Weekend Predictions: 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' & 'Promised Land'
Featured Stories - on January 02, 2013 by BOXOFFICE Staff
The holiday season officially comes to an end, although the box office should exhibit one last surge of strength off the heels of New Year's as we officially kick off 2013 this weekend with two new wide releases.
With the NFL playoffs in force, many films could be slightly impacted over the weekend.
Texas Chainsaw 3D
PROS:
- The brand name recognition could propel horror fans to turn out.
- The lack of horror films since October may increase demand for this.
- Twitter activity has been generally strong for the past few weeks.
CONS:
- The weekend after the holidays is mostly known for disappointing/low openings.
- Similarly, for anyone still in the holiday mindset, a slasher/horror flick won't be at the top of their "must see" list.
- The Texas Chainsaw name is hit and miss, last indicated by 2006's modest $18.5 million debut for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
Promised Land
PROS:
- Matt Damon is a well-liked star with enough a following of his own to generate interest.
- Crowd-pleasers can find success at any time of the year.
CONS:
- Will pitching the film as "from the director of Good Will Hunting" have any relevance 15 years after that hit movie released?
- The low theater count will work against any chance of a breakout opening.
- Adults are still occupied by holiday releases like Django Unchained and Les Miserables.
- Again, the first weekend in January after the holidays isn't known for producing breakouts.
Check out our predictions for the entire top 10 in the table below.
| Title | Release Date | Distributor | Opening Weekend | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Dec 14, 2012 | Warner Bros. / New Line |
$19,800,000 | $265,200,000 |
| Django Unchained | Dec 25, 2012 | Weinstein Company |
$18,500,000 | $103,000,000 |
| Texas Chainsaw 3D | Jan 4, 2013 | Lionsgate |
$17,500,000 | $17,500,000 |
| Les Miserables (2012) | Dec 25, 2012 | Universal |
$17,300,000 | $104,800,000 |
| Parental Guidance | Dec 25, 2012 | Fox |
$10,000,000 | $52,700,000 |
| Jack Reacher | Dec 21, 2012 | Paramount |
$9,000,000 | $64,200,000 |
| This is 40 | Dec 21, 2012 | Universal |
$8,500,000 | $55,000,000 |
| Lincoln | Nov 9, 2012 | Disney / DreamWorks |
$5,300,000 | $144,000,000 |
| The Guilt Trip | Dec 19, 2012 | Paramount |
$4,500,000 | $31,200,000 |
| Monsters, Inc. 3D | Dec 19, 2012 | Disney |
$3,800,000 | $27,800,000 |
| Silver Linings Playbook | Nov 16, 2012 | Weinstein Company |
$3,300,000 | $34,500,000 |
| Promised Land (2012) | Dec 28, 2012 | Focus |
$3,200,000 | $3,600,000 |
Phil Contrino, Daniel Garris, Alex Edghill and Shawn Robbins contributed to this report.
rossparkinson on 03 January 2013
Did you forget about the national wide release of "The Impossible" for this weekend or do you simply rank it lower than 12th? Others are estimating a $4-5m take for the weekend, which would place it in 9th or 10th spot on y our chart.