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TUESDAY 10TH UPDATE… TOP TEN GROSSES BELOW… This Presidents Weekend overall was a so-so moviegoing weekend and not a good one, even though this holiday is usually one of the hottest domestic. If only the opening pics had been better. Total moviegoing was $164M, or down -15% from last year. The race for #1 was closer than expected. Twentieth Century Fox’s critically panned A Good Day To Die Hard (3,552 theaters) went up more than +45% from Friday to Saturday and held Sunday to win the 4-day holiday. But Universal thought its 2nd place holdover, the Melissa McCarthy-Jason Bateman frenemy comedy Identity Thief, was giving it a run for its 
money. As a Universal exec told me, “To think we could even scare a #1 film is a great accomplishment.” So it came down to Monday’s grosses with the $92 million budgeted actioner that’s a 25-year-old franchise ending up with an unimpressive $36.7M in its first 5 days. Last time around, 2007′s Live Free Or Die Hard opened on a Wednesday and earned $48.3M for the 5 days and $33.3M for the 3-day weekend. Fox shrugged off the awful reviews – only 13% positive on Rotten Tomatoes – for this R-rated mess directed by John Moore, scripted by Skip Woods, and produced by Alex Young and Wyck Godfrey. (“What reviews? There are reviews on this movie?,” a Fox exec laughed.) On Sunday, Fox released international numbers claiming A Good Day To Die Hard had an “explosive weekend” grossing its biggest weekend ever - $61.5M from 9,595 screens in 63 markets to hold the #1 market position in 32 out of 37 new openers. The worldwide cume went past $80M.
There was another holiday to score: Valentine’s Day, always a huge moviegoing event. (2012′s was a $30 million Tuesday.) Thursday was won by Relativity’s critically panned romantic drama Safe Haven (3,223 theaters) -even though it was worse reviewed than Die Hard 5 with only 11% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. The Lasse Hallstrom-directed PG-13 pic has been fading since VDay. Maybe because this latest tearjerker adapted from romance novelist Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, Dear John) starred Josh Duhamel who doesn’t have the sex appeal of Channing Tatum or the acting chops of Ryan Gosling. Both Die Hard 5 and Safe Haven earned ‘B+’ CinemaScores from audiences to help word of mouth. Bruce et al was #2 on Valentines Day because, when you think of romance, you think of Die Hard 5.
As for Friday’s release, The Weinstein Company’s critically panned PG toon Escape From Planet Earth (3,288 theaters) came in 4th Friday, then had a major kiddie business (Saturday +82%). But the $70M movie ($40M cost and #30 to open, according to Weinstein execs) earned only $20.8M this 4-day holiday even though there’s been nothing fresh in the family marketplace for months and most toons do $35M-40M on a 3-day weekend. With no new kid films for the next few weeks, let’s see what the multiple turns out to be. The film was directed by Cal Brunker.
Warner Bros’ Beautiful Creatures (2,950 theaters) opened Thursday as a huge disappointment after its ‘B’ CinemaScore. Scripted and directed by Richard LaGravenese, this PG-13 tween/teen goth romantic fantasy tried to capitalize on the Twilight target audience addicted to the book series – in this case, the first in the Caster Chronicles novels by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The marketing emphasized social media –from Instagram-released production photography to Facebook-hosted set visit contests to extensive Twitter-based interviews. There even were mall tours. But none of this could overcome the fact that the filmmakers altered the book, which annoyed fans who stayed away from the movie version.
This fifth Die Hard began with a solid $840K in Wednesday midnights from 2,328 locations. That was a gift for the Twentieth Century Fox installment tracking strongest with older males. Willis plays John McClane again who travels to Russia to rescue his CIA operative son played by Jai Courtney, an Australian rising star who just starred with Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher and is on lotsa lists. But grosses were less than expected. Overseas, big openings marked the UK ($7.6M), Japan ($6.8M), Russia ($6.7M), Germany ($6.4M), and Mexico ($3.2M). Results from Asia Pacific, including Taiwan ($1.1M), Malaysia ($914K, Hong Kong ($848K), and South Korea ($1.7M) were still strong a week later after pic took advantage of the Chinese New Year holiday when audiences flock to cinemas. It showed growth in Latin America where Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Central America, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic posted openings greater than double that of Die Hard 4. France, Brazil, and India release next weekend, with China and Australia coming in March.
Here are the Top Ten based on 4-day holiday estimates:
1. Good Day To Die Hard (Fox) Week 1 [Runs 3,552] R
Thursday $8.2M, Friday $7.2M, Saturday $10.1M, Sunday $7.3M, Monday $3.8M
3-Day Weekend $24.6M, 4-Day Holiday $28.5M, Cume $36.7M
2. Identity Thief (Universal) Week 2 [Runs 3,165] R
Friday $6.5M, Saturday $9.9M, Sunday $7.2M, Monday $3.8M
3-Day Weekend $23.7M, 4-Day Holiday $27.5M, Cume $74.8M
3. Safe Haven (Relativity) Week 1 [Runs 3,223] PG13
Thursday $8.8M, Friday $7.1M, Saturday $8.4M, Sunday $5.8M, Monday $3.0M
3-Day Weekend $21.3M, 4-Day Holiday $24.4M, Cume $33.2M
4. Escape From Planet Earth (Weinstein) NEW [Runs 3,288] PG
Friday $3.7M, Saturday $6.6M, Sunday $5.4M, Monday $5.1M
3-Day Weekend $15.7M, 4-Day Holiday $20.8M
5. Warm Bodies (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 3 [Runs 2,897] PG13
Friday $2.6M, Saturday $3.6M, Sunday $2.6M, Monday $1.7M
3-Day Weekend $8.8M, 4-Day Holiday $10.5M, Cume $51.7M
6. Beautiful Creatures (Warner Bros) Week 1 [Runs 2,950] PG13
Thursday $2.5M, Friday $2.3M, Saturday $3.0M, Sunday $2.2M, Monday $1.3M
3-Day Weekend $7.5M, 4-Day Holiday $8.9M, 5-Day Holiday $11.4M
7. Side Effects (Open Road) Week 2 [Runs 2,605] R
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.6M, Sunday $1.8M, Monday $990KM
3-Day Weekend $6.1M, 4-Day Holiday $7.1M, Cume $20.0M
8. Silver Linings Playbook (Weinstein) Week 14 [Runs 2,202] R
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.5M, Sunday $1.8M, Monday $1.1M
3-Day Weekend $5.9M, 4-Day Holiday $7.0M, Cume $99.3M
9. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (Par) Week 4 [Runs 2,103] R
Friday $871K, Saturday $1.4M, Sunday $1.1M, Monday $670K
3-Day Weekend $3.5M, 4-Day Holiday $4.1M, Cume $50.4M
10. Zero Dark Thirty (Annapurna/Sonyl) Week 9 [Runs 1,522] R
Friday $675K, Saturday $1.2M, Sunday $1.0M, Monday $610K
3-Day Weekend $3.0M, 4-Day Holiday $3.6M, Cume $88.5M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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John Moore is an awful director – FOX made a very uninspired choice for this film. I love Willis as McClane. I hope they make many more regardless of how this performs. DH is a great franchise. I’ll reserve judgement until I see it – but from what I’ve seen so far McClane looks like Wile E. Coyote. That’s not a good thing.
Oh, please, Die Hard is not a great film franchise.
Its a good franchise 1 is a classic 3 is a vg film 2 and 4 are fun. This is the first dreadful one
DH1 is a bonafide classic and arguably the best action movie ever made. DH2 still gets a ton of run despite sucking (IMHO), and DH3 is firmly entrenched as a hit action movie that will run forever on TBS, HBO, etc. DH4 and DH5 are travesties, but if combined they average $115 mil domestic, it’s a sure sign that if Die Hard isn’t a “great” franchise, it’s still a hugely popular one.
I’m going to call you out on this – The first one is groundbreaking, especially for what it was. The sequels diluted it somewhat and this last one was a stinker. So that Fox exec laughing doesn’t give a shit and why Fox in the late 2000′s sucked ass until they wised up most recently. Well, until Die Hard 5 came along.
John Moore can’t take all the heat on this one. Not when you’ve got seasoned folks like Alex Young in the mix.
Where is >>>
BULLET TO THE HEAD???
THE LAST STAND???
PARKER???
Ohhhhhh…..I see now…..ahem
The problem with Hollywood is the studio heads still cater to the 3 major agencies: CAA, WME, and ICM.
None of these agents go the extra mile to seek true talent – that’s why most movies stink. The studio heads need to re-think their relationships and THROW MORE PASSES. Constantly listening to CAA is just giving the ball to the running back…..
Caught a sneak of this last night. It was great, throwback fun. It’ll have a very good run and probably be #1.
Thanks Fox Exective!
It was absolutely awful. Luckily I was at an AMC Fork And Screen so I was distracted by the waiters and waitresses delivering food. *THAT* had more intensity.
-RnsW
Nah, thanks rival studio plants. This movie was great. I see a billion posts all over the internet bashing this movie, and it’s only Thursday afternoon. Something stinks, badly.
Of the 35 reviews it received on Metacritic it had exactly one positive.
So what is your point. Because the majority of critics panned the film no one else can like it or should like it. I never let critics decide what I want to see or not see.
wtf? so random. what does batman have to do with this? call me when die hard reaches a billion without 3D beetaych!
The movie is horrible and the worst the franchise ever had to offer. John Moore is not a good director and the way he shoots the action scenes is terrible. Everything is shot too tight and close-up so you can’t see anything or have any idea what is going on.
The villains are also terrible. It’s a rushed movie.
Moore ruined Max Payne and now he’s ruined Die Hard.
Why would anyone think Die 5 would be good. There has only been one great one, the first, and that’s because we met the character for the first time and the stakes were real. And it was awesome.
2 was fun. The rest have sucked.
No real writer I know wants to work on it so they get the writer of The A Team and make him rich. Very few directors want to touch it, only hacks looking for a payday.
And yet, you folks seem surprised its bad.
But will of course go see it – justifying the whole process by the studio in the first place.
“No real writer I know wants to work on it…”. You obviously aren’t a working writer or at least don’t know any. It’s a produced credit for a film that’ll gross at least $300 million worldwide. Not to mention it is a writing J.O.B. worth a minimum $42,000 and a maximum so disgustingly high you’ll never see it in your lifetime, not to mention an outrageous backend depending how far your CAA, WME, UTA or VERVE reps can shove your writer’s deal up Fox’s collective asses. As a working member of the WGA, I can assure you, every writer i know wanted this gig. Know what you’re talking about before you hit that post button.
Should they be called “midnights” anymore, when they actually run new releases at 10pm and 12am these days?
A solid number (toxic WOM will kill the movie slowly over the weekend), but they had two shows last night, plus a nationwide franchise marathon, to help plump those figures up.
Is it 1992 again?
After the sh*tty weekend grosses, we will have a better picture of this turd of a film.
By far the worst film in the franchise and one of the worst major studio releases I have ever seen. Love Die Hard, adore Bruce Willis as McClane, I’ll even defend much of Live Free or Die Hard, but this movie is awful. Nonsensical script, eye-sore cinematography, ridiculous CGI effects, terrible dialogue…it’s just lazy and bad all around.
They couldn’t have made a movie that feels less like a Die Hard film if they consciously tried. John Moore and Skip Woods? Maybe the worst team of all time. Everyone at Fox should be utterly ashamed of this film. I hope John McTiernan never has to see it.
How can you have a Die Hard movie that is utterly devoid of great wisecracks, monologues and laughs? Bad villains with no depth or fun, and Jai Courtney gives one of the worst performances in one of the worst roles in recent memory.
I’m shocked at how bad it was, and I had low expectations going in. That they could spend this amount of time and money on a film this bad is staggering. Hollywood laziness, contempt and excess at its absolute worst. Did everyone involved in the genesis of this film, including Bruce Willis, forget what John McClane and Die Hard is supposed to be?
“I hope John McTiernan never has to see it.”
I don’t think they get NetFlix in prison.
This is very dissapointing news. JOHN MOORE STINKS. He has yet to make a good film. I have no idea who decided to put him in as a “director” but this should prove once and for all HE’S AWFUL. I hope this franchise continues. Die Hard with Willis is amazing. They simply need a good director!
Fox and CEs over seeing this should be ashamed of themselves for this horrible cash-grab. Four wasn’t great but they just slapped the fans in the face with this one. Moore was their third choice as director! First was Justin Lin then Joe Cornish and they both turned it down and Moore was who they went with?! What’s wrong with these executvies?!! And Skip Woods???!! Man, this was Tom Rothman’s final blunder. When you keep working with writers and directors who put out mediorce material stop working with them, don’t reward them with more projects! But at the end of the day the blame goes to Mr. Willis who is the keep of the Die Hard Grail, he should have known better.
‘“What reviews? There are reviews on this movie?,” the Fox exec laughed.’
Then why did they go out of their way to screen it for the press?
Typical Fox.
Here’s how it works over there:
John Moore just sits around the Fox lot all day, until they hand him six crappy projects and say “John, this would be PERFECT for you.”
And then he agrees…
Terrible director and writer = terrible movie. What is the point of waiting six years for a new Die Hard if this is the crap they are going to deliver. This didn’t resemble a Die Hard movie in any way shape or form.
Was forced to choose Beautiful Creatures last night and Im glad I was. It had Jeremy Irons which I don’t see too much in the films I normally watch and surprisingly it was decent. I still wanna see Live Free or Die Hard much more though and don’t care what the critics say, more interested in what the Cinemascore grade turns out to be.
Just back from seeing “Beautiful Creatures,” and honestly, I’ll be surprised if it does well. The books had their flaws, but at least managed to tell a somewhat entertaining story. The movie is a mess.
Don’t wish to be unkind but the young leads in Creaures are bland and forgetable. The film gives viewers a pair of ugly kids to stare at for two hours. Craft trumps looks in a drama but this is teen romance. Kids want to see impossibly pretty CW teens, not these two Wal-Mart clerks. Okay, that was unkind, sorry.
Should sweep the Razzies this time next year. Why go with John Moore in the director’s chair? Was Uwe Bowl unavailable?
“The 25-year-old franchise tracking strongest with older males.”… Until WOM hits the fan…
This is what I don’t get about FOX trying to change it up because they think it will play better for the younger generation by going with a younger McClane, unnecessary shaky cam, wall-to-wall action with little to no dialogue (the few lines in the movie are uninspired) and over-the-top obvious CGI that looks like a video game not a movie. You alienate the older DIE HARD fans that made it what it is today. Note to FOX: Anytime Die Hard plays at the revival houses in LA, the young people do in fact (despite what you might think) cheer and love the original… so they will sit through a movie with character and plot development and well composed cinematography with out shaky cam.
It was a great film. Did you even watch it? I’m guessing not. Don’t trust the critics.
First Arnie, then Sly and now Bruce. At least Bruce had a vehicle to cling to but these guys need to be more careful about what they choose to do. EXPENDABLES is a kitch fluke series and DIE HARD will do okay despite its horrible reviews but, basically, these geriatric action men had better look elsewhere for material lest they have no audience left on any platform.
The new Die Hard may stink, but compare Bruce’s IMDB page with that of Arnie and Sly. If you’re talking hit/acclaimed movies released since the turn of the millennium, it’s not even close.
At least Bruce has had Looper, Moonrise Kingdom, Red, Die Hard 4 (awful but was a hit), Sin City, The Whole Nine Yards, Bandits, Unbreakable… there’s also a lot of crap in there, but in the same time period Arnie has done nothing but the Expendables, and the same would go for Sly if he hadn’t dusted off Rocky and Rambo.
Bruce may not do much “acting” these days, but his career is still in much better shape than his old action movie buddies.
What’s with the constant revisionist history on Die Hard 4 (aka, Live Free or Die Hard)? It has 81% positive on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 17% for Die Hard 5. You don’t get an 81% positive rating by sucking or being ‘awful’.
And, Bruce will continue to find quirky and interesting roles as he ages. He can act, and has done enough of a wide range of good characters unlike Sly and Arnold who are pretty much always just Sly and Arnold…now, over the hill action body builder guys who have majorly maxed out limited talent. Okay, give Sly a few points as a writer, but both these guys have no place to go while Bruce still has some more in the tank.
I actually hope Bruce Willis finds a role which will let him give it all he has learned as a seasoned actor. I think Bruce Willis will be like Clint Eastwood with acting. Both careers will end at their own discretion.
And, folks…Die Hard 5 was probably “an offer he could not refuse” . Star action lead dollar days are certainly getting less likely for Bruce, and he knows it. RED 2 will have action, but it is an ensemble comedy team…not a Willis action driven film.
If Bruce Willis were older at the time, he would have joined Clint, Tommy Lee, Donald and Jim in Space Cowboys… a place where Bruce Willis would be most equal and comfortable.
As a longtime fan of Willis and DIE HARD, I was very disappointed by GOOD DAY. But…if doing one paycheck movie like this a year allows Willis to do two smaller, more interesting films like MOONRISE KINGDOM and LOOPER (both among my favorites of 2012), I can live with that. And Willis’ next big, loud action flick, the G.I. JOE sequel, looks like it’ll be a lot of fun; the 3D preview I saw before HANSEL & GRETEL was more exciting than all of GOOD DAY.
Not to dismiss your point, but Arnie spent most of the last decade governing the state of California, so he couldn’t have been in many movies even if he wanted to. Having said that, it’s highly unlikely Arnie could even have been in a movie like Moonrise Kingdom or Unbreakable because of his limited range.
As for Sly, he tried to branch out in movies like Get Shorty and Be Coll, but those did some disappointing numbers at the box office. I like the idea of him actually writing more screenplays as long as he doesn’t insert himself into those movies.
Loved Beautiful Creatures…Gothic fun and terrific acting..close to full theatre at Lincoln Square in NYC when i went at 5pm
I disagree, I thought Einrch killed it.
I meant killed it in a good way.
The reviews for Die Hard were laughably bogus. It was a decent Die Hard sequel, definitely a better than average film. The critics had to have been paid off to hate the film so much. Funny thing is, they loved the last movie, and it was awful. Do they just have bad taste, or are they in someone else’s pocket?
Everybody in my theatre loved it last night. This is a critic proof franchise. The loyal fanbase will tell you if it’s a hit or not. The villain set up was different than we’re used to and Willis didn’t have much hand to hand combat. Other than that it was a fun, loud, bloody movie.
I hate plants. Everyone on this board is a goddam plant. I am not a plant. I am an ordinary Joe.
I only trust imdb nowadays.
Die Hard 8.3
Die Hard 2 7.1
Die: Vengeance 7.5
Live Free was 7.3
Good day is 6.4
Pretty much fits exactly with the quality of the flicks imo.
I am not a plant. I am a flower. Watch me grow…
Die Hard movies are a thrill ride! Grab your seat and hang on and have fun!!!