Box Office: A Haunted House Opens Big, Texas Chainsaw 3D Runs Out of Gas
Steve Barton
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Box Office Mojo
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The box office weekend may have belonged to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden; but dick, fart, and pot jokes helped the Paranormal Activity spoof A Haunted House open big in second place.
Meanwhile, poor Texas Chainsaw 3D got so massacred it nearly dropped out of the top ten a week after topping it.
Last weekend a couple of readers gave me flack for being too cynical in regards to Texas Chainsaw 3D’s box office prospects. Now it looks like I may not have been cynical enough. A week ago TC3D was the #1 movie in the country, opening with over $23 million. A week later it’s all the way down to 9th place with only $5.15 million. Horror movies that open big tend to drop big in its second week, but a 72% drop is far worse than average.
According to Box Office Mojo, that week two death plunge is roughly equal to the one suffered last year by The Devil Inside, a movie you may recall with an ending that so infuriated moviegoers there were reports from around the country of audiences booing, throwing things at the screen, and even spitting on the ground in disgust. At least TC3D didn’t inspire people to spew bodily fluids on the theater floor in protest.
Texas Chainsaw 3D is now expected to peter out around $40 million, putting its box office totals right on par with Platinum Dunes’ prequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which is still only half of what the Platinum Dunes remake grossed.
The good news for Leatherface fans is that’s still good enough for Millennium Films and Lionsgate to go ahead and announce the saw is revving up for yet another sequel. That sequel may or may not already be in the planning stages depending on which producer is being asked. A little behind-the-scenes mess they’re going to have to sort out first.
Never underestimate the power of the lower common denominator. That’s the lesson to be glommed from A Haunted House’s $18.8 million second place opening. The Marlon Wayans horror spoof was no match for Oscar nominated Zero Dark Thirty’s $24+ million but more than enough to upset Gangster Sqaud’s $16 million bow. A “B-“ Cinemascore seems to indicate it won’t have much legs in the coming weeks. Regardless, this will still prove a moneymaker for Open Road Entertainment, and nobody should be surprised when a sequel gets announced.
A Haunted House’s opening probably has the makers of Scary Movie 5 feeling a little more confident today knowing this brand of spoof movie is still bankable, and you just know somewhere out there Friedberg & Seltzer are rubbing their hands, doing their best Mr. Burns “excellent” impression.
Next weekend sees Zero Dark Thirty Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain battling herself for the top slot when the Guillermo Del Toro-produced Mama she stars in opens. Given strong early word-of-mouth from those that have seen it, Mama could prove to be a real sleeper hit.
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