'Social Network' Pokes Competition, Let Me In Keeps Audiences Out

David Fincher's The Social Network, about the creation of Facebook and its creator Mark Zuckerberg rode a wave of strong reviews to the top spot over its opening weekend, with an estimated box office total of $23 million.  With a budget of approximately $50 million, The Social Network will likely have very little difficult making its way into the black.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole took second place, falling a soft 33% from its opening last weekend.  With $10.8 million added to its total, for a cumulative run of $30 million, the Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) directed film will likely not recover its $100 million production budget, although family-friendly films do tend to do well on home video, so that will remain to be seen.

Click to read more ...

'Wall Street' Cashes In

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Oliver Stone's long-gestating sequel to his 80's hit about greed, took the top rung at the box office over its opening weekend.  The film brought in $19 million, a strong start considering the original brought in only $4 million in its opening weekend 23 years ago.  Adjusted for inflation, the original Wall Street would have had an opening worth approximately $8 million, on its way to an adjusted total of around $90 million ($44 million in 1987 dollars).  Reviews for the sequel have not been strong, however, so expect it to have a big drop in its second weekend.  Once home video and other ancillary revenues are in, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps should be profitable, but it may not recoup its $60 million budget in theaters.

Second place went to another new film, Warner Bros' Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.  The clumsily-titled, kid-friendly, owl picture brought in an estimated $16.3 million over its opening weekend.  With a 50% tomatometer rating and a $100 million budget, the Zack Snyder-directed film will likely have a hard time making it into the black.

Click to read more ...