Forget about Battleship toppling The Avengers this weekend.
Universal's attempt to mimic the Transformers franchise was able to rake in only $420,000 from midnight shows.How bad is that exactly? Well, Think Like a Man was able to hit $500,000.
Most true blockbusters are able to hit at least $5 million from midnight shows. This does not bode well.
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Marvel's The Avengers should have no problem shaking off competition from Battleship, The Dictator and What to Expect When You're Expecting in order to stay #1 during its third weekend in domestic theaters.
It's now clear that The Avengers will be able to hold on to the #1 spot until Men in Black 3 opens on May 25—which will give the Disney release an impressive 18-day run in first place.Cultural sensations the size of The Avengers don't come along very often, and the superhero flick has now become a must-see for everyone from pre-teens to middle-aged adults.
As of 4 p.m. PT, Fandango reports that The Avengers accounts for a solid 44% of daily sales.
The Avengers looks poised for $56.5 million this coming weekend.
Universal is trying to mimic Paramount's success with two Hasbro properties—Transformers and G.I. Joe—by bringing Battleship to the screen. Unfortunately, the Peter Berg-directed film (Battleship) is already being widely mocked for not only having little to do with the actual board game but also being a blatant Michael Bay rip-off. As a result, opening-weekend expectations are much closer to the $54.7 million debut of G.I. Joe in 2009 than Transformers' $70.5 million opening weekend in 2008.
Battleship should bring in $47 million $30 - 38 million from around 3,750 locations.
Assuming the film has a decent domestic showing of between $100 million and $200 million, Universal is likely looking to roughly break even on its most expensive film of the year. Not exactly what studio executives were hoping for...