By Kelly Blessing and Tim Catts - Aug 21, 2012 2:24 AM GMT+0400
“The Expendables 2,” Sylvester Stallone’s R-rated action sequel to the 2010 hit, led the U.S. and Canadian box office with sales of $28.6 million, topping three other new films this past weekend.
The animated film “ParaNorman,” from Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)’s Focus Features and Laika Entertainment, took in $14.1 million to place third, Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement. Sony Corp. (6758)’s “Sparkle,” featuring the late Whitney Houston, opened in fifth place with sales of $11.6 million, and Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” collected $10.8 million for seventh.
Yu Nan, Terry Crews, Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture and Dolph Lundgren in "The Expendables 2." Photographer: Frank Masi/Lionsgate via Bloomberg
“The Expendables 2” follows Stallone and his team as they are enlisted by Mr. Church, a CIA agent played by Bruce Willis, for a seemingly simple job. One member is murdered, and the group’s quest for revenge puts them in enemy territory against an unexpected threat. Distributor Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) ranks sixth in U.S. ticket sales this year at $642.7 million as of Aug. 16, according to researcher Box Office Mojo.
“‘The Expendables 2’ came in a little below expectations, continuing a trend we’ve seen throughout much of the summer of being a little disappointing compared with last year,” Paul Sweeney, a Bloomberg Industries analyst in Princeton, New Jersey, said in a telephone interview.
“If there are good movies, people will come out in droves to see them, but if the titles aren’t as good, they certainly won’t,” Sweeney said.
Stallone Wrote
Stallone stars and co-wrote the film. Jason Statham, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Liam Hemsworth are also featured.
The first film grossed $274.5 million worldwide on an $80 million production budget, and collected $34.8 million in its first weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. Domestic weekend forecasts for “The Expendables 2” ranged from $31 million at Box Office Guru to as much as $40 million, the prediction of BoxOffice.com. The film was made for about $100 million, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Finishing second was “The Bourne Legacy,” Universal Pictures’ reboot of the “Bourne” action-film series. It took in $17.1 million in its second weekend.
The fourth movie in the Bourne saga begins a new storyline without the namesake character of the first three films or actor Matt Damon.
‘ParaNorman’
“The Bourne Legacy” explores the government program that gave the previous three films’ lead character, Jason Bourne, and other agents their enhanced abilities. In the new installment, Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner stars as Aaron Cross, another super soldier who learns he was genetically altered.
Like Bourne, he fights back when the agency tries to have him killed. Renner is joined by Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton in new roles. David Strathairn, Joan Allen and Scott Glenn return from the previous films.
“ParaNorman,” a 3-D animated children’s film, follows a misunderstood boy who can speak to the dead. In the PG-rated comedy-thriller, Norman takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.
Kodi Smit-McPhee provides the voice of Norman. Anna Kendrick and Christopher Mintz-Plasse co-star.
Focus Features, part of Comcast’s NBC Universal, also collaborated with Laika Entertainment on 2009’s “Coraline,” another animated children’s film that went on to garner an Academy Award nomination. “ParaNorman” earned 86 percent positive reviews on the movie-review website Rotten Tomatoes, the average of 77 movie critics.
‘The Campaign’
“The Campaign,” an R-rated election comedy from Time Warner Inc. (TWX)’s Warner Bros., finished in fourth place, taking in $13.1 million in its second weekend. Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis star. Jason Sudeikis and Dylan McDermott co-star.
“Sparkle,” a remake of the 1976 cult classic featuring Irene Cara, stars Jordin Sparks of “American Idol” as the namesake character, a young woman from Detroit who rises to fame in the 1960s music industry.
Three sisters, including Sparks, form a girl group and soon become Motown sensations. The close-knit family begins to fall apart, jeopardizing their fame. Houston, who died in February shortly after completing work for the movie, stars as the family’s single mother. Carmen Ejogo co-stars.
“The Dark Knight Rises,” the final film in the Warner Bros. Batman trilogy, fell to sixth place with $11 million in receipts.
‘Timothy Green’
Disney’s “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” which placed seventh, is a feel-good drama that follows a childless couple and their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child, Timothy Green, is born and shows up on the couple’s doorstep one night.
Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton are featured. CJ Adams co-stars as Timothy Green.
Weekend revenue for the top 12 films rose 20 percent to $127.3 million from the year-earlier period, Hollywood.com said. Domestic film sales this year have risen 3.3 percent to $7.22 billion, with attendance up 2.1 percent.
The amounts below are based on actual ticket sales from Aug. 17 to Aug. 19.
Rev. Avg./ Pct. Total
Movie (mln) Theaters Theater Chg. (mln) Wks
===============================================================
1 THE EXPENDABLES 2 $28.6 3,316 $8,622 -- $28.6 1
2 THE BOURNE LEGACY 17.1 3,753 4,545 -55 69.6 2
3 PARANORMAN (3-D) 14.1 3,429 4,108 -- 14.1 1
4 THE CAMPAIGN 13.1 3,255 4,033 -51 51.4 2
5 SPARKLE 11.6 2,244 5,189 -- 11.6 1
6 DARK KNIGHT RISES 11.0 3,157 3,488 -42 409.8 5
7 TIMOTHY GREEN 10.8 2,598 4,166 -- 15.1 1
8 HOPE SPRINGS 9.1 2,361 3,859 -38 35.1 2
9 DIARY OF A WIMPY KID 3.8 2,737 1,401 -52 38.7 3
10 TOTAL RECALL 3.5 2,434 1,427 -57 51.8 3
11 ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL 3.0 2,274 1,322 -53 150.2 6
12 TED 1.5 1,169 1,320 -52 213.1 8
Top 12 Films Grosses
This Week Year Ago Pct.
(mln) (mln) Chg.
===================================
$127.3 $106.4 +20
Year-to-date Revenue
2012 2011
YTD YTD Pct.
(mln) (mln) Chg.
===================================
$7,223 $6,994 +3.3
Year-to-date Attendance: +2.1%
To contact the reporters on this story: Kelly Blessing in New York at kblessing@bloomberg.net; Tim Catts in New York at tcatts1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net
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