Will Smith as Hancock. Photo from Yahoo! Movies.
Will Smith dominated another July 4th weekend with a $66 million gross over the three days. While some projectionists were expecting Hancock to top I Am Legend’s $77 million opening back in December, Hancock had premiered back on Wednesday and suffered from a lot of negative feeedback. Expect a big percentage drop next weekend; I’m guessing a total in the ballpark of $30 million.
Wall-E dropped a higher than predicted 48.5% to end up with $32.5 million, which is still an amazing sum. The steep decline over the weekend is not that worrisome considering Wall-E raked in the dough during the week, when harried moms and dads took their out-of-school kids to the movies during the day. Next weekend it should bring in about $18 million.
Wanted declined 60% this weekend, which is entirely plausible because it’s an action movie, and they always suffer big drop-offs. A similar drop may not happen next weekend because of the gigantic influx of kiddie films heading our way. Adults might run to Wanted to avoid the sugary popcorn films and to get a chance to see Angelina Jolie and lots of violence. Estimate: $11 million.
In other news, Kit Kittredge widened its release to a massive amount of theaters, but only landed at #8. A 4th of July disappointment, the movie had generated sequel buzz after its stunning first weekend. Now no one knows what will happen. It averaged a paltry $1,788 a theater, adding up to $3.3 million.
Next week will bring a fierce premiere showdown with three big movies premiering: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Meet Dave.
Predicted Weekend:
1) Hellboy II: The Golden Army (more adult, lots of fanboys)
2) Journey to the Center of the Earth (a lot of advertising, kid-friendly, nifty 3-D showings)
3) Hancock (Will Smith has serious holding potential)
4)Meet Dave (Eddie Murphy is on the outs after Norbit, Pluto Nash, and Haunted Mansion)
5) Wall-E (another sure holdout)
