Is This the Worst Movie Year Ever?

Hollywood gets Sucker Punched again as Zack Snyder epic comes up with less than $20 million in box-office debut; Diary of a Wimpy Kid sequel leads another weak weekend

By Joal Ryan Mar 27, 2011 4:39 PMTags
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You know what the top-grossing movie of this god-awful box-office year is?

One hint: It ain't Sucker Punch.

RELATED: Funny, the movies (and stars) all look great at the premieres…

The Zack Snyder extravaganza, featuring Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jon Hamm and more, debuted in second in the weekend standings, behind fellow new entry Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, with a weak $19 million Friday-Sunday off its reported $80 million-ish budget.

"Sucker Punch was thought to be a contender," Exhibitor Relations' Jeff Bock said today via email, "but turned out to be a pretender."

What else is new?

With nearly three full months in the books, Hollywood has exactly (and barely) two—two!—$100 million domestic grossers.

Last year at this time, the industry had Alice in Wondeland, Valentine's Day, How to Train Your Dragon (a slow starter, granted) and, oh, yeah, most of the run of the 2009 holdover, Avatar.

This year, as Bock said, the "box office is in a freefall."

Or, to put it another way: The Green Hornet, which wowed nobody with its prowess at the multiplex, is currently the No. 3 grosser of 2011, per Box Office Mojo's (not-yet updated) rankings. That Justin Bieber concert flick, Never Say Never? It's No. 5.

According to Bock, help may be on the way in the form of Vin Diesel's and Paul Walker's latest garage offering, Fast Five, opening April 29. The box-office anaylist is also bullish on the summer lineup, which includes Thor, Green Lantern, and sequels from Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars, The Hangover and more.

"The industry desperately need[s] a happy ending to these troubled 3-D times," he said.

No, Just Go With It, the critically unloved Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy which came up with another $1.5 million this weekend to eke past $100 million, can't do it alone.

Oh, and the No. 1 movie of the year so far?

At $106 million, Rango.

Here's a complete rundown of the top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday numbers as compiled by Exhibitor Relations.

  1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, $24.4 million
  2. Sucker Punch, $19 million
  3. Limitless, $15.2 million
  4. Lincoln Lawyer, $11 million
  5. Rango, $9.8 million
  6. Battle: Los Angeles, $7.6 million
  7. Paul, $7.5 million
  8. Red Riding Hood, $4.4 million
  9. The Adjustment Bureau, $4.2 million
  10. Mars Needs Moms, $2.2 million