That's very good for both CA and Smurfs. CA has a fair chance at taking over First Class to be the top superhero movie of the summer. But we should note that its Thursday number is inflated due to summer weekdays. Guess we'll have to wait for the weekend numbers to be sure.

It looks like CA will get 2 screens all day this weekend at some locations while the rest will give it the biggest screen so a 50% increase Friday-Saturday is a lock. Increasing 100% is possible although with the summer holidays, it should be closer to 65-75%.

	Friday adm.	(so far)			August 5
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	11,601	--	+4.2%
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	7,603	--	-8.7%
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	13,023	7,042	-45.9%	+27.6%
4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	11,326	5,468	-51.7%	+21.2%
5	Wu Xia (Cantonese)	5,479	2,871	-47.6%	--

Good for Captain America. That drop for Smurfs is troubling. I wonder if Kung Fu Panda 2 can overtake it today. Good recovery for Panda. Ok for Harry Potter. Not good for Wu Xia.

		Thursday Actuals				August 4
LW	TW	Title	Last Thu. (USD)	Thursday (USD)	% chg	Total
--	1	Captain America: The First Avenger	--	$242,988	--	$252,716
--	2	Smurfs	--	$124,428	--	$124,428
1	3	Kung Fu Panda 2	$168,771	$82,612	-51.1%	$4,025,690
2	4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	$157,341	$77,041	-51.0%	$8,833,577
3	5	Wu Xia	$95,480	$37,419	-60.8%	$714,246
4	6	Love Is The Only Answer	$36,795	$16,723	-54.6%	$663,531
5	7	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	$32,434	$11,473	-64.6%	$10,738,095
--	8	Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called Operation Golden Spy	--	$6,925	--	$6,925
6	9	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops	$24,608	$6,270	-74.5%	$156,248
7	10	Mr. Popper's Penguins	$18,906	$5,740	-69.6%	$2,440,435

Others

Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy - $5,262,075
The Tree of Life - $419,106

I don't know where that extra money for Captain America came from. It did not have any public advanced showings to my knowledge. Anyways, I think 1.3m is happening now. Smurfs looks to be heading towards a $850,000 start. Ok drops for Kung Fu Panda 2 and Harry Potter 7-2. Wu Xia's drop is understandable but not good. Love Is The Only Answer had a bad drop. Transformers had a horrendous drop due to the loss of theaters. Interesting to note, some theaters are only showing this Thur/Fri while others are showing this on the weekend. Crayon Shin-Chan will probably make less than what its predecessor opened with. Big drops for the bottom two family films.

Notes:

- Sherlock Holmes has been added to the schedule. It has set to come out December 15 against Mission Impossible 4 and Alvin & The Chipmunks 3.

- Battleship will be released on April 19, 2012.

- Immortals comes out November 17.

Sherlock Holmes having confirmed its December 15 release date is pretty big news. December should be a really fun month. Screens will be divided here and there. I wouldn't be surprised if we have four different movies playing on the biggest screen at each theater on Saturday/Sunday.

December 15 - Sherlock Holmes 2, MI4, Alvin & The Chipmunks 3
December 22 - Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Happy Feet 2, The Flying Swords of Dragon's Gate, The Great Magician, We Bought A Zoo

I think the December 22 weekend could have a total of more than $7m if all of the movies play up to their potential.

	Friday adm.				August 5
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	24,473	--	-5.7%
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	13,140	--	-12.9%
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	24,917	12,748	-48.8%	+20.4%
4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	18,878	9,648	-48.9%	+17.7%
5	Wu Xia (Cantonese)	17,055	8,275	-51.5%	--

Captain America did ok. It is summer holidays and given that it's also a superhero movie, it was no surprise to see it fall from yesterday. Smurfs' big fall on the other hand was a huge surprise. Originally looking at $850,000, this might just barely make $650,000 now. Panda and Potter did ok. Wu Xia isn't doing so great.

	Saturday adm.	(so far)			August 6
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	16,720	--	+44.1%
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	11,702	--	+53.9%
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	20,347	6,820	-66.5%	-3.2%
4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	15,932	6,637	-58.3%	+21.4%
5	Cars 2 (3D Chinese)	8,417	5,072	-39.7%	--

Good for Captain America. Not impressed by Smurfs' increase. Horrendous for Panda 2. I have never seen a film decrease Friday-Saturday in pre-sales before...especially when it's a kids film. Mediocre for Potter. Its pre-sales should be bigger than Panda's with the more favourable showtimes. Good drop for Cars 2 given that it lost showtimes this week to Smurfs/Captain America.

	Saturday adm.				August 6
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	37,240	--	+52.2%
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	24,059	--	+83.1%
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	42,714	14,416	-66.2%	+13.1%
4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	29,597	12,609	-57.4%	+30.7%
5	Captain America: The First Avenger	--	8,698	--	--

Disappointing increases all around. Captain America's number is solid but not outstanding. It should open with about 1.2m. Smurfs' increase is deceiving. It dropped 13% yesterday so this 83% increase is a correction for yesterday. It should take in about $625,000. Those are some wacky numbers for Kung Fu Panda 2 and Harry Potter. Sure, their showtimes got cut this week but not to the extent that it would call for drops over 55%. It could be erosion but Transformers didn't suffer that badly when Kung Fu Panda 2 came out. Either way, those are some terrible numbers.

	Sunday adm.	(so far)			August 7
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	17,289	--	+3.4%
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	14,708	--	+25.7%
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	25,168	8,390	-66.7%	+23.0%
4	Cars 2 (3D Chinese)	11,309	7,295	-35.5%	+9.9%
5	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	17,672	7,103	-59.8%	+40.0%

Not bad for Captain America although it will most likely drop in final admissions today. It will still beat Thor factoring in only 3D admissions. Still not impressed with The Smurfs. It could hit about 25,000 today although it's well back of Mr. Popper's Penguins. Awful for Panda and Harry Potter. Cars 2 had the only decent drop this week. Good sign for next weekend.

Actual

Captain America: The First Avenger - 1.2m (Screendaily)

	Sunday adm.				August 7
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	33,602	--	-9.8%
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	27,443	--	+14.1%
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	48,632	17,541	-63.9%	+21.7%
4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	31,028	12,310	-60.3%	-2.4%
5	Cars 2 (3D Chinese)	16,573	10,904	-34.2%	--

	Weekend adm.			Aug 4-7
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	--	121,264	--
2	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	--	79,731	--
3	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Cantonese)	136,835	55,294	-59.6%
4	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (3D English)	95,770	42,766	-55.3%

I think I understood what happened with Panda 2 and Harry Potter this weekend. They got hit by 2 versions of Smurfs and the 2D versions for both films is playing stronger than 3D right now at a few locations causing the 3D versions to tumble over 55%. They should see good drops for the 2D version and combined gross should fall below their 3D admissions % drop. Recap to come later.

August 4 Recap

August 11 Predictions

Thursday Schedules

Palace IFC
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 7 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 5 showings (▼ 7)	Wu Xia
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 7 showings	The Smurfs (3D Eng.) - 5 showings (▼ 7)	The Tree Of Life
Little White Lies - 4 showings	Nowhere Boy - 1 showing (▼ 3)	Certified Copy
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 6)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)

Pacific Place
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 7 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 7 showings (▼ 8)	Wu Xia
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 7 showings	The Smurfs (3D Eng.) - 7 showings (-)
	The Beaver - 2 showings (▼ 4)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Eng.) - 5 showings (▼ 7)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 4 showings (▼ 6)
	Mr. Popper's Penguins - 1 showing (▼ 3)
	The Tree Of Life - 1 showing (-)

Olympian City
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 9 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 2 showings (▼ 6)	Mr. Popper's Penguins
Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger - 5 showings (-)	Wu Xia
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 8 showings	The Smurfs (3D Eng.) - 1 showing (▼ 3)	The Beaver
The Fortune Buddies - 5 showings	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 4 showings (▼ 6)	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Can.)
	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops - 1 showing (▼ 2)	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Can.)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 4)
	Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D - 1 showing (-)

Palace APM
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 7 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 6 showings (▼ 8)	The Smurfs (3D Eng.)
Cars 2 (Can.) - 3 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger - 5 showings (-)	Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called Operation Golden Spy
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 8 showings	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 5 showings (▼ 6)	Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night
The Fortune Buddies - 7 showings	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops - 1 showing (▼ 2)	Kung Fu Panda (Can.)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 4)	Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)	Wu Xia
		Love Is The Only Answer
		Mr. Popper's Penguins

Festival Walk
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 6 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 6 showings (-)	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops
Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 5 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger - 1 showing (▼ 4)	The Beaver
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 7 showings	The Smurfs (3D Eng.) - 3 showings (▼ 5)	Kung Fu Panda 2 (Can.)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 5 showings (▼ 8)	Mr. Popper's Penguins
	Wu Xia - 1 showing (▼ 3)	Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Can.) - 4 showings (▼ 6)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 4)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 3 showings (▼ 5)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Eng.) - 1 showing (-)

Wu Xia got trounced. Potter and Panda survived.

	Thursday adm.	(so far)		August 11
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Cars 2	--	8,807	--
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	7,823	--
3	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	8,332	3,451	-58.6%
4	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	11,135	3,055	-72.6%
5	The Fortune Buddies	--	2,146	--

Not a bad start for Cars 2. It is running slightly ahead of The Smurfs at this point. Rise of the Planet of the Apes did ok. It did just a bit less than Mr. Popper's Penguins. It won't see the big increase like Popper's did but it should do fairly well with walk-ins. Expected drop for The Smurfs. Terrible drop for Captain America. Captain has been having better increases than The Smurfs the past few days. It'll be interesting to see if that happens today. The Fortune Buddies did really awful. It will be lucky to make $200,000 now.

		Weekly Gross (Mon-Sun)							August 1-7
LW	TW	Title	Last Week (HKD)	This Week (HKD)	Days in release	% chg	Total (HKD)	This Week (USD)	Total (USD)
--	1	Captain America: The First Avenger	--	$9,539,444	4	--	$9,539,444	$1,222,233	$1,222,233
1	2	Kung Fu Panda 2	$13,779,810	$7,714,861	18	-44.0%	$35,106,317	$988,460	$4,497,967
2	3	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	$12,459,845	$6,575,883	25	-47.2%	$71,915,845	$842,529	$9,214,157
--	4	The Smurfs	--	$5,216,647	4	--	$5,216,647	$668,378	$668,378
3	5	Wu Xia	$3,909,323	$3,022,788	11	-22.7%	$6,932,111	$387,292	$888,170
5	6	Love Is The Only Answer	$2,434,832	$1,334,095	18	-45.2%	$5,642,437	$170,929	$722,932
6	7	Cars 2	$1,566,999	$1,207,945	0	-22.9%	$2,774,944	$154,766	$355,537
4	8	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	$2,607,694	$1,126,187	40	-56.8%	$84,155,534	$144,291	$10,782,357
7	9	Mr. Popper's Penguins	$1,416,020	$617,305	32	-56.4%	$19,246,609	$79,091	$2,465,955
8	10	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops	$843,483	$602,474	11	-28.6%	$1,445,957	$77,191	$185,262

Good start for Captain America. The Smurfs opened with mediocre numbers. The only good drop of the bunch was Cars 2. Wu Xia and Doraemon benefited from having its first full week and the rest saw big drops on the weekend.

Top 5 Biggest Surprises of 2011: Jan-Jul Edition

4. Mr. Popper's Penguins



OW - $919,768
Total - $2,465,955 (so far)

This didn't open to #1 the weekend it came out but it did manage to win in terms of individual admissions. Theaters had to add shows on its opening weekend to accommodate the high demand and this carried over into its 2nd weekend where it posted only a 52% drop in the face of big competition from Harry Potter. It couldn't sustain the low drops after that but the combination of starpower from Jim Carrey and cute CGI animals was the perfect storm for a summertime hit.

August 18

Final Destination 5 vs. Overheard 2 vs. Larry Crowne

This weekend will feature films covering a wide range of demographics that is sure to inject some life into the box office before summer holidays are over.

Final Destination 5

OW - $500,000
Total - $1,100,000

Death returns in the 5th installment of the Final Destination franchise. While this will be considered a favourite to take the weekend, having Final Destination scheduled in August rather than September could prove costly. It will have the benefit of 3D but is going up against a Chinese thriller and a star-powered romantic comedy. Interestingly enough, FD4 went up against a similar movie in Accident back in 2009 which also starred Louis Koo. FD4 opened on top with a little over $750,000 but FD5 is facing bigger films than Haeundae and Accident. The Final Destination series has been profitable with every film increasing since the 2nd one. Unfortunately, FD5 will be dealing with holdovers like Apes and Cars 2 and faces direct competition the week after from Insidious. There is a sizable fanbase here so it looks like they will jump aboard but the general public, for the most part, will skip this.

Final Destination 5's opening weekend won't match Final Destination 4's but with the recent market explosion here, we could see a good opening. Unlike the other Final Destination movies, this is playing in the summertime where competition is more fierce and it won't have the marketplace to itself but weekdays should be stronger than normal. I would say $500,000 is there for the taking.

In its 2nd weekend, it faces a lot of competition as 3 new contenders vie for #1. It will be hit directly from Insidious as well as Horrible Bosses and Cowboys & Aliens. In total, 6 new openers come out in Final Destination 5's 2nd weekend but FD5 has never been known for legs. What I think will push it over the 2 multiplier is the weekdays. It should be able to do solid business in its first week before collapsing its 2nd weekend.

Overheard 2

OW - $900,000
Total - $2,600,000

The sequel to the 2009 surprise smash hit gets underway this weekend as Overheard 2 hopes to better its predecessors gross and possibly steal away the weekend crown. The marketplace hasn't seen a movie like this for months and this will satisfy those that are looking for a local drama/thriller. This movie will feature the same 3 main actors as last time as Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu all return. Some interesting news is that this movie won't be a direct sequel to the first one and all 3 will play new characters. This should draw in some people who were not impressed with the first one to return for the 2nd.

Opening weekend should see it skyrocket with big returns as this is the only local thriller in months. Like FD5, this will face competition from holdovers as well as new releases so its opening weekend will be limited. There is lots of new films coming out 2nd weekend but none of them will directly affect Overheard 2. If the movie has good WOM, we may even see a repeat for Overheard 2. The last film had good drops until its 4th weekend where its screens got slashed. This one should be a lot more frontloaded and with a ton of movies releasing the week after, it will not reach the multiplier of the original film.

Larry Crowne

OW - $300,000
Total - $800,000

Our last wide release of the weekend will try to entice couples not interested in the other films to watch it. The studio hopes that the starpower of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts will make this a winner but the market has been saturated with romantic comedies all summer. This could suffer from fatigue and may even disappoint.

Opening weekend should be fairly good. I think even with the amount of romantic comedies that have come out so far, the starpower of Julia Roberts/Tom Hanks should bring couples/single ladies in. It will be fairly good counterprogramming and should be able to drum up business. Summer holidays will help out its total and multiplier and there won't be any direct competition until September. Romantic comedies tend to have very sturdy drops regardless of the amount of competition so it may not collapse 2nd weekend even though there are 6 films coming out.

August 4-7 Weekend

1. Captain America: The First Avenger Paramount Int'l $1,225,233 1 41 $29,884 0 $1,549,319
2. Smurfs, The Sony Int'l $672,705 1 37 $18,181 0 $899,577
3. Kung Fu Panda 2 Paramount Int'l $552,158 3 39 $14,158 -50 $4,647,837
4. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows II Warner Bros Int'l $461,019 4 39 $11,821 -50 $9,382,660
5. Wu Xia (Dragon) UA Films/WE $209,817 2 38 $5,522 -58 $937,109
6. Love is the Only Answer Newport Ent. $76,993 3 21 $3,666 -55 $751,634
7. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Paramount Int'l $59,535 6 17 $3,502 -67 $10,883,940
8. Doraemon The Movie: Nobita And The Steel Troops: The New Age Universe Ent. $35,239 2 22 $1,602 -67 $195,279
9. Mr. Popper's Penguins Fox Int'l $31,731 5 18 $1,763 -65 $2,481,705
10. Crayon Shin Chan 2011 NeoVision HK $30,278 1 12 $2,523 0 $41,366

	Thursday adm.			August 11
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	32,193	--
2	Cars 2	--	17,849	--
3	The Fortune Buddies	--	9,866	--
4	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	15,089	7,832	-48.1%
5	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	25,949	7,459	-71.3%

Apes had a fantastic increase today. Over a 4 multiplier from pre-sales to final numbers. Running ahead of Mr. Popper's Penguins at this point. Cars 2 did slightly better than The Smurfs. I don't think it will see a drop tomorrow like The Smurfs did last Friday. The Fortune Buddies sure showed me. Almost had a 5 multiplier. Strong hold for The Smurfs. I'm guessing Cars did not hit it hard but this weekend it should drop over 50% with Apes/Cars 2 hogging most of the showtimes. Huge drop for Captain America. Looks like Apes hit it harder than I expected and massive frontloading.

	Friday adm.	(so far)			August 12
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	12,053	--	+54.1%
2	Cars 2	--	9,459	--	+7.4%
3	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	7,603	4,637	-39.0%	+34.4%
4	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	11,601	4,129	-64.4%	+35.2%
5	The Fortune Buddies	--	2,983	--	+39.0%

Excellent for Apes. This is heading towards a 1m opening. Cars 2 did ok. Smurfs had a strong hold. Mediocre opening followed by strong holds? That's something new. Captain America is still flailing. Good recovery for The Fortune Buddies.

August 11 Weekend Projections

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $1.05m
2. Cars 2 - $850,000
3. Captain America - $416,500 (-66%)
4. Smurfs - $362,000 (-46%)
5. The Fortune Buddies - $260,000

Apes is seeing increases in showtimes for the weekend. Have a look below.

	Showtimes
	Cars 2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Olympian City
Friday	11	8
Saturday	10	12
Biggest Screen?	Split	Split
Palace APM
Friday	10	11
Saturday	11	13
Biggest Screen?	Yes (morn. [11 am] + aft.)	Yes (morn. [9 AM] + night)
The One
Friday	11	11
Saturday	8	16
Biggest Screen?	Split	Split
Pacific Place
Friday	7	7
Saturday	8	8
Biggest Screen?	Yes (aft.)	Yes (morn. + night)
Palace IFC
Friday	7	8
Saturday	8	9
Biggest Screen?	Yes (morn. + aft.)	Yes (night)
Festival Walk
Friday	11	8
Saturday	12	11
Biggest Screen?	Yes (morn. + aft.)	Yes (night)

Apes might see a Popper's like increase with those screen counts this weekend. By the way, split in the table means that the theater has 2 or more same sized biggest theaters and are dividing them amongst the two films.

	Friday adm.				August 12
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	35,831	--	+11.3%
2	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	--	15,514	--	-13.1%
3	The Fortune Buddies	--	10,534	--	+6.8%
4	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	24,473	9,277	-62.1%	+24.4%
5	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	13,140	8,676	-34.0%	+10.8%

Superb for Apes. On the flipside, absolutely horrible for Cars 2. The presales to final admissions increase was only 64%. Kids films are really suffering in the summertime. That's 2 weeks in a row where we've had 13% erosion Thursday-Friday. Ok for The Fortune Buddies. Good increase for Captain America although the decline is still not good. Smurfs had another good drop.

	Saturday adm.	(so far)			August 13
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	16,720	--	+38.7%
2	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	5,072	11,702	+130.7%	+23.7%
3	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	11,702	6,820	-41.7%	+47.1%
4	Cars 2 (Cantonese)	--	6,637	--	--
5	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	16,720	5,072	-69.7%	+22.8%

Apes is doing fantastic. Cars 2 is doing better today but Apes has really muted its presence. Same old for Smurfs and Captain America.

		Thursday Actuals				August 11
LW	TW	Title	Last Thu. (USD)	Thursday (USD)	% chg	Total
--	1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	$203,812	--	$203,812
--	2	Cars 2	--	$157,173	--	$513,189
1	3	Captain America: The First Avenger	$242,988	$87,969	-63.8%	$1,786,572
--	4	The Fortune Buddies	--	$67,749	--	$67,749
2	5	Smurfs	$124,428	$67,159	-46.0%	$1,061,118
4	6	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	$77,041	$26,004	-66.2%	$9,439,875
3	7	Kung Fu Panda 2	$82,612	$24,705	-70.1%	$4,739,310
5	8	Wu Xia	$37,419	$5,734	-84.7%	$974,871
7	9	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	$11,473	$3,599	-68.6%	$10,828,159
--	10	Little White Lies	--	$3,259	--	$3,259

Other totals:

Mr. Popper's Penguins - $2,489,115
Love Is The Only Answer - $768,664
The Tree Of Life - $445,242

Very good for Apes. Ok start for Cars 2. Captain America had a huge drop. Fortune Buddies had a solid start. Good for the Smurfs. Huge declines for the bottom 4 holdovers. Kung Fu Panda 2 may just be able to clear 5m while Harry Potter and Transformers won't clear their 2 benchmarks. Wu Xia will get to 1m. Very good start for Little White Lies.

	Saturday adm.				August 13
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	55,449	--	+54.8%
2	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	--	22,124	--	+42.6%
3	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	24,059	14,225	-40.9%	+64.0%
4	The Fortune Buddies	--	14,134	--	+34.2%
5	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	37,240	12,452	-66.6%	+34.2%

Solid increase for Apes. Poor increase for Cars 2. It didn't have a standard 50% increase from Friday even though it's a kids film. Smurfs is doing really well. The Fortune Buddies is turning into a minor hit. Ugly for Captain America.

	Sunday adm.	(so far)			August 14
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	20,817	--	+24.5%
2	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	7,295	16,441	+125.4%	+40.5%
3	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	14,708	9,068	-38.3%	+33.0%
4	Cars 2 (Cantonese)	--	6,914	--	+4.2%
5	The Fortune Buddies	--	5,654	--	--

Excellent for Apes. Cars 2 had a superb jump from yesterday but it could be just a correction. Smurfs is still hanging on. Good for The Fortune Buddies.

Updated August 11 Weekend Projections

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $1.12m
2. Cars 2 - $735,000
3. Captain America - $440,000 (-64%)
4. Smurfs - $380,000 (-43%)
5. The Fortune Buddies - $320,000

Most surprising is that even if you include the 350k+ from Cars 2's special previews, it still wouldn't have beaten Apes' projected OW. If Cars 2 didn't have special screenings, I never would have thought that to be the case.

New poll added. Take your time. Poll doesn't close for a while.

	Sunday adm.				August 14
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	58,108	--	+4.8%
2	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	10,904	28,296	+159.5%	+27.9%
3	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	27,443	16,952	-38.2%	+19.2%
4	The Fortune Buddies	--	16,240	--	+14.9%
5	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	33,602	11,428	-66.0%	-8.2%

	Weekend adm.			Aug 11-14
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	181,581	--
2	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	--	83,783	--
3	The Fortune Buddies	--	50,774	--
4	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	79,731	47,685	-40.2%
5	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D	121,264	40,616	-66.5%

August 11 Recap

Thursday Schedules

Pacific Place
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Overheard 2 - 6 showings	Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 6 showings (▼ 7)	The Beaver
Larry Crowne - 7 showings	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 7 showings (▼ 9)	Mr. Popper's Penguins
Final Destination 5 3D - 5 showings	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 1 showing (▼ 7)
	The Smurfs (3D Eng.) - 4 showings (▼ 7)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 3 showings (-)
	The Tree Of Life - 1 showing (-)

Olympian City
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Overheard 2 - 9 showings	Cars 2 (Can.) - 5 showings (▲ 3)	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Can.)
Larry Crowne - 6 showings	Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 1 showing (▼ 5)	Kung Fu Panda 2 (Can.)
Final Destination 5 3D - 3 showings	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 7 showings (▼ 13)	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops (Tuesday)
	The Fortune Buddies - 3 showings (▼ 5)	Cars 2 (3D Eng.)
	Captain America: The First Avenger - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Eng.) - 2 showings (-)

Palace APM
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Overheard 2 - 10 showings	Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 8)	Captain America: The First Avenger
Larry Crowne - 6 showings	Cars 2 (Can.) - 1 showing (▼ 3)	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops
Final Destination 5 3D - 8 showings	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 8 showings (▼ 13)
	The Fortune Buddies - 4 showings (▼ 9)
	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 1 showing (▼ 5)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 1 showing (▼ 7)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 1 showing (▼ 2)

The One
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Overheard 2 - 10 showings	Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 4 showings (▼ 6)	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D
Larry Crowne - 6 showings	Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 1 showing (▼ 2)	The Smurfs (3D Eng.)
Final Destination 5 3D - 6 showings	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 8 showings (▼ 14)	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Can.)
	The Fortune Buddies - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Captain America: The First Avenger - 1 showing (-)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 4 showings (▼ 7)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 1 showing (-)

Overheard is playing extremely strong in the business districts with it outselling FD5 (45 tickets vs. 0 for FD5), LC 5:1, Apes 9:1. It hasn't been as strong in the more rural areas but it is still oustelling Apes, Larry Crowne and Final Destination 5.

August 18 Predictions

		Weekly Gross (Mon-Sun)							August 8-14
LW	TW	Title	Last Week (HKD)	This Week (HKD)	Days in release	% chg	Total (HKD)	This Week (USD)	Total (USD)
--	1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	--	$8,437,138	4	--	$8,437,138	$1,082,854	$1,082,854
1	2	Captain America: The First Avenger	$9,539,444	$7,421,429	11	-22.2%	$16,960,873	$952,494	$2,176,822
7	3	Cars 2	$1,207,945	$6,694,980	4	+454.2%	$9,469,924	$859,259	$1,215,405
4	4	The Smurfs	$5,216,647	$5,841,725	11	+12.0%	$11,058,372	$749,749	$1,419,273
2	5	Kung Fu Panda 2	$7,714,861	$2,855,385	25	-63.0%	$37,961,702	$366,470	$4,872,148
3	6	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	$6,575,883	$2,691,518	32	-59.1%	$74,617,998	$345,439	$9,576,755
--	7	The Fortune Buddies	--	$2,648,714	4	--	$2,648,714	$339,945	$339,945
5	8	Wu Xia	$3,022,788	$887,792	18	-70.6%	$7,819,903	$113,942	$1,003,635
6	9	Love Is The Only Answer	$1,334,095	$423,546	25	-68.3%	$6,065,983	$54,359	$778,531
8	10	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	$1,126,187	$350,962	47	-68.8%	$84,506,496	$45,043	$10,845,882

Rise of the Planet of the Apes went down and Cars 2 spiked up. The Smurfs had the only good drop of the top 10 as Captain America fell off the wagon on the weekend and the rest had weak holds.

August 25

Cowboys & Aliens vs. Horrible Bosses vs. 4 other openers

This weekend hopes to give the summer a nice send off with 6 new openers. The recent wheeling-and-dealings schedule wise had 9 films coming out this weekend at one point but certain films have moved and now we are down to 6. 2 of them will only be serious contenders while the rest will look for a chunk of change before fading off into the sunset.

Cowboys & Aliens will headline this weekend although it feels more like playing second fiddle than actually being the star of the show. It has a shot at #1 although I am less enthusiastic about its chances now than I was 3 months ago. IMAX pre-sales do not look encouraging and suggest that viewers will most likely skip this one. The benefit of IMAX alone will help in gross and like Super 8, it could pull off a victory that it would not have had it not been for IMAX. Opening weekend won't be great but it will pull in a sizable portion of the population. It will have to contend with Overheard 2's 2nd weekend and Apes' 3rd weekend so theaters will be reluctant to part with their big screens. I'd place the odds of this winning the weekend at about 20%. Not great odds but it is certainly there. Even though there is a alien-loving crowd here, combining that with Cowboys seems like a toxic mix. True Grit only played in limited release so that says something about cowboy films here. Daniel Craig & Harrison Ford are draws but the cowboys premise will scare away any potential moviegoers. I think this will gross about $325,000 for the weekend and place somewhere in the top 4. C&A's 2nd weekend should be OK as competition will be light and it won't be hit by direct competition. Its 3rd weekend should see a big tumble with the loss of IMAX and screens to Contagion. 4th weekend doesn't look promising at this point with 2 horror movies playing partially to C&A's demographic. Reviews don't look very strong so I think it will end its run with only $725,000, a disappointment in a highly successful summer for action films.

Horrible Bosses will be a nice counterpart to C&A as it looks to grab the male demographic and teens looking for a fun night out. The recent inroads that foreign comedies have made here, especially with The Hangover franchise, make me hopeful that Horrible Bosses could breakout to better than expected numbers. While comedies still lag behind superhero/action-packed blockbusters, they are starting to pick up steam. The good reviews should push a few people to watch it and with this playing to more demographics, this could ultimately gross more than Cowboys & Aliens. IMAX could be what separates the 2 so it might net just a little bit less than C&A. I'd put its opening weekend at $290,000, a very good opening weekend for a comedy. It will face Bad Teacher in its 2nd weekend but strong WOM support should allow both to co-exist. The September 8 weekend will see its staying power put to the test as it will go up against Midnight in Paris and One Day (both targeting females) and Contagion (males+females). If it survives from that ok, it will come face-to-face with Bridesmaids, Insidious and Apollo 18 the following week which should end its run prematurely. Total should come in at a very strong $720,000. The string of comedies won't affect it too much as it will play to both demographics.

Wasao is getting some promotion and will play very strongly to kids. What separates this from other Japanese films is that this is being dubbed into Cantonese which should allow this movie to be more accessible to families. A $90,000 weekend would be a great start.

The Whistleblower is another political thriller being released. It is in the same spirit as The Next Three Days and will play to a similar audience. It faces tougher competition than The Next Three Days and some theaters may opt not to show this in order to cope with demand from other holdovers and new releases. For now, I think this will get a wide release like The Next Three Days but will open to a lower amount. $120,000 for the weekend wouldn't be too bad. This types of movies feed off WOM. Since reviews have been positive, this should see a good multiplier. A total of about $400,000 sounds right.

Summer Love (Love) is the final romance film aimed at young couples for the summer. There have been a ton of romance movies this summer with A Beautiful Life, Something Borrowed, The Other Woman, Fireworks From The Heart, Beach Spike, Love Is The Only Answer all opening. Fatigue could be setting in as Beach Spike did little to spark interest. Love Is The Only Answer curbed that but it had to rely on starpower to get people through the door. This is more in the realm of Beach Spike as the posters look somewhat identical. With many new releases this week, I see theaters skipping this for other movies. It could take in just $60,000 opening weekend and less than $150,000 total. Legs should be very weak for this.

Snow Flower And The Secret Fan is the final release this week but this looks more like a limited release than something playing wide. I think it will get the usual 2 theaters but other than that, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of interest for this. I think it will benefit slightly from Li Bingbing but otherwise this seems like an arthouse movie. It should open around $15,000, a great start.

Thursday/Friday Update

Overheard 2 is selling out fast in business districts. At 12 PM, it has sold more than half of Friday's night shows at most of the theaters in the business districts. The more populated theaters have also been selling quite well at night. I think this will beat Apes' OW and should get more than 1.2m but it all depends on how many screens Overheard 2 gets this weekend. Apes recovered a bit from its lackluster Thursday. Larry Crowne is still doing solid business and Final Destination 5 picked up slightly as well.

	Thursday adm.	(so far)		August 18
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Overheard 2	--	6,109	--
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	7,823	4,446	-43.2%
3	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	8,807	3,706	-57.9%
4	Final Destination 5 3D	--	3,631	--
5	Larry Crowne	--	2,540	--

That looks really low for Overheard 2. I expect a big increase with walk-ins. Very good for Apes although it won't increase with the same multiplier as last Thursday. Not promising for Cars 2. It should be able to increase better than last Thursday. Weak for Final Destination 5. Not bad for Larry Crowne. It might finish with 8,000 admissions today.

August 11 Weekend

1. Cars 2 Walt Disney Int'l $1,180,027 1 37 $31,893 0 $1,389,232
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes Fox Int'l $1,082,257 1 37 $29,250 0 $1,440,607
3. Captain America: The First Avenger Paramount Int'l $481,697 2 43 $11,202 -61 $2,302,201
4. Smurfs, The Sony Int'l $426,803 2 37 $11,535 -37 $1,558,359
5. The Fortune Buddies Intercontinental $339,947 1 36 $9,443 0 $466,211
6. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows II Warner Bros Int'l $159,790 5 23 $6,947 -65 $9,648,884
7. Kung Fu Panda 2 Paramount Int'l $155,990 4 26 $6,000 -72 $4,905,396
8. Wu Xia UA Films/WE $34,105 3 10 $3,410 -84 $1,010,999
9. Little White Lies Panasia Films $19,718 1 5 $3,944 0 $26,473
10. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Paramount Int'l $18,532 7 7 $2,647 -69 $10,916,703

Cars 2 (BOM):

$847,374 (Rank: 2)

Pretty steep drops for the bottom 4 holdovers. Harry Potter should finish with 9.8m. Transformers...about 10.96m. Wu Xia should finish around The Lost Bladesman's total. Kung Fu Panda 2 will clear 5m but not much more.

Upcoming (September):

Bad Teacher - September 1


Contagion - September 8

Bridesmaids - September 15

Johnny English Reborn - September 29

1911 - September 29 (from http://hkmovieposter.blogspot.com/)

Abduction - September 29

	Thursday adm.			August 18
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Overheard 2	--	18,374	--
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	32,193	13,617	-57.7%
3	Final Destination 5 3D	--	8,998	--
4	Larry Crowne	--	6,192	--
5	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	17,849	5,832	-67.3%

Overheard's numbers look really low. They look like they should be up 10,000. Same thing with Apes. It looked like it was going to be in the 20k range. With those numbers above, Overheard might not even break 1m although Thursday's gross should come in higher than normal. Most of its business came from the night shows. Apes had a steep drop. Awful for Final Destination 5. $300,000 is not certain now. Thought Larry Crowne would have a big increase but it didn't happen. It more than doubled A Beautiful Life's opening day admissions so the $300,000 target is off to a good start. It won't increase as much on the weekend as A Beautiful Life did with the summer weekdays but it had a big enough start. Cars 2 completely crashed and burned. Friday and Saturday should save it from total disaster though.

Disappointing numbers all around. Even Larry Crowne's number isn't that good.

	Friday adm.	(so far)			August 19
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	--	10,386	--	+70.0%
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	12,053	6,721	-44.2%	+51.2%
3	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	9,459	3,843	-59.4%	+3.7%
4	Larry Crowne	--	3,753	--	+47.8%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	--	3,598	--	-0.9%

Better for Overheard 2. Let's see how much it increases today. Ok for Apes. Ugly for Cars 2. Only a 4% increase from Thursday...yikes. Nice jump for Larry Crowne. Expected drop for Final Destination 5. Let's see how bad it drops today.

Notes

- War Horse is confirmed for release on December 29.

- The Amazing Spider-Man will come out on July 3, 2012.

- Spy Kids 4D is coming out on September 29.

- Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 moves to December 22, which brings the weekend release tally back up to 6.

- Friends With Benefits and The Change-Up move to October 13.

		Thursday Actuals					August 18
LW	TW	Title	Last Thu. (USD)	Thursday (USD)	% chg	Days	Total
--	1	Overheard 2	--	$154,815	--	1	$154,815
1	2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	$203,812	$112,017	-45.0%	8	$1,714,349
--	3	Final Destination 5	--	$100,511	--	1	$100,511
2	4	Cars 2	$157,173	$61,802	-60.7%	8	$1,568,129
--	5	Larry Crowne	--	$35,611	--	1	$35,611
5	6	Smurfs	$67,159	$33,240	-50.5%	16	$1,657,882
4	7	The Fortune Buddies	$67,749	$32,342	-52.3%	8	$556,752
6	8	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	$26,004	$14,482	-44.3%	36	$9,651,762
3	9	Captain America: The First Avenger	$87,969	$14,213	-83.8%	16	$2,367,599
7	10	Kung Fu Panda 2	$24,705	$10,715	-56.6%	29	$4,931,703

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $10,842,278
Wu Xia - $1,021,689
Love is the Only Answer - $788,053

My suspicions were confirmed. The top 4 either had much better drops in gross than its admissions or they opened to spectacularly high numbers. Overheard wouldn't have took in $154,000 with those admissions when Apes almost doubled its admissions and only opened $50,000 higher. Final Destination 5's number is reaching Transformers-esque levels which is highly unlikely with FD5's ticket prices. Larry Crowne went down and did just $5,000 more than A Beautiful Life's opening day. $300,000 is now out of the picture.

Another good drop for The Smurfs. Fortune Buddies survived well. Harry Potter is having steady holds due to IMAX otherwise it's nothing spectacular. Its run may or may not be extended after this week. Cowboys & Aliens is set to play on IMAX next Thursday. Horrible for Captain America. It's dropping more than Thor did. Spectacular collapse after a very good opening. Kung Fu Panda 2 will still make 5m.

Transformers is still showing in IMAX but is gone after this weekend. 10.9m should still happen but not 11m. Wu Xia should end very close to The Lost Bladesman. It will come down to this weekend. Good run for Love Is The Only Answer.

	Friday adm.				August 19
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	--	26,363	--	+43.5%
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	35,831	20,540	-42.7%	+50.8%
3	Final Destination 5 3D	--	8,973	--	-0.3%
4	Larry Crowne	--	8,419	--	+36.0%
5	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	15,514	6,379	-58.9%	+9.4%

Today's numbers look more in line with Thursday's grosses. Good increases for Overheard and Apes. Ok for FD5. Good for Larry Crowne and bland for Cars 2.

	Saturday adm.	(so far)			August 20
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	--	17,296	--	+66.5%
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	16,720	10,024	-40.0%	+49.1%
3	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	11,702	6,255	-46.5%	+62.8%
4	Larry Crowne	--	4,912	--	+30.9%
5	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	6,820	4,381	-35.8%	--

Terrific increase for Overheard. I think it can get around 42,000 admissions today. Solid for Apes. I wonder if it can get to 30,000 admissions today. 2.5m is a lock and 3m is well within reach. It is setting its sights on X-Men: First Class now. I'm not impressed by Cars 2's drop. The only reason it fell below 50% is because it fell on its opening Saturday from opening Friday in pre-sales. Great hold for The Smurfs.

Edit: I accidentally put down The Smurfs as Final Destination 5. Fixed.

	Saturday adm.				August 20
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	--	51,196	--	+94.2%
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	55,449	36,893	-33.5%	+79.6%
3	Final Destination 5 3D	--	13,685	--	+52.5%
4	Larry Crowne	--	13,149	--	+56.2%
5	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	22,124	12,233	-44.7%	+91.8%

Insane increase for Overheard 2. Up 94% in admissions from Friday. That is unheard of for a film on top and in the summertime. The number is even more impressive since Overheard 2 only had 1 screen at most theaters. Not to be overshadowed, Apes had a great drop. I really underestimated it as I thought it would nosedive with Overheard 2 opening. The top 2 did fantastic today.

Final Destination 5 and Larry Crowne both managed to hang on and finish ahead of Cars 2 in admissions. Cars 2 did ok today. All of the big gains today can be attributed to certain factors. For Cars and Apes, some schools open on Tuesday so students are taking this opportunity to catch a movie before the term begins. Overheard 2 is really blasting off with its great WOM and appeal to adults. Adults are more likely to catch this on the weekend than opening day.

	Sunday adm.	(so far)			August 21
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	--	24,307	--	+40.5%
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	20,817	15,503	-25.5%	+54.7%
3	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	16,441	11,869	-27.8%	+89.8%
4	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	9,068	6,674	-26.4%	+52.3%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	--	5,906	--	--

Another impressive increase for Overheard 2. Excellent weekend drops for Apes, Cars 2 and The Smurfs. Kids are really putting their last day to use by watching a movie. Ok for Final Destination 5.

August 18 Weekend Projections

1. Overheard 2 - $1,100,000 ($1,300,000 if Thursday ratio steady)
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $675,000 (-39%)
3. Final Destination 5 - $515,000
4. Cars 2 - $410,000 (-52%)
5. Larry Crowne - $210,000

Good Saturday numbers overall. That hold for ROTPOTA is great.

Jack, how is Overheard 2 doing in Singapore?

Lots to get to so let's lead off with the big news. Tentative dates have been added for a few 2012 releases. Here's the full list (including those just added in bold):

January 5 - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
January 21 - Puss in Boots
February 2 - Anonymous
March 8 - John Carter
April 5 - The Pirates! Band of Misfits
April 19 - Battleship
April 26 - The Avengers, The Vow
May 17 - Men In Black III
July 3 - The Amazing Spider-Man
July 5 - Ice Age: Continental Drift
July 19 - The Dark Knight Rises
August 2 - Total Recall, Brave
October 18 - Frankenweenie
December 20 - Wreck-It Ralph

Breaking Dawn Part 2 and The Hobbit haven't been scheduled yet but it's very likely that they'll either go head-to-head or be just 1 week apart. If Part 2 follows the release dates of the previous Twilight movies here, it should be scheduled on December 20 while The Hobbit on December 13.


Notes

- Seeking Justice is out October 13.

- Fright Night is set to be released October 20 and will go up against Paranormal Activity 3.

- Dream House comes out October 27.

	Sunday adm.				August 21
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	--	55,552	--	+8.5%
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	58,108	38,855	-33.1%	+5.3%
3	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	28,296	17,780	-37.2%	+45.3%
4	Final Destination 5 3D	--	14,017	--	+2.4%
5	Larry Crowne	--	12,368	--	-5.9%

	Weekend adm.			Aug 18-21
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Overheard 2	--	151,485	--
2	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	181,581	109,905	-39.5%
3	Final Destination 5 3D	--	45,673	--
4	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	83,783	42,224	-49.6%
5	Larry Crowne	--	40,128	--

August 18 Recap

After next week's recap, I'll be discontinuing writing recaps for the time being.

September Release Dates

Release Date	Movie Title
September 1	Bad Teacher Battle Royale (3D re-release) Jane Eyre Love Actually... Sucks 3 Idiots Laddaland
September 8	Contagion One Day Midnight In Paris Love In Space Treasure Hunt Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below
September 15	Pina Insidious Bridesmaids Mayday 3DNA Lan Kwai Fong Apollo 18
September 22	Zookeeper Paradise Kiss My Kingdom Life Without Principle
September 29	Johnny English Reborn 1911 Spy Kids 4D: All The Time In The World Abduction The Sorcerer And The White Snake The 33D Invader

September will be a fairly crowded month highlighted by the September 8 and September 29 weekends. The first weekend of September will only see 1 contender fighting for #1. Besides Bad Teacher, the rest play to smaller audiences and won't do that much. September 8 sees Hong Kong put in the spotlight with Contagion. Contagion should handily win the weekend as no other film will come close. September 15 will be somewhat interesting with 2 horror movies, 1 chick flick comedy, 1 dance movie, 1 local release and 1 concert. Weekend contenders will be Insidious, Apollo 18 and Bridesmaids but #1 may go to Contagion again if none of the releases hit with the public. Pina will be in limited release and Lan Kwai Fong doesn't have any stars to bring in large audiences. September 22 will be the lightest weekend as only Zookeeper is expected to make some money. September will finish in style with the last weekend having 4 major contenders. Abduction, Johnny English Reborn, Spy Kids 4D and 1911 all have a shot at #1 and it is unclear as to who will be #1 at this time. It looks like Johnny English Reborn has the best chance as Spy Kids 4D and Abduction seem to be aiming at being counter-programming than true hits. 1911 is an unknown quantity. I could see it bombing heavily or doing well.

Overheard 2 is doing surprisingly great here. It beat all English films this weekend (including 3D and non-3D), the reviews has been (very) positive and WOM is just building up. Still though from next weekend the competition is huge, we have 3 releases next weekend (including Cars 2), so I don't expect it to have great legs, still should do decent here.

		Weekly Gross (Mon-Sun)							August 15-21
LW	TW	Title	Last Week (HKD)	This Week (HKD)	Days in release	% chg	Total (HKD)	This Week (USD)	Total (USD)
1	1	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	$8,437,138	$9,037,913	11	+7.1%	$17,475,051	$1,158,875	$2,240,716
--	2	Overheard 2	--	$7,071,662	4	--	$7,071,662	$906,755	$906,755
3	3	Cars 2	$6,694,980	$5,724,041	11	-14.5%	$15,193,965	$733,958	$1,948,227
--	4	Final Destination 5	--	$3,635,046	4	--	$3,635,046	$466,099	$466,099
4	5	The Smurfs	$5,841,725	$3,269,151	18	-44.0%	$14,327,523	$419,182	$1,837,128
7	6	The Fortune Buddies	$2,648,714	$2,656,192	11	+0.3%	$5,304,906	$340,586	$680,214
2	7	Captain America: The First Avenger	$7,421,429	$1,970,233	18	-73.5%	$18,931,106	$252,630	$2,427,417
--	8	Larry Crowne	--	$1,622,834	4	--	$1,622,834	$208,085	$208,085
6	9	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2	$2,691,518	$1,244,996	39	-53.7%	$75,862,994	$159,638	$9,727,437
5	10	Kung Fu Panda 2	$2,855,385	$972,661	32	-65.9%	$38,934,363	$124,718	$4,992,310

Great for Apes. Looks like all openers were overestimated. Thursday's actuals have been higher than usual for the past few weeks. Still great for Overheard 2 and will pass the original by the end of next Wednesday. It is aiming for Sanctum's total at this point. Not bad for Cars 2. Final Destination 5's opening was mediocre. It will still be able to crack 1m though so at least a 2 multiplier will happen. Good for The Smurfs. Good week for The Fortune Buddies as it will clear $800,000 before it is out of theaters. Another terrible drop for Captain America but at least it will pass Thor soon. Poor for Larry Crowne. 9.8m will happen for Harry Potter. Kung Fu Panda 2 has already passed 5m but will fall short of Sex & Zen's total.

Top 5 Biggest Surprises of 2011: Jan-Jul Edition

3. Fast Five



Released: May 5
OW - $533,559
Total - $1,823,664 (3.42 multiplier)

This may not be in the upper echelons of box office gross but it became the only movie in the franchise to gross more than $600,000, made 3x more than Fast & Furious and was the only film in the series to finish above a 3 multiplier. Opening weekend had it pitted against Thor's 2nd weekend and it scored a major victory as it took the weekend with over $500,000. While it almost beat Fast & Furious's total opening weekend, that record wouldn't fall until the next day when Fast Five became the highest grossing movie in the franchise. It took just 5 days for that record to fall and it wasn't done there. Second weekend saw it dip just 29%, the best 2nd weekend drop of the franchise by a country mile, to eke out a victory over The Detective 2. Fast Five's reign would end the very next weekend as Pirates took over but it delivered a respectable hold (-57%) to break the 1.5m mark. 4th weekend continued its run after it slid 46% to rise to 1.74m. The good holds would stop there as the X-Men: First Class and Hangover 2 combo caused it to tumble 80% in its 5th weekend and ended any hopes of 2m. It was a great total for a stagnant franchise here. It may not have had ridiculous holds but comparing it with others in the franchise, this one did a spectacular job and its run during the month of May was eye-opening.

Palace IFC
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cowboys & Aliens - 5 showings	Larry Crowne - 3 showings (▼ 7)	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Eng.)
Horrible Bosses - 6 showings	Overheard 2 - 5 showings (▼ 6)
Snow Flower And The Secret Fan - 5 showings	Cars 2 (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Little White Lies - 1 showing (-)
	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 4 showings (▼ 7)
	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D - 1 showing (▼ 2)
	The Smurfs (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 1 showing (-)

Palace APM
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cowboys & Aliens - 8 showings	Overheard 2 - 9 showings (▼ 12)	Cars 2 (Can.)
Horrible Bosses - 7 showings	Larry Crowne - 1 showing (▼ 6)	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D
Summer Love Love - 5 showings	Final Destination 5 3D - 4 showings (▼ 7)	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.)
Wasao - 5 showings	Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 6 showings (▼ 9)
	The Fortune Buddies - 1 showing (▼ 4)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 3)

Festival Walk
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cowboys & Aliens - 6 showings	Overheard 2 - 7 showings (▼ 8)	Cars 2 (3D Eng.)
Horrible Bosses - 6 showings	Larry Crowne - 3 showings (▼ 6)	The Fortune Buddies
Snow Flower And The Secret Fan - 5 showings	Final Destination 5 3D - 2 showings (▼ 6)	Captain America: The First Avenger 3D
The Whistleblower - 5 showings	Cars 2 (Eng.) - 1 showing (▲ 0)	The Smurfs (3D Eng.)
Wasao - 3 showings	Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 5)
	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 6 showings (▼ 7)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 6)
	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.) - 1 showing (▼ 3)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Can.) - 1 showing (▼ 3)

Tsuen Wan
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cowboys & Aliens - 7 showings	Final Destination 5 3D - 3 showings (▼ 5)	Larry Crowne
Horrible Bosses - 5 showings	Overheard 2 - 6 showings (-)	Cars 2 (3D Can.)
Summer Love Love - 4 showings	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 3 showings (▼ 7)
	The Fortune Buddies - 1 showing (▼ 2)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 1 showing (-)

Hollywood
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Cowboys & Aliens - 6 showings	Final Destination 5 3D - 2 showings (▼ 5)	Larry Crowne
Horrible Bosses - 5 showings	Overheard 2 - 7 showings (▼ 10)	Captain America: The First Avenger
Summer Love Love - 4 showings	Cars 2 (Can.) - 2 showings (-)	Kung Fu Panda 2 (3D Can.)
Wasao - 3 showings	Cars 2 (3D Can.) - 4 showings (-)	Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D Eng.)
	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - 2 showings (▼ 7)
	The Fortune Buddies - 2 showings (▼ 4)
	The Smurfs (3D Can.) - 3 showings (-)
	Doraemon: Nobita And The New Steel Troops - 1 showing (-)
	Kung Fu Panda 2 (Can.) - 1 showing (▲ 0)

Overheard 2 retains the biggest screen at most places or gets 2 screens (2nd biggest + small screen). Cowboys & Aliens is playing in either the biggest screen or the 2nd biggest while Horrible Bosses gets even smaller screens. Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Final Destination 5 got their showtimes cut. At Broadway theaters, Larry Crowne is either gone or gets 1 showtime but at UA theaters, it retains almost all of its showtimes from last week. Wasao gets a semi-wide release. Summer Love Love goes wide while The Whistleblower and Snow Flower And The Secret Fan are in limited release. There are still leftover showtimes for Kung Fu Panda 2 and Harry Potter 7-2.

August 25 Predictions

	Thursday adm.	(so far)		August 25
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Overheard 2	6,109	4,901	-19.8%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	3,771	--
3	Horrible Bosses	--	1,814	--
4	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	4,446	1,732	-61.0%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	3,631	1,532	-57.8%

	Thursday adm.			August 25
Rank	Title	LW	TW	% chg
1	Overheard 2	18,374	15,167	-17.5%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	12,143	--
3	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	13,617	6,766	-50.3%
4	Horrible Bosses	--	5,848	--
5	Final Destination 5 3D	8,998	4,289	-52.3%

Superb number for Overheard 2 although it could fall above 30% in gross due to last week's anomaly. If the gross drop mirrors the admissions drop and this trend continues the rest of the weekend, Overheard 2 could make $700,000 for the weekend. Not a bad debut for Cowboys & Aliens. It could make over $400,000 this weekend if it has steadily increases through the weekend. Apes' drop is not great. Looks like this will drop heavier than I expected this weekend. That's a good drop for Final Destination 5. Compared to others in the franchise, that's a superb drop. We need to see what happens with actuals though.

	Friday adm.	(so far)			August 26
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	10,386	8,762	-15.6%	+78.8%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	4,538	--	+20.3%
3	Horrible Bosses	--	3,191	--	+75.9%
4	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	6,721	2,738	-59.3%	+58.1%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	3,598	1,762	-51.0%	+15.0%

Very strong for Overheard 2. It will pull away from its competitors this weekend. That is not good for Cowboys & Aliens. Standard alien frontloading effect? Nice climb for Horrible Bosses. This and Apes will duke it out for #3. Harsh drop for Apes. It should end up with a drop around 50% today. Final Destination 5 is doing well for now. This won't last come Saturday and Sunday though. Theaters are reducing its showtimes to show kids movies like The Smurfs or Cars 2.



If you noticed, I have a new poll up. I figured since the old poll won't get a lot of votes in the next few weeks anyways, why not put another one in its place? I'm trying to phase out some of these features as I won't have as much time to keep it up to date so vote for what you like. The old poll will be back after this one.


Records will be updated shortly.

Notes

- The Help and Colombiana's release dates have been set. They will both start showing on September 22.

- Tower Heist begins on November 3.

- Crazy Stupid Love comes out October 20.

- Life Without Principle moves to October 20.

- Underworld: Awakening is scheduled for March 1, 2012.

August 18 Weekend

1. Overheard 2 Newport Ent. $905,991 1 41 $22,097 0 $1,299,879
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes Fox Int'l $637,873 2 36 $17,719 -41 $2,501,775
3. Final Destination 5 Warner Bros Int'l $468,238 1 34 $13,772 0 $696,029
4. Cars 2 Walt Disney Int'l $436,529 2 37 $11,798 -63 $2,081,275
5. Smurfs, The Sony Int'l $214,500 3 33 $6,500 -50 $1,943,061
6. Larry Crowne UA Films $207,907 1 26 $7,996 0 $276,374
7. The Fortune Buddies Intercontinental $157,717 2 32 $4,929 -54 $757,988
8. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows II Warner Bros Int'l $88,838 6 18 $4,935 -44 $9,795,275
9. Captain America: The First Avenger Paramount Int'l $74,936 3 23 $3,258 -84 $2,468,092
10. Kung Fu Panda 2 Paramount Int'l $70,581 5 20 $3,529 -55 $5,014,643

2011 OW:

1. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - $4,302,758 ($5,126,924 incl. previews + Wed.)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $3,640,758
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $2,333,672
4. Kung Fu Panda 2 - $1,744,330
5. Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D - $1,660,031
6. I Love Hong Kong - $1,383,839 ($1,602,824 incl. previews)
7. All's Well That Ends Well 2011 - $1,289,596
8. Captain America - $1,225,233
9. X-Men: First Class - $1,180,064
10. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - $1,082,257

2011 Releases with $1m+ weekends:

1. I Love Hong Kong - $1,383,839 - Feb. 3
2. All's Well That Ends Well 2011 - $1,289,596 - Feb. 3
3. Sanctum - $1,008,465 - Feb. 17
4. Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D - $1,660,031 - Apr. 14
5. Thor - $1,060,507 - Apr. 28
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $2,333,672 - May 19
7. X-Men: First Class - $1,180,064 - Jun. 2
8. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon - $4,302,758 - Jun. 28
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $3,640,758 - Jul. 14
10. Kung Fu Panda 2 - $1,744,330 - Jul. 21
11. Captain America - $1,225,233 - Aug. 4
12. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes - $1,082,257 - Aug. 11

Top 10 of 2011

1. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon* - $10,863,383
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2* - $9,795,275
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $5,827,510
4. Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy 3D - $5,290,771
5. Kung Fu Panda 2* - $5,014,643
6. I Love Hong Kong - $3,425,520
7. X-Men: First Class - $3,325,094
8. Sanctum - $2,833,859
9. Shaolin - $2,632,485
10. All's Well That Ends Well 2011 - $2,607,597

* Denotes movie still in release

I did not include Cars 2 in the list because I think previews and official opening weekends should be kept separate. It also doesn't help that Cars 2 had 2 weekends of special screenings.

	Friday adm.				August 26
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	26,363	21,110	-19.9%	+39.2%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	12,526	--	+3.2%
3	Horrible Bosses	--	9,378	--	+60.4%
4	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	20,540	8,723	-57.5%	+28.9%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	8,973	4,622	-48.5%	+7.8%

Exceptional for Overheard 2. 2.5m is a lock. 3m is very likely. Horrendous for Cowboys & Aliens. After yesterday's decent opening, it had a really bad increase. Very good jump for Horrible Bosses. Poor drop for Apes. Looks like Cowboys hurt it. Great hold for Final Destination 5.

	Saturday adm.	(so far)			August 27
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	17,296	16,006	-7.5%	+82.7%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	6,383	--	+40.7%
3	Horrible Bosses	--	3,971	--	+24.4%
4	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	10,024	3,827	-61.8%	+39.8%
5	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	4,381	3,451	-21.2%	--

Just insane for Overheard 2. Increases for the other movies weren't great. Surprised that none of the other movies managed a 50% bump. Good hold for The Smurfs.

New records added.

Top 50 (Local - HK$)

1 KUNG FU HUSTLE 2004 $61,278,697
2 SHAOLIN SOCCER 2001 $60,739,847
3 POLICE STORY 4 FIRST STRIKE 1996 $57,518,795
4 RUMBLE IN THE BRONX 1995 $56,912,536
5 INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2002 $55,057,176
6 GOD OF GAMBLERS II 1994 $52,541,028
7 CJ7 2008 $51,402,777
8 JUSTICE, MY FOOT 1992 $49,884,734
9 ALL S WELL END S WELL 1992 $48,992,188
10 LUST, CAUTION 2007 $48,750,175
11 THUNDERBOLT 1995 $45,647,210
12 MR NICE GUY 1997 $45,420,457
13 FIGHT BACK TO SCHOOL 1991 $43,829,449
14 IP MAN II 2010 $42,969,617
15 THE STORM RIDERS 1998 $41,532,235
16 THE SAINT OF GAMBLERS 1990 $41,326,156
17 3D SEX AND ZEN 2011 $41,078,280
18 DRUNKEN MASTER 1994 $40,971,484
19 ROYAL TRAMP 1992 $40,862,831
20 THE GOD OF COOKERY 1996 $40,861,655
21 LOVE ON A DIET 2001 $40,435,886
22 ALL S WELL END S WELL 97 1997 $40,435,675
23 FLIRTING SCHOLAR 1993 $40,171,033
24 THE CON MAN 1990 $40,149,328
25 ARMOUR OF GOD II 1991 $39,048,711
26 WHO AM I 1998 $38,852,845
27 TO BE NUMBER ONE 1991 $38,703,363
28 KING OF BEGGARS 1992 $38,622,449
29 INITIAL D 2005 $37,861,779
30 FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE 1994 $37,523,850
31 IT S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1994 $37,367,669
32 EIGHTH HAPPINESS 1988 $37,090,776
33 TREASURE HUNT 1994 $37,033,685
34 LOVE ON DELIVERY 1994 $36,906,730
35 ROYAL TRAMP II 1992 $36,583,964
36 NOW YOU SEE LOVE...NOW YOU DON T 1992 $36,475,536
37 THE MAGIC TOUCH 1992 $36,399,307
38 GOD OF GAMBLERS 1989 $36,294,029
39 FORBIDDEN CITY COP 1996 $36,051,899
40 ALL S WELL END S WELL, TOO 1993 $35,481,480
41 AMOUR OF GOD 1987 $35,469,408
42 SIXTY MILLION DOLLAR MAN 1995 $35,236,551
43 NEEDING YOU 2000 $35,214,661
44 A BETTER TOMORROW 1986 $34,651,324
45 SWORDSMAN II 1992 $34,462,861
46 72 TENANTS OF PROSPERITY 2010 $34,447,831
47 POLICE STORY II 1988 $34,151,609
48 THE CANTON GODFATHER 1989 $34,036,029
49 FULL THROTTLE 1995 $33,770,736
50 DRAGONS FOREVER 1988 $33,578,920

Top 50 (Foreign - HK$)

1 AVATAR 2009 $176,984,565
2 TITANIC 1997 $104,615,934
3 TOY STORY 3 2008 $89,176,478
4 TRANSFORMERS DARK OF THE MOON 2011 $84,634,791
5 HARRY POTTER 7.2 2011 $75,825,844
6 THE LOST WORLD - JURASSIC PARK 1997 $58,505,480
7 BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT 2008 $58,440,488
8 INCEPTION 2010 $58,380,823
9 JURASSIC PARK 1997 $58,360,645
10 SPIDER MAN 3 2007 $54,748,361
11 HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX 2007 $52,244,668
12 INDEPENDENCE DAY 1996 $49,375,641
13 TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF THE FALLEN 2009 $48,001,594
14 2012 2009 $46,945,966
15 HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE 2009 $45,440,242
16 HARRY POTTER 7.1 2010 $44,971,073
17 SPEED 1994 $44,590,580
18 ALICE IN WONDERLAND 2010 $44,095,231
19 HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER STONE 2001 $43,220,610
20 HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE 2005 $42,743,619
21 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN AT WORLD S END 2007 $41,767,007
22 THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW 2004 $41,555,498
23 TRANSFORMERS 2007 $39,824,065
24 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 1996 $39,616,915
25 KING KONG 2005 $39,040,408
26 THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE RETURN OF THE KING 2003 $37,895,480
27 MUMMY 2 2001 $37,658,745
28 MUMMY 3 2009 $37,496,322
29 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 2000 $36,295,660
30 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEAR 2006 $35,792,787
31 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRET 2002 $35,463,828
32 TOY STORY 2 2000 $35,269,547
33 JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH 2008 $35,017,051
34 TRUE LIES 1994 $34,862,716
35 THE DA VINCI CODE 2006 $34,715,064
36 THE INCREDIBLES 2005 $33,777,162
37 UP 2009 $33,248,227
38 THE NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2007 $32,928,579
39 FOREST GUMP 11994 $32,890,560
40 DIE HARD 3 1995 $32,720,595
41 ICE AGE DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS 2009 $32,446,094
42 SPIDER MAN 2 2004 $31,859,461
43 FINDING NEMO 2003 $31,816,876
44 KUNG FU PANDA 2008 $31,457,738
45 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN 2004 $31,282,643
46 GULLIVER S TRAVEL 2011 $31,116,800
47 THE RING 1999 $30,678,970
48 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III 2006 $30,300,652
49 THE ROCK 1996 $30,016,110
50 FACE OFF 1997 $29,969,500

	Saturday adm.				August 27
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	51,196	42,637	-16.7%	+102.0%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	20,322	--	+62.2%
3	Horrible Bosses	--	15,737	--	+67.8%
4	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	36,893	14,751	-60.0%	+69.1%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	13,685	7,148	-47.8%	+54.7%

Excellent for Overheard 2. The increases for the rest are a bit misleading so if you combine Thursday and Friday's admissions, you get this...

Rank	Title	Thu+Fri adm.	% chg (Sat)
1	Overheard 2	36,277	+17.5%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	24,669	-17.6%
3	Horrible Bosses	15,226	+3.4%
4	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	15,489	-4.8%
5	Final Destination 5 3D	8,911	-19.8%

No matter how you cut it, fantastic increase and number for Overheard 2. Cowboys & Aliens is the real casualty here as an 18% drop on Saturday in your first weekend is not good. Horrible Bosses increase is very good. Apes' drop can be attributed to less showtimes on the weekend but not bad. Final Destination 5 suffered the worst drop but that was expected with this kind of movie.

Weekend to weekend drops for Apes was terrible but good for Final Destination 5.

	Sunday adm.	(so far)			August 28
Rank	Title	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Overheard 2	24,307	16,715	-31.2%	+4.4%
2	Cowboys & Aliens	--	7,652	--	+19.9%
3	Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes	15,503	4,766	-69.3%	+24.5%
4	Cars 2 (3D Cantonese)	11,869	4,516	-62.0%	--
5	Smurfs (3D Cantonese)	6,674	4,336	-35.0%	+25.6%

The great increases and numbers have finally caught up with Overheard 2. Still a good number and walk-ins should push it to over 36,000. Judging from that Saturday decrease for Cowboys & Aliens (from Thu+Fri combined), I think it could be in for another drop today. Apes and Cars 2 both saw steep declines but should level out through the day. Smurfs had another good drop.

Sundays this weekend and next are in a bit of a fluctuation zone. Some schools have started and some have not so drops will gradually increase until around the September 8 weekend where Sunday drops should go back to normal (off 10% or more from Saturday's admissions).

Weekend estimates

1. Overheard 2 - $672,000 (-25.3%)/$1,972,000
2. Cowboys & Aliens - $350,000
3. Horrible Bosses - $290,000
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $280,000 (-55.8%)/$2,780,000
5. Final Destination 5 - $230,000 (-49.1%)/$926,000