Week 7 Recap: Nostalgia Sucks

Did you hear that sound?  It's the palpable silence caused by the empty theaters for the opening weekend of this week's new releases, "Rock of Ages" and "That's My Boy".  While box office forecasters had released somewhat reserved predictions for both films, no one quite expected them to bomb HARD.  The Tom Cruise-led "Rock of Ages" made only $15 million, while Adam Sandler's first foray into R-rated comedy produced a mere $13 mil (and a 23% RT rating).  What originally looked like solid opportunities for their respective owners Ryan and John has now turned into a dwindling hope of just making back the original investment.  At this point, John seems more likely to achieve that hope while Ryan is destined to lose about $10 mil on the 80's glam rock flick.

But on the bright side, Ryan's purchase of Madagascar 3 is looking more and more positive.  Mad 3 capitalized on the last remaining weekend prior to the release of Brave by falling only 40% and winning the weekend with ease at $36 mil.  At this rate, it should more than offset Ryan's losses from Rock of Ages.  On the other hand, Prometheus also proved the writers here at Studio Wars correct by plummeting 60% with a paltry $20 mil in its second weekend of release.  Thankfully for Matt, he always has Avengers.  Speaking of Avengers, this week closed the six-week box office book on the super blockbuster movie, along with the sleeper purchase of the year, Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Both films ended up with SWFs over 600, making them two of the best investments in Studio Wars' young history, as well as about the only movies making anyone money thus far this season.

This weekend may change that.  Besides the aforementioned Brave, also releasing wide this weekend are "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and Steve Carell's "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" (though the latter is a more limited release).  Jeremy purchased Brave for $155 mil, and it may well become his first wide release to make him money, as it is looking likely to hit $200 when it's all said and done.  But to do that, it will need to make $70 mil this weekend.  Meanwhile, the revisionist take on Abraham Lincoln's secret double life is forecasting good profits for Darius, assuming it makes at least $20 mil by Sunday night.  John is hoping for similar numbers for Seeking a Friend.