Mission: Impossible series took the international box office by storm (sand storm) with an impressive opening weekend, Puss in Boots continued to perform above expectations while Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows started to slowly roll in theaters around the world.
The latest in the
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opened with an impressive $69.5 million from 42 countries. That’s strangely similar to the $70 million opening Mission: Impossible 3 had five and a half years ago. Now Ghost Protocol was significantly stronger on a per-market base, a very good sign that the movie will most certainly finish ahead of the $263.8 million international cume of Mission: Impossible 3. Past entries in the series were even more lucrative overseas with Mission: Impossible scoring $276.7 million in 1996 while Mission: Impossible 2 made $331 million in 2000. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol still has a long way to go before it can live up to the box office standards set by those predecessors but it’s definitely on the right track.
Also on the right track is former leader Puss in Boots, now in 2nd place with $29.8 million for an international total of $188.2 million and $331.1 million worldwide, more than enough to cover the $130 million production budget.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was significantly healthier overseas then in North America, bringing in $14.6 million from just 6 countries including a $5.9 million start in the UK. The original 2009 Sherlock Holmes nabbed a total of $315 million internationally and that’s the number A Game of Shadows has to beat, even more so now, after that disappointing US opening.
In 4th place was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, equally disappointing overseas with $13.3 million in 36 countries. Back in 2009 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel opened with $23.4 million from 38 countries so Chipwrecked is slowly turning into the box office dud of this franchise.
5th place probably belongs to Arthur Christmas but it could just as well belong to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. All this mystery comes courtesy of Summit Entertainment and their lack of reported numbers. I could provide an educated guess and say that Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is somewhere between $9 and $10 million, but since Arthur Christmas made $9.5, mystery ensues. Anyway, the Aardman animated flick has made thus far $72.8 million internationally and $112.7 million worldwide. The vampire saga should be somewhere around $660 million worldwide, I’ll update as soon as I get the proper numbers.
It’s almost Christmas and box office is still down from last year’s already disappointing December. We’d have to go all the way to 2008 to find a worse weekend just before Christmas. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opened to around 2/3 of the original while Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was less than half of The Squeakquel. The only good news comes from Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘s record breaking limited release.
Sequels have been hit or miss this year and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is no different. After opening with an underwhelming $39.6 million (original opened with $62.3 million a week after Avatar), Sherlock will need very strong box office legs to match the $209 million grossed by the first one in North America. Right now $180 million seems to be the ceiling but that could change next weekend depending on how well this Robert Downey Jr. film can hold its own against the upcoming flood of new releases. The original Sherlock Holmes survived Avatar so A Game of Shadows has a certain reputation to live up to.
In 2nd place Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked scored $23.2 million, a new series low after Alvin and the Chipmunks opened with $44.3 million while the second one grabbed $48.8 million. Among TV cartoons brought to the big screen, Chipwrecked‘s opening compares to Garfield: The Movie ($21.7 million) and is a lot lower than this year’s The Smurfs. Speaking of those blue devils, a few months ago I mentioned they threw the glove at Alvin and his gang and as far as I can tell after just one weekend, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked will definitely lose to The Smurfs.
Now here’s a movie that didn’t disappoint, on the contrary, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol grossed $12.7 million over the weekend in just 425 theaters, setting a new limited release (under 600 theaters) opening record, previously held by Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason with $8.6 million in 530 theater. Truth be told, most of those were IMAX theaters with their super inflated ticket prices and around 40 of them showed the 6-minute prologue of The Dark Knight Rises. But besides all of this Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol had another very important aspect going for, it’s a damn great movie and for me personally the best in the series. On Wednesday the film expands to over 3400 theaters so I’m expecting some impressive numbers over the coming days.
Rounding up the top 5 were New Year’s Eve with $7.3 million for $24.7 million in 10 days and The Sitter with 4.6 million and $17.9 million so far.
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Thanks to a more compelling villain, better pacing, and more action, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a big improvement over the first film in this series. With more serious end of the year fare taking over the box office for the remainder of the year, the latest adventure of the world’s most famous detective provides a solid mystery, great banter, and the same loveable characters that made the first film in this series so entertaining.
The relationship between Holmes and Watson is one of the most fascinating elements in this franchise. It’s not breaking new ground or anything – Holmes takes issue with Watson’s new bride-to-be, realizing it could be the end of their adventures together – but this subplot is so well-handled that it feels fresh. Much of the conflict goes unspoken between the two friends, each coming to grips with the inevitability that one day; their partnership will come to an end. This kind of communication could be interpreted as homoeroticism by some, but I choose to read it just as two friends who have worked together through countless adventures and have a detailed understanding of the other’s methods. Holmes legitimately cares for Watson far more than he lets on, as revealed in his first meeting with Moriarty in which he asks for Watson and his new bride to be excluded from their deadly game of wits. Watson cares as well, evidenced in the story he writes about his friend. It’s a Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday dynamic, and one that is rarely explored as interestingly on screen.
It’s no secret that box office has been down lately but things are about to change this weekend with the release of three major sequels, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in IMAX and select theaters.
Sherlock Holmes faced off against Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel back in 2009 and unfortunately for mankind the Squeakquel won ($219.6 million versus $209 million). Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows has come for payback and should have no problems taking this weekend. Starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law again as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, A Game of Shadows aims to match the $62.3 million opening of the original. A year ago I would have predicted at the very least $70 million for this sequel, today, after so many disappointing follow-ups I’m going to downgrade Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows to $65 million.
Next up should be Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the third entry in the ridiculously popular singing chipmunks series based on the animated characters created for a Christmas song. Previously Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) opened with $44.3 million and went on to gross $217.3 million. The sequel opened with $48.8 million and finished with $219.6 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked should open with $40 million or so and finish a good deal below the previous films. The reason for that is simple, family sequels have been down in 2011 and third entries usually make less money. But I also could be wrong.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens today in 425 theaters, most of which are IMAX. Making his live-action debut with this film is the famous Pixar director Brad Bird. Now this guy made some of my favorite animated movies in the past, namely The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille. So Ghost Protocol being my most anticipated movie in quite some time is no surprise. That being said this is the 4th entry in the Mission: Impossible series and once again stars Tom Cruise as agent Ethan Hunt. Now Mission: Impossible 3, while my favorite of the bunch, was somewhat of a box office disappointment with just $134 million in North America, significantly lower compared to the $180.9 million made by the original in 1998 or the $215.4 million of Mission: Impossible 2. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol might be headed for $40 million next weekend but for now it will have to settle with $10 million or so. On a side note, around 40 of the Ghost Protocol IMAX theaters will be showing a 6 minutes long prologue of The Dark Knight Rises (full list of venues here).
New Year’s Eve will be 4th with $7 million for $24 million after 10 days while The Sitter is going to be 5th with $6 million and $19 million in 10 days.
Next week is going to be insane with 5 new wide releases opening from the 21st up to the 25th. We got Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin (already a international hit) and War Horse, David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, We Bought a Zoo and Darkest Hour. Also Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol goes wide thanks to over 3400 theaters.
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