Meledandri and Illumination Arts do it again for normally under-powered Universal:
Universal's Easter pic Hop overperformed in its domestic box office debut, grossing an estimated $11.4 million on Friday from 3,570 theaters. The CGI/live-action hybrid is on track to gross north of $38 million for the weekend, and has a shot at becoming the top opening of 2011 for a non-holiday weekend.
Hop is looking like another win for Universal’s foray into the animation business, a venture led by Chris Meledandri of Illumination Entertainment. Last summer, Despicable Me opened to a much better than expected $56.3 million. ...
Your Friday numbers:
1. Hop (Illumination/Universal) NEW [3,579 Theaters] Friday $11.4M, Estimated Weekend $38M
2. Source Code (Summit) NEW [2,961 Theaters] Friday $5.2M, Estimated Weekend $14.5M
3. Insidious (FilmDistrict) NEW [2,408 Theaters] Friday $5M, Estimated Weekend $12M
4. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Fox) Week 2 [3,169 Theaters] Friday $3M (-58%), Estimated Weekend $11M, Estimated Cume $39.1M
5. Limitless (Relativity) Week 3 [2,838 Theaters] Friday $3.1M, Estimated $10.5M, Estimated Cume $56.7M
6. The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate) Week 3 [2,707 Theaters] Friday $2.2M, Estimated Weekend $8M, Estimated Cume $40.6M
7. Sucker Punch (Universal) Week 2 [3,033 Theaters] Friday $2M (-74%), Estimated Weekend $6M, Estimated Cume $29.8M
8. Rango (Paramount) Week 5 [3,134 Theaters] Friday $1.3M, Estimated Weekend $5M, Estimated Cume $104.5M
9. Paul (Working Title/Universal) Week 3 [2,550 Theaters] Friday $1.3M, Estimated Weekend $4.5M, Estimated Cume $32.2M
10. Battle: Los Angeles (Sony) Week 4 [2,263 Theaters] Friday $1.1M, Estimated Cume $4M, Estimated Cume $79M ...
Hybrid movies seem to be a draw. Who would have thunk it?
Add On: The Reporter gives us the finish at the wire:
Universal's Easter-themed pic Hop far exceeded expectations in debuting to an estimated $38.1 million at the domestic box office, one of the best showings of 2011. But overseas, the CGI/live-action hybrid grossed a soft $7 million from 26 countries.
Either way, Hop -- Chris Meledandri’s second film for Universal after hit Despicable Me -- is off to a strong start financially, having cost $63 million to produce. ... Hop earned a stellar A- CinemaScore. If estimates hold, Hop will all but tie with Paramount’s Rango for the best non-holiday opening of 2011. ...
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5 comments:
I just watched Hop with my little sister today. While the animation is nice - the rabbits look great and the art direction is applaudable - I don't think I've watched a movie I disliked as much as Hop in several years.
It was genuinely painful to sit through. The whole time I just kept asking myself why the whole thing wasn't just an animated movie. The only answer I can come up with is because then they couldn't have cameos for David Hasselhoff and Russel Brand.
The movie didn't work for a lot of reasons, I felt the story had more problems than I could count, but it really stuck out the whole time that the movie would have faired much better as a strictly cartoon feature.
I liked the movie as a whole much better than you did, but I agree that the fully animated sequences were the high points, and the completely live action sequences were about on the level of a TV movie from the '90's.
I hope R&H finally does a completely animated film, and Tim Hill is quietly allowed to retire from directing.
Good for R&H. Their track record on these CG-live action hybrids is pretty stellar at the box office. Hopefully they'll build upon it into full CG animated features.
The movie didn't work for a lot of reasons ...
Ah.
That explains the A- CinemaScore and the $38.1 million gross.
Rango got a C+ at the CinemaScore and yet it made 37 million in its opening weekend and 113,7 million dollars domestically (and counting).
CinemaScore does not determinate the legs (or quality) of a particular movie.
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