Box office report for Aug. 22, 2011: “The Help” moves up into No. 1 spot
“The Help” cleaned up at the domestic box office over the weekend, moving into the top spot with $20.5 million in its second weekend.
The DreamWorks Pictures film stars Viola Davis, Emma Stone and Octavia Spencer in an adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-seller about Southern black maids in the 1960s. According to the Associated Press, the drama debuted in second place after the prequel “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” the previous weekend.
“The Help” raised its domestic total to $71.8 million and bumped 20th Century Fox’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which slipped to No. 2 with $16.3 million after two weekends at the top, according to the AP.
The success of the movie “The Help” mirrors the success of its source material: Stockett’s novel became a best-seller through word-of-mouth, and the film is staying strong as audiences encourage friends to go see it, Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney, which releases DreamWorks films, told the AP.
While revenues often drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend for big studio films, receipts for “The Help” were down only 21 percent from opening weekend, according to the AP.
“It is a rare feat to see a film not open at No. 1 and then become No. 1,” Hollis told the AP. “To me, it’s a testament of it being a great film, as well as the viral nature of the word of mouth about it.”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” fell to No. 2 with $16.3 million in its third week. But it still constitutes a solid and somewhat surprising summer hit, boosting its domestic total to $133.8 million, the AP reports.
As expected, a rush of new movies debuted over the weekend without much box-office success: the Weinstein Co. family sequel “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” opened at No. 3 with $12 million; Lionsgate’s action remake “Conan the Barbarian” at No. 4 with $10 million; the DreamWorks-Disney horror-comedy remake “Fright Night” at No. 5 with $8.3 million; and Focus Features’ adaptation of David Nicholls’ best-seller “One Day” at No. 9 with $5.1 million. Other than “Fright Night,” the new movies were all panned by critics.
With solid reviews, Disney executives thought “Fright Night” would offer a good mix of scares and laughs for fans in their late teens and early 20s. But distribution boss Hollis told the AP “Fright Night” fell victim to an issue that has troubled studios all summer: How do you bring out younger crowds when they have so many personal entertainment options, from video games to downloading movies?
“What happened here has been a problem for the industry for a long time, and that’s just how do you crack the nut with young adults?” Hollis told the AP. “They’ve been increasingly finicky.”
Overall domestic revenues dipped for the first time in five weekends, reports the AP. Receipts totaled $124 million, down 3 percent from the same weekend last year, when “The Expendables” led with $17 million.
Here are the top 10 movies over the weekend, from the AP:
1. “The Help,” $20.5 million.
2. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” $16.3 million.
3. “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World,” $12 million.
4. “Conan the Barbarian,” $10 million.
5. “Fright Night,” $8.3 million.
6. “The Smurfs,” $8 million ($35.3 million international).
7. “Final Destination 5,” $7.7 million.
8. “30 Minutes or Less,” $6.3 million.
9. “One Day,” $5.1 million.
10. “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” $5 million.
-BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
[...] domestic drama doesn't need 'Help' at the box officeCatholic OnlineNewsOK.com (blog) -CityNewsall 68 news [...]