Collider: "Immortals" Stays On The Weekend Box Office

From source: Collider
Jack and Jill gained some ground on Saturday, though not enough to slay the Immortals. The 3D action/fantasy film finished first with an estimated $32 million from 3,112 locations. Considering that the film’s distributor was expecting a top opening of $26 million that has to be seen as a win. And even if the film’s total does look somewhat anemic compared to past 3D hits, with the year we’ve had I’d prefer to focus on the positive.

Title Weekend Total
1 Immortals $32,000,000 $32
2 Jack and Jill $26,000,000 $26
3 Puss In Boots $25,500,000 $108.8
4 Tower Heist $13,200,000 $43.9
5 J. Edgar $11,470,000 $11.5
6 Harold and Kumar 3D $5,900,000 $23.2
7 In Time $4,150,000 $30.6
8 Paranormal Activity 3 $3,625,000 $100.8
9 Footloose $2,735,000 $48.8
10 Real Steel $2,000,000 $81.7

For Relativity Media, being able to promote Immortals as America’s number one film is undoubtedly positive. Before today, the company’s biggest hit was Limitless, which opened to $18.9 million back in March. Then again, that film was priced at just $27 million while the reported budget for Immortals is somewhere between $75 million and $100 million-plus, depending on whom you ask. But wait! I was trying to be positive, wasn’t I?

OK then, it is positive news that Immortals has scored the third highest debut for an R-rated movie so far this year. Especially considering that 2011’s top adult films were The Hangover – Part II and Paranormal Activity 3. Those are franchise films, after all. Immortals is original… unless you count that “from the producers of 300” stuff. In any case, neither of the year’s top R-raters had a 3D price premium backing their totals so that makes third place seem a little less spectacular.

And what of the 3D angle? Could it be spun into a positive for Immortals? Not so much. Though the film came close to topping Puss In Boot’s $34 million and The Smurfs $35.6 million, in the end it fell short of even those middling 3D debuts. The best it can claim is the title of top R-rated 3D opening of 2011 and, considering the former record holder was Final Destination 5 with $18 million, I’m not sure that’s something to brag on.

So, OK. There are a lot of ways in which the Immortals win could be spun away from the positive. But here’s something no one can take away: the film beat the odds by taking the top spot at all. All signs indicated another embarrassingly-light turnout for this male-centric action/fantasy film. 2011 hasn’t exactly embraced that genre, plus it was up against Jack and Jill, the latest comedy from the team of Adam Sandler and director Dennis Dugan.

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