Wall Street Tops the Box Office

Two new releases had solid, though maybe not spectacular openings at the box office. The sequel to the 1987 film Wall Street came out the winner, while the animated adaptation of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole novels followed in second place.

With $19 million Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps came in right about at industry expectations. It was never pegged to be a huge hit, though it still carried some nostalgia factor and intrigue considering the timely nature with the economy of today. The film was marketed heavily, had star power in Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf, but got just middle of the road reviews and not the Oscar buzz that was being sought after.

The 3D family film Legend of the Guardians carries with it some of the most spectacular visuals ever but the story may have been a little dark for younger kids and limited it’s box office potential. The Zack Snyder directed film made $16.3 million. It has the potential to do well in the coming weeks given solid word of mouth and limited competition for the family friendly crowd.

The final wide release was the comedy You Again which had a mediocre start with $8.3 million. It got horrible reviews and was targeted to an older crowd so it is unlikely to have legs. In limited release The Virginity Hit was rolled out to a very poor $429 per screen average which means it may never see wide release and could instead look to find a home on DVD. Buried, which has gotten some strong awards buzz, had a $9500 per screen average in just 11 locations giving it over $100K. The Ryan Reynolds film goes wide next week.