Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Bad Grandpa’ Dethrones ‘Gravity’ and ‘The Counselor’ Bombs
If you were wondering what it would take to finally shove 'Gravity' out of the number one spot at the box office, the answer is Johnny Knoxville as an elderly man with a foul mouth and penchant for sustaining groin injuries. After nearly a month at the top, Alfonso Cuaron's science fiction spectacle fell to number two, dethroned by 'Bad Grandpa.'
Film | Weekend | Per Screen | ||
1 | Bad Grandpa | $32,000,000 | $9,592 | $32,000,000 |
2 | Gravity | $20,300,000 (-32.4) | $5,476 | $199,814,000 |
3 | Captain Phillips | $11,800,000 (-28.1) | $3,754 | $70,074,000 |
4 | The Counselor | $8,000,000 | $2,628 | $8,000,000 |
5 | Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 | $6,100,000 (-36.9) | $1,961 | $100,611,000 |
6 | Carrie | $5,900,000 (-63.4) | $1,869 | $26,021,000 |
7 | Escape Plan | $4,340,000 (-56.1) | $1,505 | $17,424,000 |
8 | 12 Years a Slave | $2,150,000 (+132.8) | $17,480 | $3,400,000 |
9 | Enough Said | $1,555,000 (-11.2) | $1,862 | $13,021,000 |
10 | Prisoners | $1,063,000 (-48.5) | $789 | $59,122,000 |
It's no surprise that 'Bad Grandpa' snagged the number one spot. The 'Jackass' franchise has always been successful on the big screen, with 2010's 'Jackass 3D' opening to $50 million and going on to gross $117 million. It's just that it's a lot of fun to talk about how a gross-out hidden camera comedy was able to knock one of the most technically accomplished films of all time off of its perch. The $32 million opening for 'Bad Grandpa' is excellent for a movie of its budget and it should be profitable in the very near future, if it isn't already. It probably won't do the business of the previous 'Jackass' movie, but it'll certainly do well enough.
Although 'Gravity' fell to number two, there is absolutely no shame in what it made this weekend. With another $20 million in the bank (and another very small percentage drop), the film is pennies away from $200 million, making it one of 2013's biggest successes. It should continue to hang around the top 10 for quite some time.
'Captain Phillips' dropped to number three, but like 'Gravity,' it's doing just fine. Suffering only a 28% drop, the Tom Hanks thriller made $11 million and has grossed $70 million so far. Last week, this column said that $100 million could be a longshot for this one. Well, it looks like this column may have been wrong. Let's see how it fares in the weeks ahead.
In fourth place, Ridley Scott's star-studded 'The Counselor' opened with a dismal $8 million. Toxic reviews and even more toxic word of mouth cut this one off at the knees, immediately making it into one of the year's biggest critical and financial disasters. Yikes. Who saw that coming a year ago?
But hey, at least 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2' managed to cross the $100 million mark this weekend. At least the weekend's one big bomb is buffered by good news.
In sixth place, 'Carrie' dropped a devastating 63% for a $26 million total, proving that people just don't want to watch horror movies at Halloween anymore. In seventh place, 'Escape Plan' dropped an equally awful 56% for a $17 million total, proving that people just don't want to watch Stallone and Schwarzenegger anymore.
However, '12 Years a Slave' excelled in limited release, grossing $2 million on only a handful of screens with a $17,000 screen average. We'll have to see if the historical drama can ride its acclaim to massive box office when it expands wide, but this is an excellent start.