Walt Disney Co.’s Oz the Great and Powerful worked more box-office magic in its second weekend, following up its strong debut a week earlier with €32.5 million in US and Canadian ticket sales.
The Wizard of Oz prequel, starring James Franco, topped a stronger-than-expected performance from The Call, a new thriller about a 911 operator played by Halle Berry who tries to save a kidnapped teenager. The Call earned €13.1 million from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a new comedy featuring Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey as duelling Las Vegas magicians, finished the weekend in third place. It conjured up €7.9 million at North American (US and Canadian) theatres – several million less than expected.
Domestic ticket sales for the big-budget, effects-filled Oz dropped 47 per cent from its opening weekend, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com. Movies typically see a 40 per cent to 60 per cent decline in their second weekend of release.
Oz added €35.9 million over the weekend from international markets. Its global total after 10 days reached €217 million, a strong start for a movie that cost €154 million to make plus up to €77 million more to market.
The Call handily beat pre-weekend forecasts of a debut of around €7.7 million. The €11.5 million production over-performed on strong word-of-mouth, showing itself to be “a real crowd-pleaser”, said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Corp.’s Sony Pictures studio, which acquired the film from Troika Pictures.
“People like this film a lot, and it’s going to be a big success for us,” Bruer said.
Burt Wonderstone, meanwhile, fell short of some pre-weekend forecasts, which had pegged the debut at €9.2 million to €11.5 million. The film had a modest budget of about €23 million, according to Warner Bros.
“Obviously we didn’t want to come in number-three this weekend, but it’s not for lack of trying,” said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. president of theatrical distribution.
The executive said the studio harboured hopes that upcoming school spring breaks would stoke the film’s box office, adding that “with the budget being as reasonable as it was, I’m sure at the end of the day that we’ll be okay”.
Rounding out the top of the charts, the big-budget film Jack the Giant Slayer took fourth place with €4.7 million domestically. The global total for the March 1 release, which is trying to make back a €145.7 million production cost, reached nearly €69.5 million.
In fifth place, Melissa McCarthy comedy Identity Thief added €3.4 million to its impressive €95.3 million total.