Not much has changed at the box office since Friday’s numbers. Resident Evil: Retribution is still in front with $21 million for the 3-day after a near-$9 million day one, and Finding Nemo 3D is in second with $17.5 million. While the analysis remains the same, there are a few new bits of emphasis to point out from these results coming in today.
Resident Evil 5 debuted to the worst haul since its franchise launch with only $21.1 million. This is down $5.5 million from the series-high debut established two years ago which might indicate to Sony that they should entertain the idea of a reboot. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though and admit that a sixth outing for the Milla Jovovich-branded Resident Evil could easily be in the cards as this franchise continues to be a cash cow overseas.
Next, we turn our attention to Finding Nemo 3D which is more than a third off from what audiences saw with Lion King 3D last year. Being another indicator, we completely subscribe to the notion that re-releases might do better with movies that are older. Box office watchers witnessed a similar performance from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace earlier in the year when it returned to the big screen with the glasses option.
That is it for new arrivals this week and the holdovers are at least two weeks old, so they are not exactly worth the mention. A few limited releases in the form of Arbitrage with Richard Gere (197 theaters) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master each made waves with $2.1 million and 730k respectively. The latter of which is a record for a 5-theater open with a massive per theater average indicating that the Scientology-based movie could surprise next weekend upon expansion.
On the topic of nationwide releases for Friday, Trouble with the Curve, Dredd 3D, and End of Watch will all debut on September 21. Reviews are still pending on the Clint Eastwood-starrer, but the other two are being praised by critics much to our surprise.