Act of Valor Blows Up the Box Office

The use of real life active duty Navy SEALs paid off, as Act of Valor hit the top spot this weekend. Comparatively to the last few crazy box office weekends, this weekend fell within expectations.


Weekend Estimates

Movie	Weekend Gross	Total Gross	Budget
1) Act of Valor 2) Good Deeds 3) Journey 2 4) Safe House 5) The Vow 6) Ghost Rider 2 7) This Means War 8) Wanderlust 9) Gone 10) The Secret World of Arrietty	$24.7 million $16 million $13.5 million $11.4 million $10 million $8.8 million $8.5 million $6.6 million $5 million $4.5 million	$24.7 million $16 million $76.7 million $98.1 million $103 million $37.8 million $33.6 million $6.6 million $5 million $14.6 million	$12 million n/a $79 million $85 million $30 million $57 million $65 million $35 million $28 million $23 million

*reportedly under $20 million

Act of Valor vs Good Deeds vs Wanderlust vs Gone

A slew of movies hit theaters this weekend... will there be another surprise big weekend?

Act of Valor
Hit Factor: Actual Navy Seals in a movie about Navy Seals
Flop Factor: Early reviews have been terrible.



Gone
Hit Factor: a low budget film.
Flop Factor: Marketing for this movie is fairly weak (Didn't even know this movie was coming out).



Good Deeds
Hit Factor: Tyler Perry still has some branding with his movies.
Flop Factor: His branding name has slipped in the past few movies.



Wanderlust
Hit Factor: A comedy from the Judd Apatow group.
Flop Factor: The commercials don't really look appealing.



My Predictions:

Movie Act of Valor Good Deeds Safe House The Vow Wanderlust	Weekend Gross (millions) $20 $18 $14 $12 $11

Ghost Rider falls to Safe House and The Vow

In another somewhat unexpected weekend, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance did not hit the number one spot this weekend. Instead, it was bested by the second weekends of Safe House and The Vow. I guess people were actually unsatisfied with the first Ghost Rider film.


Weekend Estimates

Movie	Weekend Gross	Total Gross	Budget
1) Safe House 2) The Vow 3) Ghost Rider 2 4) Journey 2 5) This Means War 6) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 7) Chronicle 8) The Woman in Black 9) The Secret World of Arrietty 10) The Grey	$24 million $23.6 million $22 million $20.1 million $17.6 million $7.9 million $7.5 million $6.6 million $6.4 million $3 million	$78.3 million $85.5 million $22 million $53.2 million $19.2 million $33.7 million $51 million $45.3 million $6.4 million $47.9 million	$85 million $30 million $57 million $79 million $65 million n/a $12 million $13 million $23 million $25 million

*reportedly under $20 million

Ghost Rider 2 vs This Means War

A few new movies hit theaters this weekend, here's telling what may happen since the unexpected jolt at the box office last weekend.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Hit Factor: The terrible first Ghost Rider movie made over $45 million on it's opening weekend in 2007... Budget has been lowered since the original one.
Flop Factor: The first one was terrible! This film probably won't be screen for critics either.



This Means War
Hit Factor: Reese Witherspoon.
Flop Factor: This Looks Bad... also looking a bit expensive for a romantic comedy.



The Secret World of Arrietty
Hit Factor: Disney is importing this from Japan... Already a success overseas.
Flop Factor: In a land dominated by Pixar and Dreamworks, it probably won't appeal to most of the American public.



My Predictions:

Movie Ghost Rider 2 This Means War Safe House The Vow Journey 2	Weekend Gross (millions) $35 $25 $20 $18 $13

The Vow Dominates the Weekend Before Valentine's Day

The romantic, I'm-going-to-drag-my-boyfriend-to-this-film-because-it's-Valentine's-Day-weekend flick, The Vow, easily took the number one spot this weekend, with just north $41 million. The Denzel Washington movie Safe House wasn't to far behind with $39 million with Journey 2 ($27 million) trailing behind that. It's somewhat surprising that Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D came in fourth, despite still making a nice chunk of change ($23 million) for a re-release. Anyways, it was a pretty big weekend for movies, since most of these did way better than expected.

Weekend Estimates

Movie	Weekend Gross	Total Gross	Budget
1) The Vow 2) Safe House 3) Journey 2 4) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 5) Chronicle 6) The Woman in Black 7) The Grey 8) Big Miracle 9) The Descendants 10) Underworld Awakening	$41.7 million $39.3 million $27.6 million $23 million $12.3 million $10.3 million $5.1 million $3.9 million $3.5 million $2.5 million	$41.7 million $39.3 million $27.6 million $23 million $40.2 million $35.5 million $42.8 million $13.2 million $70.7 million $58.9 million	$30 million $85 million $79 million n/a $12 million $13 million $25 million $40 million $20 million* $70 million

*reportedly under $20 million

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace vs The Vow

A lot of movies hit theaters this weekend including a a 3D version of a George Lucas film.

Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace (3D)
Hit Factor: Lots of marketing, families will probably see this.
Flop Factor: Will the audience get wind of George Lucas overtly-milking this franchise?



The Vow
Hit Factor: Awe, The Notebook star, Rachael McAdams stars in another lovey-dovey movie coming out right before Valentine's Day.
Flop Factor: Your girlfriend will drag you to see this movie.



Safe House
Hit Factor: Denzel Washington in another Denzel Washington movie.
Flop Factor: Seems like he's been doing the same type of films in the past few years.



Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Hit Factor: Maybe, kids will want to see this...
Flop Factor: I always forget that The Rock is in this film. Also, trailers for this film doesn't really grab you at all... oh yeah there's that.


My Predictions:

Movie The Phantom Menace The Vow Safe House Journey 2 Chronicle	Weekend Gross (millions) $26 $24 $18 $14 $12

Chronicle Slips Pass The Woman in Black

The Superpower-discovered, teens-turned-darkside flick, Chronicle, managed to slip by Daniel Radcliffe's Horror Thriller, The Woman in Black, for first place at the box office this Superbowl weekend.

Weekend Estimates

Movie	Weekend Gross	Total Gross	Budget
1) Chronicle 2) The Woman in Black 3) The Grey 4) Big Miracle 5) Underworld Awakening 6) One for the Money 7) Red Tails 8) The Descendants 9) Man on a Ledge 10) Extremely Loud & Inc. Close	$22 million $21 million $9.5 million $8.5 million $5.6 million $5.3 million $5 million $4.6 million $4.5 million $3.9 million	$22 million $21 million $34.8 million $8.5 million $54.4 million $19.7 million $41.3 million $65.5 million $14.7 million $26.8 million	$12 million $13 million $25 million $40 million $70 million $40 million $58 million $20 million* $42 million n/a

*reportedly under $20 million