Who wouldn’t want to see a romantic comedy starring this guy?!
When we last left the Mirror Meter, we saw the Ben Stiller/Vince Vaughn comedy The Watch make a strong debut on our leader board.
Since then, we’ve had a couple movies open well and a couple contenders debut that could knock Katy Perry’s Part of Me from the top spot in our rankings. We’ve got a full slate of movies to cover, so let’s jump right in.
***
(For a rundown of how the Mirror Meter works, click here. All data via Box Office Mojo.)
- Movie: Total Recall
- Run time: 118 minutes
- Debt accumulated: $20,205,470.40
- Opening weekend box office: $25,577,758
- Mirror Meter: $5,372,287.60
I was bullish on Total Recall‘s chances to shine in our Mirror Meter rankings. Alas, Colin Farrell and co. made it onto the positive side of the ledger. If only we looked at second-weekend totals instead, as this poorly received reboot lost close to 70% of its audience.
- Movie: Diary of a Wimpy Kind: Dog Days
- Run time: 94 minutes
- Debt accumulated: $16,095,883.20
- Opening weekend box office: $14,623,559
- Mirror Meter: -$147,234.20
Our first contender! And it keeps on giving, with “wimpy” acting as the perfect way to describe this movie’s debut. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days ends up on the negative side; however, not by much thanks to its kid-friendly 94-minute running time. Believe it or not, this was easily the worst opening in the Wimpy Kid “franchise” (yikes), as the previous two movies each passed $22 million in their opening weekends.
- Movie: The Bourne Legacy
- Run time: 135 minutes
- Debt accumulated: $23,116,428
- Opening weekend box office: $40,265,000
- Mirror Meter: $17,148,572
Jeremy Renner proves that he’s no Matt Damon, but this is a solid start for a movie that’s part Total Recall (it’s a reboot) and part Diary of a Wimpy Kid (it’s a franchise). And only on this blog will you hear The Bourne Legacy described in that fashion.
- Movie: The Campaign
- Run time: 85 minutes
- Debt accumulated: $14,554,788
- Opening weekend box office: $27,440,000
- Mirror Meter: $12,885,212
Only 85 minutes? Really? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! It took me longer to write my Anchorman-inspired Daily Interest (only half-joking here).
- Movie: Hope Springs
- Run time: 100 minutes
- Debt accumulated: $17,123,280
- Opening weekend box office: $15,600,000
- Mirror Meter: -$1,523,280
Ah, adult-oriented movies, you’re always great for long running times and so-so opening weekends. Hope Springs is the latest example (following The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which performed even worse earlier this year). And while $15 million is a great debut for a movie that cost an estimated $30 million, it still makes this Tommy Lee Jones/Meryl Streep vehicle the Mirror Meter’s top new addition of the week.
We’re entering the exciting part of summer (at least for our purposes), as The Bourne Legacy was the last true “blockbuster” of the season. Now we get to see how non-franchise movies, like Premium Rush and Lawless, perform in our rankings.
COMPLETE STANDINGS (IN MILLIONS)
- Katy Perry: Part of Me: -12.88
- Savages: -6.10
- Step Up Revolution: -5.15
- The Watch: -4.29
- Hope Springs: -1.52
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days: -0.15
- Total Recall: +5.37
- The Campaign: +12.89
- The Bourne Legacy: +17.15
- Ice Age: Continental Drift: +31.56
- The Amazing Spider-Man: +38.72
- The Dark Knight Rises: +132.81
(Photo: Flickr/Rick Hall)
