Victory for 'Toy Story 3' with a nine-digit weekend

By Sarah Sluis

Drawing in a remarkably diverse audience, Pixar's eleventh feature, Toy Story 3, brought in $109 million over the weekend, the highest opening weekend ever for a Pixar movie. What's more interesting, though, is

that attendance was comparable to Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and The Incredibles. What accounted for the millions more earned by Toy Story 3? Besides the usual culprit, rising ticket prices, the surcharge for 3D stands out. It's estimated that the extra dimension added $20 million to the movie's gross, although that bump falls on the low end for 3D movies. Also in the mix were a large number of adults paying full ticket prices. 46% of the audience was over 25, and not all of them were parents. Toy Story 3 drew in 33% of its audience from non-families, 40% of which came from young adults aged 17-24. With its strong debut and positive word-of-mouth, Toy Story 3 should dominate for the rest of the summer--expect it to be in the top ten for the next two months.

Earning 1/20th of the gross of Toy Story 3, Jonah Hex is the first unqualified flop of the summer box office.

The comic book/western/futuristic movie managed to draw in none of those audiences, and finished with just $5 million, though that was enough to earn it an eighth-place finish. Ouch.

In second place, The Karate Kid earned $29 million in its second weekend. Though the movie dropped 47%, Toy Story 3 proved tough competition. Given its positive reviews and strong opening weekend, the movie should bounce back in coming weeks. By comparison, two other kid-oriented movies in the top ten dropped more than 50%. Marmaduke slumped 55% to $2.6 million, and Shrek Forever After declined 65%, to $5.5 million.

Fox Searchlight's marketing campaign paid off with Cyrus, which earned a breathtaking $45,000 per screen on four screens. The movie will expand into more markets in coming weeks, and should earn at least $10 million if its performance holds up--my conservative estimate. Since the movie debuted on such a small number of screens, it's hard to tell how well it will scale up.

I Am Love, starring Tilda Swinton, made its debut with $15,000 per screen on eight screens. The stylish Italian art film drew in equally suave audiences, and its opening should give it a solid, if not blockbuster, run at the box office.

This Friday, action comedy Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, will open alongside Grown Ups, a comedy about basketball teammates reuniting in middle age. The cast is led by Adam Sandler.

'Toy Story 3' aims for a record-breaking weekend

By Sarah Sluis

Woody and Buzz are back in Toy

Story 3, which will open in 4,028 theatres, including more than 2,000 3D screens 2,463

3D theatres and 180 IMAX locations. Strikingly adult, from its

tear-jerking sequences to a

scary, fiery landfill scene, the movie will

strongly appeal to those who first saw Toy Story as kids, as well as

parents and other adults that turn out to see the film. Critic Kevin

Lally called the movie "bountifully inventive," and it's filled with

intricate gags and laugh-out-loud characters, like Barbie's sidekick Ken

(voiced by Michael Keaton) and a hedgehog toy that takes the pose of a snobby

British actor, asking everyone how they can "remain in character"

while they are playing with their owner. Lally praised "the Pixar

artists [who] never shy from genuine emotion and deeper resonance."

The animated movie is on track to earn over $100 million this weekend, and

could be the highest-grossing Pixar film ever if it beats Finding Nemo's

$339 million total--and Finding Nemo opened to just $70 million.

On the other end of the spectrum, "would-be summer blockbuster" Jonah

Hex (2,825 theatres) will be

quietly making its debut, and some

feel it could open to just $10 million. As an PG-13 rated feature, Jonah

Hex won't benefit from grabbing audiences from sold-out screenings of

the G-rated Toy Story 3. This "half-baked" comic book

adaptation that combines "old-fashioned western, supernatural action film,

El Topo-like acid trip and steampunk-style science fiction," according to

critic Ethan Alter, is unlikely to attract large audiences. It'll probably

die out quickly, unlike its death-defying protagonists (played by Josh Brolin and John

Malkovich).

Fox Searchight may be known for cute and quirky, but Cyrus

(4 theatres) is more creepy and quirky. The tale of a man who

falls in love with a woman, only to discover that her son is unwilling to let

someone impinge on his close relationship with his mother, it balances its

intimations of Freudian complexes and incest with a comedic tone and emphasis

on awkward situations. The Duplass brothers (of the "mumblecore"

movement) are making their first mainstream effort with the movie, which has a marketing campaign with plenty of odd

animated GIFs behind it, courtesy of Searchlight.

The general consensus on Italian director Luca

Guadagnino 's I

Am Love (7 theatres) is that it favors style over substance.

But oh, that style! The "oh-so-posh proceedings," as described

by David Noh, are "sumptuously designed and handsomely photographed by

Yorick Le Saux, with timelessly classic costumes." Tilda Swinton

plays a Russian-born wife in the primarily Italian-language film, and the

English speaker learned Italian for the role.

On Monday, we'll see how high Toy Story 3 was able to go at the box

office, if Jonah Hex attracted fans despite its dismal ratings, and if

Fox Searchlight played its cards right marketing Cyrus.