1 N Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $46,629,259 - 3,881 - $12,015 $46,629,259 - 1 2 1 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $34,628,104 -44.2% 4,318...


1NIce Age: Continental DriftFox$46,629,259-3,881-$12,015$46,629,259-1
21The Amazing Spider-ManSony$34,628,104-44.2%4,318-$8,019$200,500,351$2302
32TedUni.$22,410,855-30.4%3,303+47$6,785$159,257,250$503
43BraveBV$11,160,522-43.1%3,392-499$3,290$196,061,319$1854
54Savages (2012)Uni.$9,393,840-41.4%2,635+7$3,565$32,125,290$452
65Magic MikeWB$9,021,123-42.3%3,090-30$2,919$91,841,198$73
76Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness ProtectionLGF$5,584,027-45.1%2,004-157$2,786$55,611,721$203
88Katy Perry: Part of MePar.$3,800,607-46.8%2,732+2$1,391$18,653,544$122
99Moonrise KingdomFocus$3,704,507-18.0%924+40$4,009$32,483,002$168
107Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedP/DW$3,669,675-51.2%2,285-576$1,606$203,901,397$1456
Ice Age: Continental Drift had its opening out of the states last week and reached number one worldwide. Now even though it's the fourth installment it doesn't melt as it tops the US chart. So I guess the producers are already eyeing a fifth.
 Ice Age 4 stars the same 3 main voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Dennis Leary. Along with a tongue-ful of others like Queen Latifa, Sean W. Scott (who plays Stifler in the theatrically-released American Pie films), and also singers such as Jennifer Lopez and the dreadful Nicki Minaj. This is the first film in the series to not be directed by the same filmmaker Carlos Saldanha. 
  Ice Age 3 is the fourth-highest grossing animated feature of all time with $887m to boast. Let's see where this picks up. I myself have only seen one part and that is the first Ice Age and that was hilarious if you were below teenage at that time.
  The Amazing Spider-Man started with $62m in the States and that amount falls to $34m this weekend. Budgeted at $230m the film has grossed $200m in USA and will reach and estimated $300m from BO101 predictions. It has grossed over $500m worldwide and the greatest debut being in the UK with $18.1m. That's not surprising as the actor who plays Spider-man in this reboot is himself English (Andrew Garfield). And a pretty fine thespian if you've seen The Social Network. Spidey has also boasted high ticket sales in Asia where it was also heavily marketed in my home country, Pakistan.
  Two of the three animated ventures have grossed above their budget in the States: Brave and Madagascar 3. It is safe to say that animated features will probably never flop and that families would prefer to watch PG-rated fun instead of R-rated flicks.
  Savages (2012) is a crime thriller directed by famed filmmaker Oliver Stone. The film stars mainly Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively. The former who has starred in box-office disappointments John Carter and Battleship. But fortune has appeared in his favour this time as this thrill-machine will gross above its semi-budget of $45m (after DVD/Blu-Ray sales, of course).
  American singer Katy Perry released a 3D concert documentary last week in the States and given the competition it has still managed to surpass its $12m budget with $18m. Worldwide, the total is $22m and its is the tenth-highest grossing documentary of all time. The UAE release date is Sept. 7. And critics of Rotten Tomatoes have given it a 76% fresh rating.
  So that's all for this weekend. Catch the Savages trailer and I'll hook up with more facts and estimates next Tuesday. For now, cheers!


(Chart by Box Office Mojo)


TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count  / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 N Ted Uni. $54,415,...

TWLWTitle (click to view)StudioWeekend Gross% ChangeTheater Count /ChangeAverageTotal GrossBudget*Week #
1NTedUni.$54,415,205-3,239-$16,800$54,415,205$501
2NMagic MikeWB$39,127,170-2,930-$13,354$39,127,170$71
31BraveBV$34,094,643-48.6%4,164-$8,188$131,768,334$1852
4NTyler Perry's Madea's Witness ProtectionLGF$25,390,575-2,161-$11,749$25,390,575$201
52Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedP/DW$11,840,276-39.9%3,715-205$3,187$180,036,798$1454
63Abraham Lincoln: Vampire HunterFox$6,009,612-63.1%3,109+1$1,933$29,043,805$692
711Moonrise KingdomFocus$4,926,837+45.1%854+459$5,769$18,465,954$166
84PrometheusFox$4,921,254-50.3%1,951-911$2,522$118,258,102$1304
95Snow White and the HuntsmanUni.$4,498,725-44.4%2,337-582$1,925$145,684,645$1705
108Marvel's The AvengersBV$4,421,671-38.4%1,757-473$2,517$606,504,744$2209
Ted starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in the leads reaches the top spot in its first weekend. It has achieved the highest opening for a R-rated comedy film. But trust me the poster doesn't even do the courtesy of making it look PG-rated:
  As the heading suggests this is the feature-length debut of popular adult TV series Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. Roger Ebert has given it 3.5/4 stars: ''Doesn't run out of steam''. He also commented that it is the best comedy screenplay this year (so far). For me that's 21 Jump Street (so far). Although, I hope Kunis' presence doesn't falter the flick much like the overrated Friends with Benefits.
  Another new satire that debuted this weekend is Magic Mike. Steven Soderbergh is one of my fav. directors better known for action-comedies like the Oceans Eleven trio. MM stars an ensemble cast of Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four), Mathew McConaughey (The Lincoln Lawyer), etc. 
  The synopsis is: a male stripper teaches a young performer how to party, pick up women and make easy money. Well, I'd be happy if it were a female stripper with Jessica Alba in the lead and Yvonne Strahovski as the protege.
  MM has already surpassed its budget of just $7m with approximately $40m. Both Ted and MM were released by studios at a smart date. Brave was already preceded by another animated picture namely Madagascar 3 and so audiences would want to spice up their weekends a bit naughtily.
  Prometheus will cover its budget in the States by 2 more weeks but it's likely to exit by the latter week as two biggies are about to finalise their entries. Brave has already made $156.1m worldwide off a budget of $185m and hasn't been so successful overseas. Marvel's The Avengers sees its exit next weekend after staying 9 whole weeks in the top 10. Salute!
  In global news, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift opened at $80.1m and The Amazing Spider-Man opened at $51.1m respectively. It is disappointing that the latter film comprising of a superhero favoured by kids and adults alike tastes dirt by an animated feature. But Ice Age isn't just any animated franchise being one of the most profitable of its kind. In Inda the Spider-Man reboot has boasted the highest-grossing entrant in the theatres with $6.0m and reports indicate it already outpacing Marvel's The Avengers. This is not surprising as the venture also consists of renowned non-mainstream actor Irrfan Khan.
  Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 declaring it better than the original version and the 2nd best Spider-Man film after Spider-Man 2. So with this sorta critical reaction I am bound to watch this one (on Blu-ray to be precise).
  When remakes weren't enough reboots started. There are many extraordinary saviours in the comic-book world similarly for Marvel and DC. Films based on characters like Deadpool should've been released by now. That's Hollywood for you...
  The 3rd new entrance this weekend is Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection. It is the seventh in the franchise and surpassed its budget in the States with $25m on debut on a budget of just $20m. Witness Protection is also the first in the franchise not to be based on play. WP stars the man in the title himself Perry, along with well-known Eugene Levy (American Pie series) and Denise Richards (famous in this case for being previously married to Charlie Sheen).
  So we end this worldwide film fiesta analysis with Ted's trailer. Rock of Ages has flopped both in the States and overseas and despite being original (a rock musical) and a Tom Cruise starrer this shows that animated features, and comic-based movies are winning audiences more than ever. The Amazing Spider-Man will top the US next week with a forecast $70-$90m opening as by BO101.

(Chart by Box Office Mojo)