If slow and steady wins the race, George Clooney is at least a league ahead of the competition. His latest film The American opened to an estimated 16.4 million over the holiday weekend. This may not sound like much, especially for such a big star in a James Bond-ish action film, but it is definitely an improvement over last year’s holiday showings. At that time, The Final Destination took the top spot with 15 million. The film had already been in theaters for two weeks and had seen the significant drop off that most horror films see in the ensuing weeks, more on this later. While The American is not a runaway hit, it kept George Clooney on pace for his usual box office numbers. On average his films open at 14 million in their opening weekend of release. Subsequent weeks will show if Clooney’s new action/espionage film will have legs for a franchise. If there is an American actor that could play such a role, George Clooney would be it.
Finishing in second was the Robert Rodriguez action-exploitation film Machete. With a production budget of only 20 million dollars, Machete won’t have the mountain to climb that Grindhouse had. This latest action film south of the border garnered a respectable 14 million dollars. Considering the lack of star power compared to recent Rodriguez films, this makes the second place opening more than just a moral victory. Grindhouse totaled only 25 million in the box office with the combined effort of Rodriguez and Tarantino. The internet buzz around Danny Trejo’s portrayal of a vigilante Mexican over the years didn’t die down and definitely helped to produce the not so typical holiday crowds. Up until Sunday, it actually looked as if Machete would finish number 1 in the box office. Unfortunately, low sales on Sunday (possibly due to traveling) kept the film from possibly reaching its full potential. The coming weeks may not treat this film kindly. However, it would be nearly impossible for the film not to make it’s modest budget back while still in theaters.
One week after a strong showing The Last Exorcism saw an unusually high drop off rate, nearly 64%. Of course, this shouldn’t bother the producers who saw their investment returned on the first day. The supernatural horror film made an extra 8.8 million dollars finishing fourth behind the Takers. The next few weeks should really show whether or not the latest attempt at scaring people back to church actually works. If not, it’ll do damage to DVD shelves around the country.
Notable Openings This Week:
Resident Evil Afterlife: 3D