A year ago, Up was hot, and The Hangover was hotter.
That was then. This is the cooled-off now.
The Katherine Heigl-Ashton Kutcher team-up Killers bowed in third place at the weekend box office, with an estimated $16.1 million, while the Judd Apatow-approved comedy Get Him to the Greek took second, with $17.4 million. Put 'em together, and what did you get?
A combined gross that's less than what The Hangover (or Up) did this time last summer.
The other new wide releases, the family comedy Marmaduke ($11.3 million) and the horror movie Splice ($7.5 million), were even less potent.
Shrek Forever After managed its third straight box-office win on the strength of a $25.3 million Friday-Sunday—a gross that would've put it in third place on this weekend last year.
"The last two weeks have been a disaster really," Exhibitor Relations' Jeff Bock said today. "Usually, we see these kind of grosses for films in August."
Studio execs were more optimistic, as is their right, saying they expected things to heat up as schools let out kids—and potential moviegoers—for the summer.
Putting that theory to the test next weekend: The Karate Kid and The A-Team.
Said Bock: "Sadly, we have to rest our hopes on '80s flashback weekend."
Elsewhere:
• So far this year, ticket revenue is up (Thanks, 3D prices!), but actual attendance is down.
• After a much-maligned opening, Sex and the City 2 ($12.7 million) neared $75 million domestically, and $165 million worldwide. Warner Bros.' Jeff Goldstein said the movie is now about where the studio thought it would be, even if it took a different route to get there. So, is it possible we'll see another sequel with the same cast? Said Goldstein: "Too early to say."
• For those keeping score at home, the original Sex and the City was at $99.2 million domestically after two weekends.
• Killers is Heigl's first movie since she exited Grey's Anatomy. It's also her smallest-opening movie since the infamous Zyzzyx Road found $20 at one theater back in 2006. Still, Lionsgate's David Spitz said Killers did not disappoint in the expectations game.
• Get Him to the Greek did not disappoint Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The new movie's opening was right in line with that of its Apatow cousin, which bowed with $17.7 million in 2008.
• In its second weekend, Jake Gyllenhaal's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time held up okay ($13.9 million). Overall, the movie has surpassed its reported $200 million budget, with a worldwide tally of $215.9 million, Disney said.
• Date Night ($830,000) ended its two-month run in the Top 10, having grossed a Tina Fey-high $95.4 million. How to Train Your Dragon ($460,000) ended its 10-weekend run, having shown everybody with a $213.9 million gross.
• MacGruber ($96,465; $8.5 million overall) was down 94 percent from last weekend.
Here's a complete look at the weekend's top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
- Shrek Forever After, $25.3 million
- Get Him to the Greek, $17.4 million
- Killers, $16.1 million
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, $13.9 million
- Sex and the City 2, $12.7 million
- Marmaduke, $11.3 million
- Iron Man 2, $7.8 million
- Splice, $7.5 million
- Robin Hood, $5.1 million
- Letters to Juliet, $3 million
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If the movies don't look so good to you, then maybe pretty pictures from their red-carpet flings are just the thing. Check out our Movie Premiere Pandemonium.