Domestic box office revenue tumbled as “Jack the Giant Slayer” and three other new entries, including Relativity Media's R-rated comedy “21 and Over” and CBS Films' “The Last Exorcism Part II,” underwhelmed.
From New Line and Legendary Pictures, Bryan Singer's revisionist take on the classic English story “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Jack the Giant Slayer,opened to $27.2 million in North America. The 3D fantasy-adventure cost north of $300 million to make, including a $190 million production budget.
Comparisons are being made to John Carter, which cost north of $250 million, and debuted to $30 million in early March 2012. Battleship, with a price tag similar to Jack, opened to $25.5 million on its way to grossing $65.4 million domestically and $237.6 million internationally for a world total of $303 million. Disney and Universal suffered major financial losses on both films.
Universal's R-rated comedy Identity Thief, starring Melissa McCarthy with Jason Bateman, made $9.7 million at its fourth week at the box office for a domestic total of $107.4 million. Internationally, the comedy has earned nearly $75 million.
In third place, 21 and Over, written and directed by The Hangover writers Josh Lucas and Scott Moore, debuted to $9 million. The $13 million comedy stars Justin Chon, Skylar Astin and Miles Teller as three friends embarking on a 21st birthday celebration.
Last Exorcism II, from CBS Films, came in number four with $8 million, well short of the $20.4 million opening of The Last Exorcism released by Lionsgate in late August 2010.
In fifth place, Snitch, produced and financed by Exclusive Media and Participant, brought Lionsgate $7.7 million at its sophomore weekend at the box office for a total of $24.4 million.
The Weinstein Co.’s animated 3D family feature, Escape From Planet Earth, directed by Cal Brunker, earned $6.7 million in its third weekend out for a sixth place showing on the box office charts and a total of $43.2 million.
Relativity Media's Safe Haven, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, came in seventh, earning $6.3 million over the film’s third weekend at the box office for a domestic total of $57.1 million.
In eighth place, Silver Linings Playbook, from the Weinstein Co., brought in $5.9 million for a total of $115.5 million during the film’s 16 weeks at the box office.
A Good Day to Die Hard, from 20th Century Fox, made $4.5 million on its third weekend at the box office, placing ninth and bringing the action film’s domestic gross to $59.6 million.
Rounding out the list at number 10, Microbudgeted horror film Dark Skies, which debuted last weekend to $8.9 million, made The Weinstein Co. $3.6 million for a total $13.5 million.
Also of note, Independent thriller Phantom, the weekend's fourth new wide entry, opened to a paltry $475,000 -- one of the worst debuts of all time for a film playing in more than 1,000 theaters. Starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner, Phantom is distributed by RCR.
Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
