Close, but not close enough. The Three Stooges became the first movie to come within striking distance of the box office domination that is The Hunger Games, but fell short. In its fourth week of winning the weekend, The Hunger Games brought in $21.5 million (for a total $337 million gross at the domestic box office), while The Three Stooges brought in a solid 17.1. Fueled by user buzz, third place went to the the social media wonder-kid The Cabin in the Woods, with a haul of just over $14 million. It will be interesting to see if the box office numbers for Cabin will stay steady, if not increase, in the coming weeks based on the buzz... that is unless Zac Efron can seduce audiences away with his pretty hair in The Lucky One this weekend.
Box Office
 | 1. The Hunger Games $21.5 million / $337mTotal It is the first film since Avatar to hold the No.1 spot for 4 weeks in a row, and looks like there is a chance it will stay there, (until The Avengers blows it out of the water). |
 | 2. The Three Stooges $17.1 million / New Shows that bad trailers don't always hurt the box office of a film, unless you are John Carter. |
 | 3. The Cabin in the Woods $14.8 million / New Even if you're terrified of horror films, many Screened peeps feel pretty passionately that this is the one to see. |
 | 4. Titanic $11.6 million / $44.4m Total With its second release, Titanic has now made over $2 billion in lifetime ticket sales...and James Cameron keeps getting richer. |
 | 5. American Reunion $10.6 million / $39.9m Total Dropped about 50% and came in below Titanic this weekend. Not a bad showing for a sequel to an over ten year old film...but then again, looks like the curiosity factor has warn off with the ol' gang. |
 | 6. Mirror, Mirror $7 million / $49.5m Total Stiff competition (cue the American Reunion joke here) has Mirror, Mirror dropping one slot form 5 to 6 this week. |
 | 7. Wrath of the Titans $6.91 million / $71.3m Total It is nearing $300 million worldwide, but only about 25% of that is from the domestic box office. |
 | 8. 21 Jump Street $6.8 million / $121m Total Come for Jonah HIll, stay for Channing Tatum. |
 | 9. Lockout $6.25 million / New Taken in space didn't seem to resonate with audiences. Maybe they should have replaced Guy Pearce with Liam Neeson. |
 | 10. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax $3.02 million / $204m Total Still cashing in on the family fare, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax finally kicks Denzel's Safe House out of the Top 10. Now, if only we could have seen that fight in person. |
Before anyone harps on how The Cabin in the Woods did in comparison to Three Stooges, let's set the record straight. You probably don't understand how the film industry works. Upfront marketing, recognizable characters, flashy gimmicks sell.
If you were the average Joe who knows nothing about movies today, would you rather go see a film treatment of the classic slapstick shorts from decades prior, or a purposefully vague, tongue-in-cheek horror parody with no stars, no recognizable names & a bland, boring title? C'mon, let's be reasonable here.
$15 million for Cabin in the Woods is damn fine, and considering the budget was $30 million, they're on the road to profitability as of now.
The Lucky One should take #1 next week with $16-19 million, with Think Like A Man & Hunger Games fighting for second. If Like a Man was in 2000 or more theaters, it could be a real contender for the first spot, but it's not, so I've gotta cut it slack.
@VinceNotVance: Also don't forget that Cabin in the Woods sat on the shelf for a couple years which is never a good sign for any movie. Hemsworth has a couple of those movies like Red Dawn still waiting to see the light of a projector.
Zac Efron is going to bring all the Twilight moms to the yard and maybe Rorie he always loved his blue eyes.
No way will the Hunger Games hold the top spot. The Lucky one's will dethrone it, besides it would have to be a pretty crummy box office weekend for that to happen.
Close but no stogey. Amirite?
Sigh. Stooges coming in 2nd feels like idiots proving Hollywood idiots right, once again. Although, I could definitely see Cabin holding on the 3rd spot next week, or at least staying up well beyond Stooges' money-making stretch.
Side note, it would be awesome to see the Domestic & the Worldwide box office for these flicks. Just as you say in your blurb for Wrath, often U.S. ticket sales can be misleading in terms of overall success.
@gangly:
I think that Cabin will drop about 20% to 30%, and I don't see it taking the third spot next week (that probably be reserved for the Hunger Games). I think it will be another Drive, just dropping every now and then (there's no chance it will raise it's percentage).
I think that the Three Stooges may have a better hold because of it's audience and it's PG rating, where as Cabin is rated R.
If I had to take a guess I'd say that Cabin will actually have some surprisingly strong legs, dropping only a little next week because I can't tell you how many people I've spoken to who saw it and before the weekend was over already saw it again. Something tells me next week a lot of people are going to be saying "Hey what do you want to do this weekend?" "Well we can either see Zac Efron be dreamy for ninety minutes... or see Cabin in the Woods again."
@obscurefan:
Most of em are gonna see the Zac Efron flick.
@Moviemaniac said:
Oh yeah, it'll definitely beat out Cabin this weekend. I'm just saying that it's a bit of counter marketing, that a lot of people who went to see Cabin might not be interested in the Zac Efron flick, so if they feel like hitting up the movies this weekend they'll decide to see Cabin again, which will still give it enough business to probably keep it in the top five.
The Three stooges looks fucking horrible.
I think word of mouth might be Cabin's greatest weapon. Plus with all the positive reviews, it might gather some more attention in the near future. Should do well
SERIOUSLY...ARE THERE NO PROOFREADERS ON SCREENED?! MY GOODNESS!!!