Media Market Journal » Madagascar

Weekend Box Office Report for June 15-17: ‘Madagascar 3′ Crushes New Arrivals

Jeff Rosz — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:38:46 +0000

This past weekend can be best described as a mixed bag as audiences witnessed the release of two flops in the face of strong retention from last week’s field. Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy both underperformed to the point of embarrassment as the two came in at third and fifth respectively with each debuting in the teens.

Fans of the properties’ leading men should not be too thrown by this though as both ventures took them out of their element to do something slightly unique. While Adam Sandler rose to fame via R-rated standup, it was not until That’s My Boy where movie audiences got their first peek of the actor’s PG-13 comedic brand at the adult level. It is safe to assume that he will not be returning to the sub-genre and the same goes to Tom Cruise with musicals due to Rock of Ages’ underwhelming $15.1 million debut.

What’s Next for Tom Cruise After ‘Rock of Ages’?

Even with the news of flops, it should probably be acknowledged that Madagascar 3 had a strong hold at $35.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $120.5 million. Ultimately, this tells us that it is conceivable that the DreamWorks Animation-produced film could score franchise bests in the domestic and foreign categories. Whether or not that happens though will largely depend on how much Pixar’s Brave (premiering next weekend) will eat into Madagascar. My hunch is the answer to that will be ‘minimally’ thanks in part to Brave’s female lead. While this is Pixar, young boys do not necessarily care about studio branding. To them, this will be Tangled 2.

Going a bit further down the chart for the weekend, we actually see Men in Black 3 and The Avengers showing off their retention skills as well. Those films dropped 28% and 21% week-to-week respectively which is a good omen for each. MiB is still operating without a guaranteed profit despite passing $500 million worldwide and The Avengers is trying to become the third film in history to pass the $600 million mark on the domestic level before The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters in early July.

1. Madagascar 3 - $35.5 M / $120.5 M

2. Prometheus - $20.2 M / $88.9 M

3. Rock of Ages - $15.1 M / $15.1 M

4. Snow White and the Huntsman - $13.8 M / $122.6 M

5. That’s My Boy - $13 M / $13 M

6. Men in Black 3 - $10 M / $152.7 M

7. The Avengers - $8.8 M / $586.7 M

8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - $2.2 M / $35.1 M

9. Moonrise Kingdom - $2.2 M / $6.8 M

10. What to Expect When You’re Expecting - $1.3 M / $38.8 M

Adam Sandler and Tom Cruise Lose Big to ‘Madagascar’ on Friday

Jeff Rosz — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 17:19:46 +0000

The Friday estimates are now in, and it would appear that star power is not exactly what it used to be in Hollywood. At least that seems to be the general theme of the report today. Despite Adam Shankman’s efforts to assemble an all-star cast for his musical Rock of Ages, the film only debuted to $5.4 million which is well below what analysts expected going into the weekend.

Even with this tremendous disappointment, the weekend saw worse as Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy premiered to $4.6 million which is absolutely terrible. This suggests an opening weekend in the low teens which is roughly half of what some were anticipating.

Just a word of caution though, these stars were out of their element in both features so this is not exactly a clear sign that audiences have had enough of either. File these efforts in the ‘forgettable’ category. The true test for Sandler will likely come next year with Grown Ups 2 which is currently shooting.

Here are the rest of the top ten including the top dogs of Madagascar 3 and Prometheus which also reigned over last week’s data.

1. Madagascar 3 - $10 M / $95.0 M

2. Prometheus - $5.8 M / $74.5 M

3. Rock of Ages - $5.4 M / $5.4 M

4. That’s My Boy - $4.6 M / $4.6 M

5. Snow White and the Huntsman - $4 M / $112.8 M

6. Men in Black 3 - $2.8 M / $145.5 M

7. The Avengers - $2.2 M / $580.1 M

8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - $0.6 M / $33.6 M

9. Moonrise Kingdom - $0.6 M / $5.2 M

10. What to Expect When You’re Expecting - $0.4 M / $37.9 M

Jada Pinkett Smith Plugs ‘Madagascar 3′ on ‘Jimmy Kimmel’

Jeff Rosz — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:42:53 +0000

Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith was on Jimmy Kimmel Live again last night. This time the former Hawthorne star was promoting Madagascar 3 which opened in theaters last weekend, but it remains the only family film in town thus the extra promotion. Of course, that will change next Friday when Pixar’s latest Brave hits theaters nationwide.

Here is the full appearance from Jada Pinkett Smith.

Weekend Box Office Results: ‘Madagascar’ First, ‘Prometheus’ Second

Jeff Rosz — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:50:50 +0000

The weekend beginning Friday, June 8th is one defined of botched expectations. Going into the three-day period, many industry insiders suspected that Prometheus could have trouble passing $45 million in part due to Fox’s own low-ball expectations not too dissimilar to what we saw last week with Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman. As soon as midday Friday, it became apparent that Ridley Scott’s return to the sci-fi genre was indeed a hit as the movie was on pace for a weekend as high as $68 million.

Unfortunately for those with a stake in the Alien prequel, the movie ended up very far from that mark by bringing in only $50.0 million. That number is still going to go a long way though in ensuring Prometheus achieves profitability, but it almost seems as if credits has been given to it and now must be taken away.

On the other side of things there is Madagascar 3 which actually performed pretty spot on. The DWA feature was expected to close out the weekend near the $60 million mark, and it did with $60.4 million. While not a franchise best, it is actually not too far off from its direct predecessor’s $63.1 million.

Here are the rest of the top ten.

Movie – Weekend Estimates / Total

1. Madagascar 3 – $60.4 M / $60.4 M

2. Prometheus – $50.0 M / $50.0 M

3. Snow White and the Huntsman - $23.0 M (-59%) / $98.5 M

4. Men in Black 3 - $13.5 M / $135.5 M

5. The Avengers – $10.8 M / $571.9 M

6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $3.2 M / $31.0 M

7. What to Expect When You’re Expecting – $2.7 M / $35.7 M

8. Battleship – $2.3 M / $59.8 M

9. The Dictator – $2.2 M / $55.2 M

10. Dark Shadows – $1.4 M / $73.7 M

Jimmy Fallon: Ben Stiller in the Canadian Soap Opera “Jacob’s Patience”

Jeff Rosz — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:42:25 +0000

Ben Stiller has a new film to promote in the third installment of Madagascar which opened in theaters nationwide just yesterday. The comic actor took to Jimmy Fallon last night where he talked about a number of things including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Kristen Wiig and what he did when his parents were away as a kid.

When on the show, he also took part in Late Night’s Canadian soap opera sketch entitled Jacob’s Patience.

Early Box Office: ‘Prometheus’ On Pace For Ridley Scott Record Opening

Jeff Rosz — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 00:33:16 +0000

The box office is exploding this weekend as pent up demand for blockbusters has thoroughly been satisfied with Hollywood’s latest offerings. Both Prometheus and Madagascar are overperforming at this time with the earliest of numbers showing the former on track for as much as $68 million thanks to what could turn out to be a $26 million Friday. This of course includes the $3.6 million taken in from midnight showings–a precursor to this stellar theatrical gross.

Needless to say, this would be Ridley Scott’s biggest opening of his career, surpassing 2001′s Hannibal which debuted to $58 million. I should note that Fox is not yet sold on that $68 million figure for Prometheus yet as the studio suspects that only $56 million is a certainty at this point in time.

As for the other big movie from the weekend, Madagascar 3 looks to be capitalizing on the end of the school year with a potential $18 million Friday that could lead to a $57 million weekend. While this is south of the $63.1 million debut for the series’ last outing four years ago, it seems like a minimal drop-off is in the cards inferring the franchise still has legs to carry it forward.

[Deadline]

Official Trailer Hits for “Madagascar 3″

Jeff Rosz — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:59:07 +0000

Check out the first official full-length trailer for Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. The vocal cast is lead by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, and David Schwimmer who will all be reprising their roles when the animated feature hits theaters on June 8.

Teaser Trailer for ‘Madagascar 3′

Jeff Rosz — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:36:31 +0000

Here is the teaser trailer for the third Madagascar film. The movie will release into theaters on June 8, 2012.

Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Directed by: Eric Darnell and Conrad Vernon.

‘Madagascar’ Penguins Spin-Off Film Being Developed

Jeff Rosz — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:27:00 +0000

According to THR, DreamWorks is developing a spin-off for the blockbuster franchise Madagascar based around it’s penguins. The movie is being written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons who wrote another DreamWorks hit, Megamind. The penguins have already been spun-off on television onto a show called The Penguins of Madagascar. The Nickelodeon series finished last season only second to Sponge Bob in the ratings for the kids cable network.

While this may come as a surprise to many as animated films do not typically get the spin-off treatment like many successful television shows, it probably should not as the two Madagascar movies so far have grossed over $1.1 billion at the global box office combined. What should be more surprising though is that a spin-off is being made while Madagascar 3 is in production. Madagascar 3 is set for release June 8, 2012 with the franchise’s original voice cast.

[THR]