Weekend box office: Oz The Great and Powerful repeats while The Incredible Burt Wonderstone flops
Brad Sturdivant
March 17th, 2013
It seems some box office pundits are confused by the surprisingly poor performance of THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (click the movie title to read our review) at the weekend box office. But ask any casual movie goer or any critic and the only surprise would be that the film finished as high as it did. The premise wasn’t very appealing and the trailers and numerous TV spots didn’t do the film any favors. It’s not enough to take talented comedians and put them in a movie together; you actually have to write and make a funny film. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Halle Berry’s THE CALL. THE CALL was a forgotten thriller to most of us, but by way of some targeted marketing and good word of mouth from early screenings, the film managed to pull a magic trick of its own and overperform to beat out the star-studded Wonderstone.
Next week is actually a pretty good weekend. We have the release of what should be Gerard Butler’s last chance to prove he can carry a movie in OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, along with the animated kids movie THE CROODS and the Tina Fey, Paul Rudd romantic dramedy ADMISSION. Although I’m not convinced it will be worth the price of admission, my money is on OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN. But you shouldn’t count out THE CROODS. There are no animated movies at the weekend box office right now and it might surprise us. It has been a while since we’ve gotten a decent animated film and it might do well given the lack of competition. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.
1. Oz The Great and Powerful $42m
2. The Call $17.2m
3. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone $10.5m
4. Jack The Giant Slayer $6.8m
5. Identity Thief $4.8m
6. Snitch $3.8m
7. 21 And Over $2.7m
8. Safe Haven $2.5m
9. Silver Linings Playbook $2.5m
10. Dead Man Down $2.1m
(Deadline)
[fbcomments]
