moviegoers remain spooked by the Colorado shooting tragedy or are staying home to watch the Olympics, The Dark Knight Rises [BATM3] has not kept pace with The Dark Knight despite a bigger opening weekend. Since the overall box office is affected and not just Batman, The Dark Knight Rises should be able to hold back two new wide releases and retain the top spot for a third weekend with about $33 million.
Colin Farrell [CFARR] stars in Sony’s PG-13 rated remake of the popular 1990 sci-fi actioner Total Recall [RECAL]. Farrell previously starred in the remake of Miami Vice and Fright Night, but is not a guaranteed box office draw. Kate Beckinsale [KBECK] and Jessica Biel [JBIEL] are on hand to add starpower, which should appeal to both men and women. Instead of going to Mars, the updated version stays on Earth, but otherwise the story hews pretty close to the Arnold Schwarzenegger original. Judging by the trailers however, the remake isn’t offering older fans anything new besides updated CG effects. Poor reviews won’t help bring them back to theaters either. Planted in 3601 theaters, Total Recall may collect around $29 million.
Fox moves Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days [WIMP3] to the summer after opening the first two installments of the family film series during the spring. The 2010 original Diary of a Wimpy Kid debuted to $22.1 million, which was topped by the 2011 sequel Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules with $23.8 million. Unlikely to bring in new fans, Dog Days will attract strictly those already invested in the franchise, which is based on a book series. With the target audience of tween boys another year older, some of them may have out-grown the PG-rated family film. Playing in 3392 theaters, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days could earn about $18.0 million.
The under-performing The Watch [NEIBW] finished slightly ahead of Step Up: Revolution [STUP4] in their debut last weekend, but the roles are likely to be reversed in their sophomore weekend as both looks to suffer from big drop-offs. The female-targeted Step Up: Revolution may score $5.8 million, while The Watch could catch $5.2 million.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): BATM3, CFARR, RECAL, KBECK, JBIEL, WIMP3, NEIBW, STUP4