New Openers Crash in Weak Box Office Frame

Hall Pass and Drive Angry both severely underperformed at the box office this weekend. Though Hall Pass finished second it came in way under expectations and should have cruised to the top spot. Drive Angry 3D didn’t just disappoint it bombed. In its third weekend Gnomeo and Juliet came in #1 for the first time. Overall it was one of the weakest numbers for a top film in years.

The Farrelly brothers being attached to a film just doesn’t have any pull these days. They haven’t had a number one hit in over a decade and the comedy Hall Pass fell flat on its face. It debuted to just $13.4 million despite relatively heavy marketing efforts and tracking that indicated it would open to over $20 million. Reviews trended negative but generally don’t harm comedies of this nature, the concept simply wasn’t very appealing and the ads were not funny.

The animated film Gnomeo and Juliet was able to capture the top spot in its third week of release. Gnomeo and Juliet has benefited from facing no competition in the family genre which had been absent a new offering since December and has pulled in a total of $75 million to date. The movie will finally face competition as Rango opens on Friday.

In what represents the worst opening ever for a 3D film, Drive Angry made only $5.1 million coming in ninth. The Nicolas Cage action film received mixed reviews but overall interest in the film simply wasn’t there. Marketing had not been strong recently which was surprising given the movie sprung for a panel at Comic-Con.

Last weekend’s #1 film Unknown fell 43% to $12.4 million and a third place showing. Just Go With It and I Am Number Four rounded out the top five. Never Say Never, The King’s Speech, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son and The Roommate filled out the remainder of the top 10.