Update: As expected, Ice Age 4 continued to perform relatively low coming in at $46 million. It was still number one, but let me assure you that is said with a round of sarcastic applause. Had Dawn of the Dinosaurs not opened on a Wednesday three years ago, this would be the worst debut for an Ice Age movie since the original hit theaters in 2002. That said, the movie is now up over $300 million at the global box office and is still asserting the franchise’s dominance abroad.
In terms of other major milestones, The Amazing Spider-Man just passed $200 million at the domestic box office. Simple week-to-week extrapolations at this point suggest a $270+ million U.S. performance when it is all said and done, so we will definitely keep an eye on whether this Marc Webb-directed feature can join the series’ predecessors in the $300 million club.
Original: On the heels of amassing $200 million at the foreign box office, the fourth installment of Blue Sky Studio’s Ice Age franchise hit American theaters for the first time this weekend. The animated feature’s day one total came in at $16.5 million which is a shade higher than the $13.8 million debut of its predecessor, but therein lies the problem.
Dawn of the Dinosaurs released on a Wednesday three years ago to take advantage of the Fourth of July holiday period. With Independence Day a four days out, the movie still banked about $3 million less than what we saw from yesterday’s release. This is not a very good sign for the series’ local strength, but more importantly it is another classic case study of foreign versus domestic appeal.
Ultimately though, this is not going be much cause of concern as Ice Age: Continental Drift is probably going to top off north of $600 million at the global box office. If that is not enough convincing for Fox to continue this franchise, the price tag is reportedly near the $100 million yet again making it one of the most profitable animated films of the year. In other words, expect an Ice Age 5 regardless of how it does in your home town.
The rest of the box office report was not so interesting as the typical week-to-week contractions went down. No one wanted to release anything else this weekend because The Dark Knight Rises would more than likely destroy any second weekend performance. The latest Batman movie is expected to break box office off records for 2D films and might even give some 3D movies a run for its money.
Here are the top five performers at the box office:
Title – ($FRIDAY/$WEEKEND/$TOTAL)
1. Ice Age - $16.5 M / $46.0 M / $46.0 M
2. The Amazing Spider-Man - $10.3 M / $35.0 M / $200.9 M
3. Ted - $6.9 M / $22.1 M / $159.0 M
4. Brave - $3.3 M / $10.7 M / $195.6 M
5. Magic Mike - $3.4 M / $9.0 M / $91.9 M