Shutter Island Gives Scorsese and DiCaprio Their Biggest Openings Ever
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The decision by Paramount to push Shutter Island back from October 2009 was met with some criticism at the time but has paid off big for the studio. Shutter opened to a massive $40.2 million and dominated the weekend box office. This represented the largest opening weekend gross in the career of both director Martin Scorsese (The Departed $26.9 million) and star Leonardo DiCaprio (Catch Me if You Can $30.1 million).
Unlike most delayed movies Shutter Island was moved to enhance its potential, not because of problems with the film. It did miss out on the awards season, where it very possibly could have captured a Best Picture nomination, but otherwise it was positioned much better for success. Paramount had stated they did not have the funds to support an awards run at the time and DiCaprio was busy filming Inception which meant he would not have been able to fully promote the film. Shutter faced little competition this weekend as the holdovers all saw huge drops.
While reviews have been mixed though trending positive Shutter‘s word of mouth appears to be quite strong. Its internal multiplier for the weekend was better than expected which bodes well going forward. Rotten Tomatoes community rating is at 87%, IMDB currently has it with an 8.5 rating, and Yahoo users have rated it a B+.
For an R rated film the $40.2 million is especially impressive. That take puts it in the top 20 R rated openings of all-time. Shutter Island was made for a relatively modest $75 million which means it will end up being quite profitable especially when considering how it will do well overseas.
Last weekend’s winner, Valentine’s Day, fell nearly 70% which was even higher than most anticipated. It made $17.1 million and will easily pass $100 million in the next week or so but won’t pull in a lot more than that. Considering it was made for just $50 million the huge drop-off will not shake the studio which is already planning at least one sequel. Percy Jackson and the Olympians held a little better dropping 50% but The Wolfman saw a stunning 68% fall from its opening.
1- Shutter Island $40.2 (OPEN)
2- Valentine’s Day $17.1 ($87.4)
3- Percy Jackson $15.3 ($58.8)
4- Avatar $16.1 ($687.8)
5- The Wolfman $9.8 ($50.3)
6- Dear John $7.3 ($65.9)
7- Tooth Fairy $4.5 ($49.9)
8- Crazy Heart $3.0 ($21.6)
9- From Paris With Love $2.5 ($21.2)
10- Edge of Darkness $2.2 ($40.3)