There was little doubt that Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great and Powerful would repeat at #1 in its second weekend at the box office, which is precisely what it did. The biggest film of 2013 grossed a rock solid $41.3 million in its sophomore frame, right on target with my $42 million projection.
However, it was the weekend’s two new releases that provided the surprises. Halle Berry’s thriller The Call outperformed all expectations, managing to make an impressive $17.1 million, well beyond my $9.2M estimate. Even though reviews were mostly negative, the film’s marketing campaign did its job. This is great news for Berry, whose box office track record has been unimpressive lately.
On the other side of the fence, the comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone landed with a thud. The Steve Carell/Jim Carrey picture received mixed reviews and its trailers weren’t particularly funny, but I still figured it would manage a $16.3 million opening (by the way, my estimate was lower than many others). Wrong, wrong, wrong. Wonderstone is a legitimate bomb as it made only $10.2 million.
Rounding out the top five, Jack the Giant Slayer was fourth with $6.3 million (holding up better than my $4.3M estimate) and Identity Thief was fifth with $4.4 million (just above my $4M projection).
Oz gets some real challengers for the throne next weekend when the animated The Croods, the thriller Olympus Has Fallen, and the Tina Fey comedy Admission all debut. My predictions for next weekend will be up Wednesday. Stay tuned!
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