Not really the end result I'm intended for. While earlier this week, I have been predicting Marvel's third superhero movie of the summer would fallen behind the wizard boy, I was wrong. With a staggering 72% drop on ticket sales for Harry Potter from its mega opening, Captain America: The First Avenger debuted to the pole with a decent result, comparable to Thor's opening from May. It's Marvel superheroes for another win. Read after the jump for this weekend box office report from the stateside.
Captain America: The First Avenger surprised many with the first place opening of $65.8 million, a number considered strong after what appeared to be an audience fatigue with three superhero movies already packing throughout the summer. The amount was garnered from its 7,100 screens from 3,715 locations, 40% of which was from 3D. While the estimated number was almost even with Thor's $65.7 million, Captain America has about 9% more attendee than the Norse God due to 3D share. Distributor Paramount Pictures' exit polling indicated that 64 percent of Captain's crowd was male (about the same as Thor) and 58 percent was 25 years of age and older (skewing younger than Thor's 72 percent).
With Captain America's first place finish, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was force to retreat to the silver medal. The final chapter of the J.K. Rowling's wizard epic mustered $48.1 million but its 72% fall from opening week was severe and the worst among the 8 movies. As expected, fans rush during the opening day may have contributed to such figure but it was still heavier than expected. Total cum for the final chapter was $274.2 million in 10 days.
Meanwhile, Sony Picture's Screen Gem's sexual comedy Friends with Benefits got off the opening week to settle at third place with $18.5 million from 3,500 screens at 2,926 locations. The debut was lower than fellow sex comedy No Strings attached which opened to $19.7 million back in January. Star power in this one is slightly lesser in this one as the Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis co-star was also struggling in the midst of the summer rush, thus such opening was predictable. Reviews have been kind and better than No Strings Attached though, so expect more business to come in coming weeks. Distributor Sony Pictures' research showed that 62 percent of Friends's audience was female (compared to 70 percent for No Strings) and 56 percent was age 25 years and older (versus 60 percent for No Strings).
The rest of the week's box office looks like this and is based on studio's estimated data:
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross ($) | Change (%) | Total Gross ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER | 65,827,000 | NEW | 65,827,000 |
| 2 | HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 | 48,065,000 | -71.6 | 274,182,000 |
| 3 | FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS | 18,500,000 | NEW | 18,500,000 |
| 4 | TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON | 12,000,000 | -43.7 | 325,789,000 |
| 5 | HORRIBLE BOSSES | 11,720,000 | -34.1 | 82,402,000 |
| 6 | ZOOKEEPER | 8,700,000 | -29.4 | 59,204,000 |
| 7 | CARS 2 | 5,726,000 | -31.9 | 176,445,000 |
| 8 | WINNIE THE POOH | 5,141,000 | -34.6 | 17,573,000 |
| 9 | BAD TEACHER | 2,600,000 | -49.5 | 94,355,000 |
| 10 | MIDNIGHT IN PARIS | 1,899,000 | +1.2 | 44,878,000 |
| 11 | BRIDESMAIDS | 1,346,000 | -21.8 | 163,853,000 |
| 12 | LARRY CROWNE | 1,030,000 | -61.2 | 34,338,000 |
