'Footloose' outstepped by 'Real Steel'

By Sarah Sluis

Despite three new wide releases this weekend, last week's Real Steel narrowly won the first place spot by dipping just 40% to $16.3 million. While the robot-centered picture didn't overwhelm in its first outing, its second round has brought the expensive production to a more respectable $51 million cumulative total.

In second place, the reboot of Footloose debuted to $16.1 million. The inexpensive movie drew the greatest support from older females. 75% of all viewers were women, and 73% were over 18. The movie, which is set in a small town, drew the greatest support from Heartland locales, with Salt Lake City and Oklahoma City receiving the honors of being the dance film's top two markets. Former "Dancing with the Stars" regular Julianne Hough stars, so she undoubtedly helped the movie appeal to the show's older female viewers.

The sci-fi/horror remake The Thing underperformed, earning just $8.7 million. The movie joins other scary offerings that have failed to connect with viewers, including Apollo 18 and Dream House. Horror movies are supposed to be low-budget sure things, but the misfire of The Thing shows there are more factors at work. As Halloween approaches, it will be interesting to see if Paranormal Activity 3 helps reverse this trend.

The Big Year was a big bust. The salaries of Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson were probably barely covered by the comedy's paltry $3.3 million opening. I thought making fun of but also celebrating bird watching sounded like a hoot, but audiences didn't agree and critics warned that the feature was not particularly funny.

Director Pedro Almodvar is something of a brand name on the indie circuit, so it's no surprise his latest, The Skin I Live In, earned $38,500 per screen in six locations. The movie ran in the New York Film Festival, giving the Spanish-language genre hybrid additional advance publicity for city dwellers. Such a strong per-screen average sustained over six screens (as opposed to the two often reserved for opening weekend) bodes well for the unusual drama's future.

The generic cop vs. serial killer picture Texas Killing Fields had a rote performance at the box office, averaging $3,000 per screen at three locations. Take Shelter, one of my indie favorites this year, boosted its per-screen average by $500 from last week, even as it doubled the number of theatres in its release. In 24 locations, the drama had a mean of $5,300 per location.

This Friday, Paranormal Activity 3 starts the Halloween horror deluge, Johnny English Reborn offers up British spy humor, and the swashbuckling The Three Musketeers draws its sword.

'Real Steel' crowned box-office champ

By Sarah Sluis

The father-son-robot boxing movie, Real Steel, trounced its competitors this weekend for a $27.3 million finish. The movie did very well for a sports drama, but only so-so for a robot movie, according to the insanely specific charts provided by BoxOffice Mojo. "Fanboy" males under 35 comprised the majority of the audience. Though a young, male audience usually indicates that a movie will play best its opening weekend, the futuristic movie's 'A' CinemaScore rating could keep it playing strong in coming weeks. A sizeable 12% of the weekend gross came from IMAX screens, even without the added bonus of 3D.

In the VP spot, The Ides of March finished with $10.4 million. The opening was slightly off from Clooney's last star vehichle, The American ($13.1 million), though roughly around the debuts of some of his other self-directed films, like Michael Clayton, which opened to $10.3 million. Ides corralled the opposite audience of Real Steel, playing mainly to women (58%) and over-35's (60%).

The third, fourth, and fifth place finishers all had minimal dips compared to the rest of the top ten, allowing them to keep their top ranking. Dolphin Tale dove 34% to $9.1 million. Moneyball, in its third week, fell 37% to $7.5 million. Finally, cancer dramedy 50/50 fell 36% to $5.5 million.

Playing to sold-out midnight screenings The Human Centipede 2 (The Full Sequence) averaged $3,000 per screen at eighteen locations. Strand's French confection The Women on the 6th Floor had the highest average of a new specialty film, $4,300 per screen. The unsettling storm-centered drama Take Shelter, in its second week, averaged $5,000 per screen as it moved from three to eleven locations.

This Friday, bird-watching comedy The Big Year goes up against sci-fi remake The Thing and 1980s teen dance remake Footloose.

'Real Steel' set to dominate Columbus Day weekend box office

By Sarah Sluis

Family-friendly films have been doing well in recent weeks, from the G-rated re-release of The Lion King to the PG-rated Dolphin Tale. Now the PG-13-rated Real Steel (3,440 theatres) is aiming for family audiences. Hugh Jackman stars as an ex-boxer who discovers he has a ten-year-old son. They reconnect by training a robot boxer for the championships. Critic Frank Lovece dubbed it "a science-fiction family film in which nine-foot-tall boxing robots are greased not with oil but with schmaltz." The movie, however, is not without flaws. "Something's not quite right when the robots have more soul than the leads," Lovece concludes. The support of family audiences and higher-priced IMAX screens should earn Real Steel over $20 million this weekend. With a third of kids out of school on Monday, Columbus Day, the feel-good robot tale should also experience a fourth-day boost.

The opposing candidate is The Ides of March (2,199 theatres), which stars George Clooney as a presidential contender in a movie he also directed. The ensemble piece, adapted from the play Farragut North, also features Ryan Gosling as a whipsmart press secretary. Unfortunately, "like a good politician," the movie "promises more than it delivers," according to critic Daniel Eagan. "Good intentions" don't make up for the "trite" moments that will create "inevitable bad word-of-mouth." Still, ticket sales from men and women over 25 should bring this movie above $10 million.

I'd rather not dwell on The Human Centipede 2 (The Full Sequence), which is opening in 18 theatres. "Strictly for fans of the original, and you know who you are," THR critic Frank Scheck warns. This is a movie so vile, just thinking about the plot description grosses me out, but it's also become something of a pop culture talking point. So just so you know: The sequel was banned in the U.K., and the first film was parodied on "South Park."

Also on the specialty front is Dirty Girl (9 theatres), which features a teen girl (Juno Temple) behaving badly and her overweight gay sidekick. Critic David Noh championed the "totally engaging road movie," but critical opinion has been less enthusiastic. Just 23% of critics gave the movie a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

On Monday, we'll see how Real Steel fared and if audiences voted for The Ides of March.