Best Hit Movies: BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules Crushes Sucker Punch with $24.5 Million

Monday, March 28, 2011

BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules Crushes Sucker Punch with $24.5 Million

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules $ 24.4 million
Sucker Punch $ 19 million
Limitless $ 15 million
The Lincoln Lawyer $ 10.5 million
Rango $ 10 million
Battle: Los Angeles $ 7.8 million
Paul $ 7.8 million
Red Riding Hood $ 4.5 million
The Adjustment Bureau $ 4 million
Mars Needs Moms $ 2.5 million

Fanboys didn't turn out in the droves needed to push Sucker Punch, Zack Snyder's first attempt at original material, into the top spot at the box office this weekend. Instead, the family-friendly sequel Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules proved surprisingly strong and handily beat the competition.

At a reported production cost of only $ 21 million, Fox's Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules looks to be already in the black and given that families are less likely to see a movie on opening weekend the numbers should hold strong as more and more kids get their spring breaks over the next couple of weeks. Also, apparently the actor playing Rodrick, Devon Bostick, is piquing the interest of teen girls helping to get them into the theater as well.

Unfortunately for Sucker Punch, the poor grosses do not bode well. Its target audience is known for seeing movies on opening weekends and this less-than-stellar showing, combined with its scathingly bad reviews, means Warner Bros. will have a hard time recouping their investment which is said to be anywhere between $ 85 million to $ 100 million plus. Of course, this doesn't include the marketing expenses either. Looks like Zack Snyder will have to double-down on his upcoming Superman remake if he wants to retain his golden boy status at the studio.

There wasn't much else of note this weekend. Mars Needs Moms continues to bomb, clinging to the bottom spot with a measly $ 2.5 million. On the other hand, The Lincoln Lawyer is proving to have legs with its nearly $ 11 million take giving it the smallest week-to-week drop (-17%). Ditto for Limitless which also remained strong with only a 19% drop from last week.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules was released March 25th, 2011 and stars Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn, Connor Fielding, Owen Fielding, Peyton List. The film is directed by David Bowers.

Limitless was released March 18th, 2011 and stars Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Andrew Howard, Anna Friel, Johnny Whitworth, Tomas Arana, Robert John Burke. The film is directed by Neil Burger.

Rango was released March 4th, 2011 and stars Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton. The film is directed by Gore Verbinski.

Sucker Punch was released March 25th, 2011 and stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.