There were hints that The Great Gatsby was not going to open big. Critics have been a bit mixed on the movie, and Warner Bros. moved it from a December release date to May, which some took to mean the studio was making a vote of no confidence. After opening to $51 million, about 25% higher than most estimates, Warner Bros. likely feels their decision to move the Baz Luhrmann-directed film paid off. Really, it's just more of a fkuffy summer spectacle than the kind of movie that could make an awards play. Since Gatsby is required reading for most American high schoolers, the content was extremely familiar while being presented as a visual feast. Music from Jay-Z and the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio gave the movie an extra boost. However, it turns out the audiences agreed with critics, giving the feature a so-so "B" rating in exit polls, so Gatsby may fade faster than if it had been a hit among audiences.
Beating the opening weekend of Gatsby, Iron Man 3 brought in another $72.4 million,
a 58% decline from the previous week. For a movie that opened so high,
that's actually a decent hold. Receipts from foreign territories will
help bring the picture over $1 billion worldwide before next Friday.
Is it possible that black audiences might have chosen to see The Great Gatsby (with its Jay-Z-produced soundtrack) instead of Peeples this weekend? Despite two well-known TV stars, Craig Robinson and Kerry Washington, and a "Tyler Perry Presents" label, the comedy bombed with just $4.8 million. Lionsgate should be able to do better than that, given its experience marketing Perry's works, but maybe that was just the problem--the audience for Perry's work didn't care for this feature, which was only produced by him. In 2011, a similar black-targeted wedding comedy about class differences, Jumping the Broom, opened to $15 million, so this is way off the target.
Playing in two U.S. markets, the highly regarded documentary Stories We Tell averaged $15,000 per location, a great start for the feature, which will likely play well on VOD and beyond.
On Thursday, the second mega-blockbuster of the season, Star Trek Into Darkness, will start peeling off the audience for Iron Man 3.
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