Box Office Report: 'Think Like a Man' Trounces Competition With $18 Mil

9:30 AM PDT 4/29/2012 by Pamela McClintock

0
0
0
0
0
Email
Print
Comments

Universal's "The Five-Year Engagement" falls flat with $11.2 million, coming in No. 5 at the domestic box office; overseas, Joss Whedon's "The Avengers" opens to record-breaking $178.4 million.

The African-American-themed comedy Think Like a Man grossed an impressive $18 million in its second weekend to stay at No. 1 at the domestic box office, while Jason Segel-Emily Blunt comedy The Five-Year Engagement came in No. 5 with a disappointing $11.2 million debut.

'Think Like a Man': What the Critics Are Saying

Box Office Report: 'Avengers' Smashes Records With $178.4 Mil Foreign Debut

Think Like a Man: Film Review

'Five-Year Engagement's' Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller Explain Cutting Full-Frontal Nudity, Reveal Other Deleted Scenes (Video)

•Box Office Updates

From Sony's Screen Gems, Think Like a Man has earned $60.9 million in its first 10 days of play, making it one of the most successful African-American movies of recent times and already pacing ahead of the lifetime gross of most Tyler Perry films.

PHOTOS: 11 Biggest Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years

Otherwise, the domestic box office was decidedly muted, with revenue down a steep 30 percent from a year ago, when Universal's Fast Five opened to $86.1 million.

After Think Like a Man, the race was close between Sony's animated 3D pic The Pirates! Band of Misfits ($11.4 million), The Lucky One ($11.3 million), The Hunger Games ($11.25 million) and Five-Year Engagement.

The biggest box office headline was overseas, where Disney and Marvel Studios' The Avengers rolled out in 39 markets, grossing a massive $178.4 million.

STORY: 'Five-Year Engagement': 7 Things You Didn't Know About Jason Segel and Emily Blunt

Heading into the weekend, Five-Year Engagement was expected to come closest to beating Think Like a Man in North America. The pic reunites many of the principals from 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which opened to $17.7 million, including Segel. This time, he and Blunt play a couple enduring a long-term engagement.

Universal says its financial exposure on the R-rated comedy is limited, between a modest $30 million production spend and co-financing arrangement with Relativity Media.

Five-Year Engagement, which received a B- CinemaScore, skewed noticeably older, with 57 percent of the audience over 30. Females made up 64 percent.

PHOTOS: 'The Five-Year Engagement' Premiere Red Carpet Arrivals

"Although it opened slightly lower than expected, the movie will make up ground in ancillary markets," Universal president of distribution Nikki Rocco said.

Sony and Aardman Animations' The Pirates! cost in the mid-$50 million range to produce and has already earned $63.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $75.1 million through Sunday.

"Pirates opened right in our sweet spot domestically," Sony president of distribution Rory Bruer said.

The weekend's other new offerings -- Safe and The Raven -- did modest business, coming in No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.

Safe, directed by Boaz Yakin and starring Jason Statham, debuted to $7.7 million after receiving a B+ CinemaScore. Safe, distributed by Lionsgate, was fully financed and produced by IM Global.

STORY: Safe: Film Review

The Raven, opening to $7.3 million, was directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) and stars John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe. FilmNation and Intrepid Pictures co-financed and co-produced the film, with Relativity distributing.

Here are the full weekend results.

Domestic box office, April 27-29

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. Think Like a Man, 2/2,015, Sony, $18 million, $60.9 million.

2. The Pirates! Band of Misfits, 1/3,358, Sony/Aardman, $11.4 million.

3. The Lucky One, 2/3,175, Warner Bros., $11.3 million, $40 million.

4. The Hunger Games, 6/3,572, Lionsgate, $11.25 million, $372.5 million.

5. The Five-Year Engagement, Universal, 1/2,936, $11.15.

6. Safe, 1/2,266, Lionsgate/IM Global, $7.7 million.

7. The Raven, 1/2,203, Relativity/Intrepid, $7.3 million.

8. Chimpanzee, 2/1,567, Disney, $5.5 million, $19.2 million.

9. The Three Stooges, 3/3,105, $5.4 million, $37.1 million.