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Box office report: 'Expendables 2' shoots to the top with $28.8 million, but newcomers don't 'Sparkle'

2016 Obama's America, Box Office, Movie Biz, ParaNorman, Sparkle, The Bourne Legacy, The Campaign, The Dark Knight Rises, The Expendables 2, The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Image Credit: Frank Masi

Four weeks after the shootings in Aurora, Colo., the box office remains in a relative slump — despite performing over 20 percent better that the same weekends in 2011 and 2010.

According to industry consulting firm Screen Engine, 17 percent of moviegoers are still reluctant to head to the theater following the shooting. While that number has dropped from the 21 percent who claimed they were reluctant one week after the shooting, it's still telling — and discouraging — for Hollywood. Fortunately, moviegoers have a lot of options to choose from. When the top seven movies at the box office all earn over $10 million, it's clear that the box office isn't in totally dire straits, but it doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders.

Sylvester Stallone and his weathered crew of grizzly action stars (and fresh-faced Liam Hemsworth) pushed their explosive sequel The Expendables 2 to a $28.8 million debut, 17 percent lower than the $34.8 million bow of 2010′s original Expendables. The number one debut marks the first time pop culture icon Chuck Norris has ever topped the box office.

There really is nothing he can't do.

Lionsgate spent $35 million to acquire the film, which was made by Nu Image for a reported $90 million. Audiences, which were 63 percent male and 65 percent above the age of 25 (both older and more male despite the addition of Hemsworth), issued the film a healthy "A-" CinemaScore grade. The explosive action entry also earned markedly better reviews than its predecessor, which could spur positive word-of-mouth, which Expendables 2 will need in order to match the original's $103.1 million domestic finish and for Stallone to justify another sequel.

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The Bourne Legacy held second place after dropping 55 percent to $17 million. Universal's $125 million sequel, which replaced star Matt Damon with The Avengers' Jeremy Renner, has now earned $69.6 million after ten days. By comparison, The Bourne Ultimatum earned $69.3 million during its opening weekend in 2007.

Focus Features' ParaNorman kicked off its run in third place with $14 million — a touch behind the $16.8 million that Coraline, which was also made by Laika Entertainment, earned in its debut. The 3-D flick, about a boy who can communicate with the dead, launched very wide in 3,429 theaters, and it achieved a rather lackluster $4,085 venue average — the least of any of the newcomers, including The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which found about $4,199 at each of its 2,598 theaters. Audiences gave ParaNorman a "B+" CinemaScore grade, which, again, was the lowest of any of the new releases, despite the fact that it earned the strongest critical reviews by far.

ParaNorman will need some incredible holds in order to match Coraline's $75.3 million finish, but that film benefited from being part of the 3-D craze that peaked in 2009. ParaNorman is entering a very different marketplace where 3-D affection has long since passed.

In fourth, Will Ferrell and Zack Galifinakis' comedy The Campaign dipped 50 percent to $13.4 million, which lifted the R-rated hit's total to $51.7 million. While The Campaign will likely miss the $100 million mark, it cost Warner Bros. only $30 million to make, and it should prove a profitable venture for the studio.

Image Credit: Alicia Gbur

The allure of Whitney Houston's final performance didn't drive many crowds to Sparkle, which began in fifth place with $12 million. As a point of comparison, the concert doc Michael Jackson: This Is It – which arrived four months after Michael Jackson's death — started off hotter than Sparkle, earning $23.2 million in its opening weekend in October 2009 on the way to a $72.1 million finish. Sparkle didn't have 3-D ticket prices working on its side, but still, its less-than-stellar box office is somewhat surprising given Houston's status as pop royalty.

Fortunately, the ScreenGems release cost only $14 million, and that low cost will be its saving grace. Thanks to a narrow theater count of 2,244, Sparkle notched a sturdy, if uninspiring, $5,348 per theater average, and if it can garner strong word-of-mouth — which seems likely given its "A" CinemaScore grade — it could find legs in the weeks to come.

Sparkle's leading lady Jordin Sparks, who won Season 6 of American Idol, isn't the first Idol champ to show up at the box office, though she did garner the strongest opening weekend results. Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood had a supporting role in 2011′s Soul Surfer, which opened to $10.6 million on the way to a $43.9 million finish. Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson led the famously awful musical From Justin To Kelly, which earned $4.9 million total in 2003. Now, if only Sparks could match their album sales.

  1. The Expendables 2 – $28.8 million
   2.  Sparkle – $12.0 million

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