With a healthy boost from the Avengers-earned cache and the relative lack of competition on either side of it, Thor: The Dark World opened to $86.1 million, up 31 percent from the opening of the first Thor and the best opening for a Marvel film that didn’t have Robert Downey Jr. in the lead. It’s fair to say that the third Iron Man film, which opened to $174.1 million earlier this year, got a substantial boost from 3D showings, but only 39 percent of The Dark World‘s take came from 3D showings, which is more proof that the format is fading and will only truly boost films with the cache of Iron Man or ones that truly utilize the format, as Gravity proved last month.
No mainstream studio was silly enough to open anything against a Marvel property, but most of the films from the past few weeks held on well in the face of Thor. Bad Grandpa, Free Birds and Last Vegas, in second, third and fourth place, respectively, all had drops randing from 29 to 43 percent, not bad for this time of year. Grandpa earned $11.3 million, and Free Birds and Last Vegas each earned $11.1 million, with Grandpa and Last Vegas firmly in the black and Free Birds well on its way. The winner from last weekend, Ender’s Game, took a huge hit, tumbling 62 percent to fifth place and $10.2 million for a total around $44 million to date, well under its $100 million budget. It’s been a rough year for non-Gravity sci-fi overall and Game will likely be gone by Thanksgiving.
On the indie side of things, 12 Years a Slave increased to 1,144 theaters and $6.6 million, suggesting it will have some legs as Oscar season approaches. All is Lost also doubled its audience with a screen increase to $1.2 million at 401 screens. The Book Thief opened to $108,000 at four locations, which is an excellent start, but its commercial prospects are shaky – will audiences want to see yet another Nazi movie, especially one that’s gotten shaky reviews? Speaking of tricky subjects for movies, The Armstrong Lie, a documentary about Lance Armstrong, opened to $30,900 at five locations, suggesting audiences are firmly in the “no” camp when it comes to stories about the fallen star.
Source: BoxOfficeMojo
