Weekend Report: Remakes Can't Retire 'Real Steel'
Two 80s remakes and a bird-watching movie weren't able to knock down Real Steel, which held well enough to repeat in first place this weekend. Footloose wasn't far behind, but also wasn't all that impressive, while The Thing missed the mark and The Big Year bombed. Overall box office was off around 33 percent from the same frame last year when Jackass 3-D led with $50.3 million.
Real Steel dipped 40 percent to an estimated $16.3 million. That hold isn't quite as strong as Secretariat or Red from last October, but it's still solid in its own right. Through 10 days in theaters, the Hugh Jackman robot boxing movie has earned $51.7 million.
Footloose was a close second with an estimated $16.1 million. It debuted below Stomp the Yard ($21.8 million and the first two Step Up movies ($20.7 million and $18.9 million), but did end up slightly above Step Up 3-D ($15.8 million).
While the Footloose remake at least held its own, The Thing was an outright disappointment with a meager estimated $8.7 million. That's lower than most horror remakes from the last decade, including second-tier ones like The Fog ($11.7 million) and The Stepfather ($11.6 million). According to distributor Universal Pictures, the audience was 57 percent male and 56 percent under 30 years old. The CinemaScore was a weak "B-," indicating that the movie is going to have a tough time surviving opposite Paranormal Activity 3 next weekend.
Read the full report here.
