OBLIVION takes hold of no. 1

15 Apr 2013

SINGAPORE - OBLIVION opens at no. 1 with US$1,152,146 from 52 screens, including IMAX for a strong US$22,157 screen average. It's the 4th film this year to collect more than US$1m over its opening weekend.  

Last year this time, BATTLESHIP opened on 65 screens with a mighty US$1,668,591 (including sneaks) and a slightly higher weekend screen average of US$24,207. BATTLESHIP ended its 8-week run with US$4,189,981. 

The Tom Cruise led MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL (2011) grossed US$5,037,487 while JACK REACHER (2012) took in only US$1,383,532. OBLIVION is directed by Joseph Kosinski, whose previous film TRON: LEGACY (2010) grossed US$2,019,304. OBLIVION is likely to finish with around US$2.8m.

The Gerard Butler action vehicle OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN draws US$342,169 from 26 screens and a strong US$13,160 screen average for a total of US$371,283 including sneaks. A final gross between US$850,000 to US$1m is likely.

Making his directorial debut is Dan Mazer - the screenwriter of BORAT and BRUNO with the British  romantic comedy I GIVE IT A YEAR. Interest is mild as it collects US$46,899 with a US$5,211 screen average from 9 screens. 

Faring terribly are 2 Korean releases - crime drama DON'T CRY, MUMMY ends up with US$18,527 from 9 screens (US$2,059 screen average) while MASQUERADE, despite being a critical and commercial hit back home, grosses a miserable US$8,709 from 3 screens (US$2,903 screen average). 

Also released is the Hong Kong thriller CONSPIRATORS starring Aaron Kwok and Nick Cheung. The film is unranked but probably grossed between US$19,255 to US$46,123 from possibly 12 screens.

Last week's no. 1 film (and one of the biggest hits of the year), G.I. JOE: RETALIATION tumbles 71.7% and grosses a further US$234,811 for a mighty US$4,095,162 total. It's the second highest grossing film of 2013 to date. 

SAVING GENERAL YANG has just overtaken THE GRANDMASTER to become the second highest grossing China/Hong Kong release behind JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS. It has grossed US$931,347 after 2 weeks and is poised to finish with US$1.1m.

Overall, the box office is up 9.1% from the previous weekend but down 20.42% when compared to the same frame a year ago when BATTLESHIP debut on top.

Source: The Top 10 ranked by CFEA (see below) differs from Box Office Mojo slightly this week. This commentary is based on the Box Office Mojo figures.