2011-12 Season Network Rankings: Fox Still On Top But Down, … 
HLN Set To Air Daytime Emmy Awards 
Grant Bowler Cast As Richard Burton Opposite Lindsay Lohan … 
UPDATE: Dish Network And Broadcasters Ask Courts To Decide … 
Cannes Surprise Screening: Change Of Plans On Juan Antonio … 
Kevin Hart In Talks To Join Kevin James In ‘Valet … 
Anthony Hopkins Up For ‘Red 2′ Villain; Can … 
Cannes Conflicted Over ‘The Paperboy’ As … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘American Idol’ Posts … 
Ghost Of 2004 Hovers Over L.A. Screenings As Int’l … 
On The Road To Awards Season? Kerouac Book Finally Makes It … 
Michael Bay’s Name Pushed Paramount To Settle Injured … 
Several More New Series In Recasting Mode; Returning Ones … 
‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ Moving To March 2013 To … 
Directors Fortnight Says It Must “Police … 
‘Chronicle’ Helmer Josh Trank Takes On … 
Will ‘Pan Am’ Take Flight With Amazon? 
TOLDJA! ICM Management Buyout Complete 
DESPERATE: HuffPo & Oprah Team Up Now 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Great Gatsby’ 
How Did Women Pilot Writers Fare For 2012? 
Breaking News! 12 PM UPDATE: 
Last night and this morning, Paramount thought its DreamWorks Animation 3D toon How To Train Your Dragon came out on top for its 4th weekend in release. Nope. Just now, Lionsgate claimed victory for its North American 2D acquisition Kick-Ass, which already opened as the weekend’s most popular pic and now is also the top earner. It was a neck-and-neck box office race with director Matthew Vaughn making $19.8 million to edge past Jeffrey Katzenberg’s $19.6 million. Kick-Ass, which is based on the comic book, opened first on April 2nd in the UK and has made internationally $2.6M.
11 AM: Latest figures I’ve received claim DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon 3D distributed by Paramount won by making $19.7 million on Sunday vs Lionsgate’s U.S. acquisition Kick-Ass $19.6 million. Considering there was only $250,000 separating the two pics going into Sunday, I think we all should wait until today’s weekend actuals. But it’s clear that the 2D film was the most popular even if it’s not the biggest Friday through Sunday moneymaker this weekend. Again, I’m thinking seriously about presenting two No. 1 winners every weekend.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
Kick-Ass still underperformed, a fact that will not change regardless of who wins this pissing contest.
INTERESTING!
This is why all the obsession over weekend Box Office numbers is so silly. People are waiting with baited breath over the difference of a few hundred thousand dollars.
That’s a rounding error in the entertainment business. It … does … not …. matter.
No one at the studios care about a few hundred thousand dollars. It’s purely superficial.
It’s like watching the LA Lakers playoff game, and obsessing about whether the Lakers won with 108 points or 105 points?
I get the point you want to make, Nikki, but… wouldn’t you have to take into account bargain matinees, kids price tickets, regional price differences, senior tickets, etc? 3D is just one price factor. A 3D matinee at kids prices is less expensive than a 2D screening. Just a grain of salt.
Given that 3D ticket prices are higher than 2D, it is clear more people went to see “Kick-Ass.”
That being said, both films are fun, and I’ll note that “Dragon” started slower than expected, yet it’s gross has continued to build based on good word of mouth. I suspect the same thing will occur with “Kick-Ass,” as well.
Hell to the no.
Kick ass will drop off and dissapear in two weeks. It’s DOA and already starting to smell ripe.
Two questions come out of the last few photo finish weekends:
*Which should count more – the dollars a film makes or the number of tickets sold? Because it really seems unfair to hold 2D movies with lower ticket prices to the same standard as 3D films with inflated ticket prices. I would be more interested to know how many people were actually motivated to see a movie over the weekend than just to know the actual $ numbers. Although I know in Hllywd, the thing that really matters is the cash.
*Are we seeing social networking and texting start to affect the traditional methods studios use to predict their weekends? What usually happens is that, on Friday, the head of distribution at each studio looks at how a film is performing in markets across the country, then takes the data and uses it to predict the weekend. (That is why sites like deadline hollywood can predict the Saturday box office on Friday night.) Distribution uses a bunch of historical detail based on the genre, breakdown in attendance, how films in the same genre have performed, the dynamics of the weekend (based on the history of movies opening on the same weekend in past years), etc. And they “project”.
But lately, we are seeing these projections go off kilter. Movies underperform on Saturday or Sunday based on the Friday numbers. A lot of people (me included) think this is a result of texting, twitter, facebook, etc. People literally text their friends or post as soon as they have seen a film. “Don’t bother” or “Must see!” Whereas word of mouth used to build, it is now instant.
And those tried and true formulas that allow everyone to either breathe easy or fall apart on Friday night nay not work anymore…
No big deal. Kick-Ass is a major disappointment. Fan-boy love just wasn’t enough. Looked mean and ugly to the masses. No sale.
I doubt you even saw the film. I mean it’s okay to be a suit man, but at least watch the film, even if you only care about the numbers. “Kick-Ass” is being pissed on by you haters because it has something that all other studio action/fantasy/comic book movies lack, and that is imagination. Not to mention that they cared about making quality entertainment, and didn’t get consumed with trying to make the film appeal to every moviegoer, which only waters a film down.
As far as box office numbers go, the jury is still out. The film should do boffo international business, and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the film has legs domestically. $20 mil opening for an R-rated pic aimed at young adults and teenagers is pretty damn good, especially given the tight competition out in theatres right now. I bet it does at least $60 mil and could hit $80-90, which would be excellent considering the opening. It’ll do at least $100 mil overseas and probably a lot more.
>“Kick-Ass” is being pissed on by you haters because it has >something that all other studio action/fantasy/comic book movies >lack, and that is imagination.
If torture porn is now considered imaginative, then sure.
This is an antiquated way of evaluating a movie’s performance. It needs to be a function of how many ‘customers’ showed up and then have a formula that includes per screen average and overall gross. Just picking the highest gross doesn’t work anymore.
Not sure I understand why you’d post 2 # 1′s. Would one be for attendence and the other be for box office $ gross to reflect the disparity in ticket prices between 3d and 2d movies? And how would you factor in the “premium” theater ticket at one end of the spectrum and drive-ins (do any still exist?) at the other.
For analysis sake, separating the number of tickets sold and the gross could be helpful. It wouldnt be helpful to separate 2d from 3d for several of the reasons above mainly because this is just one factor. While the number of tickets correlates positively with the gross reciepts, separating the two in times of question would be interesting
Kick-Ass deserves it. Such a great film. In my top 3 list of superhero movies. I think it will have decent legs, word of mouth has been really good. Before you bash the film, give it a try. I went with 2 people that knew nothing about the film. One of them thought he would hate it and the other thought it was just going to be a comedy. Both of them thought it was awesome. That speaks a lot when someone goes into a movie thinking they will hate it and leaves impressed.
Didn’t Kick Ass have 10pm previews on Thursday night? Thursday is not technically part of the weekend, so If you filter those out Dragon might still be #1
That’s great. It deserved the win.
Good for Matthew Vaughn. Kick-Ass is an excellent film in every respect and as much as I loved HTTYD, K-A needed this much more. My hope is that this leads to more people in time seeing the overlooked Stardust as it truly is the Princess Bride for this generation.
the spoof “kiss-ass” from the creators of “superhero movie” coming soon to a theater near you.
Yay!!!! Take that haters!
That’s great for LG…Kick-ass is a great film!
What’s funny is that I saw Katzenberg (and his wife, I presume) Saturday night at the 8 PM screening of Kick-Ass at the Westfield AMC Century City 15.
A quick google search reveals that Kick Ass has made over $13M in the UK alone, so the figure you’re reporting for its international box office is inaccurate. Since you remind those commenting here “don’t get your facts wrong” I assume that your aim is to adhere to the same standards, so I look forward to seeing this error corrected.
Although Kick Ass wins bragging rights for being #1, an opening of less than $20 million is nothing to brag about.
The day you make a film that grosses anywhere near 20 million in its first weekend is the day you can make a comment like that, Zach.
Come to think of it, have you ever made a film at all, or are you just another Kevin Smith clone, pontificating from his “command room” in mom’s basement?
Hahaha. Aren’t you a bit of a hypocrite for insulting Kevin Smith, while I am busy insulting Kick Ass? Get a life, loser.
Heard that half-assed argument everytime people call Tarantino on being a plagiarist, and it doesn’t work in either case, because he and Vaughn only got where they were by pandering to the lowest common demoninator.
“Kick” is the worst piece of garbage I’ve ever seen. The predictions of “Idiocrqacy” are coming to bare and that was the pix that the studios thought was too awful to release. It’s dead in Chicago and is being shuttled to the ‘mini screens’ pronto.
If i worked on KICK-ASS in any capacity I would want to beat the ever-loving snot out of the Lionsgate marketing team right now. This movie was marketed as a few outcasts making superhero costumes and then maybe beating a few muggers up. and somewhere in the middle, nic cage shoots his daughter, which is funny but useless with no context. i saw the movie last night. it’s got its flaws but it’s awesome, in a COMMERCIAL way. it has a huge story that (somewhat intentionally) approaches the scale of the first SPIDERMAN. Dozens of awesome deaths, killer action sequences, at least ten “oh shit” moments from chloe moretz’s character, a love story with a smoking hot chick… Absolutely NONE of this was in the trailers, and there was enough fodder in this film to fill a three-minute spot rivaling that of a Marvel flick. They hid it all for god knows why, maybe so as not to turn off middle america? They should have just trusted their killer product, utilized the best of what it was, and just going for it. They marketed something unique AND commercial as something just unique, making it feel indie, and as a result it opened at $20m instead of $50m. Maybe Carl Icahn is right.
“Dozens of awesome deaths” gee, you make it sound so appealing
In the end Kick Ass is an R RATED niche comic book movie with over the top language and violence, Lionsgate showed everything they could about the film considering so much was Red Band material…In fact, it is thanks to the marketing power behind this film that it opened so well and without those efforts…it probably never would have been distributed!
Yes it was neck and neck, but Nikki I’m disappointed you haven’t touched more on Dragon’s remarkable success. To ALMOST get first after being out for 4 weeks says quite a lot about this film.
….while certainly not the Kick-Ass BO #’s for an opening weekend the Studio expected, kudos to Lionsgate for distributing and taking a chance on an original, controversial and entertaining film.
Will KA have legs? Yes. Nice job Tim Palen and Joe Drake.
It doesn’t really matter in the greater scheme of things — How to Train Your Dragon was a wonderful movie and it’s proving to have steam thanks to positive word of mouth — I am not sure that Kick Ass is going to have the same luck in that department, but it might eventually have that good ole reliable cult following — it sort of reminds me of a more coherent and consistent Rat Pfink a Boo Boo…
Who cares? Seriously “Kick Ass” is R rated and NOT a family entertainment pic, that can’t sell on prime time TV. “Dragon” is a money generating machine in terms of a PG rating and da little merchandising stuff.
I don’t think a hard paying movie fan will decide if either flick is no 1 over the bloody first weekend. Box Office analyst are (trying) to ruin the biz. with them damn numbers.
On the other hand, hey, some 20 Million ain’t to shabby for a first weekend for a NONE STUDIO PIC!!!