‘Wall Street’ beats out ‘Guardians’ in a crowded weekend
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” won a weekend that started off with a bang but ended up weaker than predicted.
The Oliver Stone-directed sequel to his 1987 classic generated $19 million in its first weekend, short of the low $20 million it was expected to gross. Still, the film starring Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas is a big success for Stone, as it marks the veteran director’s richest opening weekend. It also surpassed Warner Bros. animated owl pic, “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.”
The Zack Snyder-directed film, which was expected to cross the $20 million mark this weekend, only earned $16.3 million. Despite the dearth of kids’ fare in the marketplace recently, and the extra bells and whistles “Guardians” offered with 3-D and IMAX, the film failed to bring in the families.
Audiences, however, liked the owl flick more. According to exit pollster Cinemascore, audiences gave Guardians an A-minus, while Wall Street only generated a B-minus.
Video: Making the sequel to ‘Wall Street’
Some of the most impressive performances for the weekend were holdovers, such as “The Town,” which had a haul of $16 million, bringing its total gross to $49 million. The heist flick directed by Ben Affleck seems to be catching on, setting up an interesting matchup next weekend when “The Social Network” premieres nationwide.
“Easy A,” starring Emma Stone fell, but has earned $32.8 million in 10 days since its release, including a take of $10.7 million over the weekend. The film cost only $8 million to make.
Fifth place went to the third new release of the weekend: The Disney film “You Again” grossed only $8.3 million for its first three days in theaters. Despite an appealing cast of Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and Betty White, the muddled marketing campaign did little to lure in the female audience the film was targeting.
Even with weak reviews, the horror-in-an-elevator film “Devil” fell only 47 percent for an additional $6.5 million. The film’s two-week gross now stands at $21.7 million. “Resident Evil: Afterlife” was No.7, grossing $4.9 million for a cumulative $52 million. The film is now the highest grossing of the series.
“Alpha and Omega” made $4.7 million its second weekend in theaters. The film dropped 48 percent for a total gross of $15 million. Sony’s “Takers” grossed another $1.6 million for a total of $54.9 million and ninth place in the rankings. And “Inception” rounded out the top 10, earning another $1.2 million its 11th weekend in theaters. The Chris Nolan-directed movie has grossed $287 million.
Check back next weekend when “The Social Network” opens against the horror remake “Let Me In” and the long-shelved “Case 39.”
