‘Tron’ Trumps Competition; ‘How Do You Know’ Bombs

Tron: Legacy opens at number one; Witherspoon’s ‘How Do You Know’ tanks.

“Tron Legacy” Tops Box Office But Underperforms; “How Do You Know” Bombs!

Reese Witherspoon’s new film, “How Do You Know” banked in $7.5 million, and Sony Studio isn’t happy. The film has received mostly negative reviews (rightfully so), and the studio will most likely point fingers at director James L. Brooks, instead of the star studded cast consisting of Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson. The dramedy, about a former athlete (Witherspoon), who finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, costs Sony Studios $125 million to produce.

After a very good start of Midnight showings and $18 million on Friday, “Tron Legacy” took a huge dip on Saturday and grossed $43.6 million for the entire weekend.  The industry hoped the follow-up to the 1982 cult non-hit “Tron”, would bank in roughly around $50-60 million.  Studios are hoping the film will be a huge hit overseas, for it to break even.

Coming in second place and also considered a disappointment, the 3D family film, “Yogi Bear”.  The voiced live action/CG animated film which stars Dan Akroyd and Justin Timberlake, earned an estimated $16.7 million.

Dropping to third was “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader” with 12.4 million.  The 20th Century Fox film has made just $42.7 million in just 10 days, and like “Tron”, Studios are hoping for more promising sales overseas.

Coming in fourth place was Paramount’s “The Fighter.” After receiving numerous Golden Globe and SAG Awards nominations last week, the boxing drama expanded to 2,505 theaters and grossed a solid, $12.2 million.  Paramount predicts the film which stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, should continue to perform well throughout the holiday season and through the Academy Awards in February.

Disney’s “Tangled” rounded out the top 5 films, earning $8.6 million this weekend, with an overall gross of $129.7 million.

With Christmas upon us next weekend, hopefully the box office will perform better with new releases such as: “Little Fockers” and “True Grit” Was the snowstorm on the east coast to blame for the empty theaters this weekend? We shall see…

Here are the Box Office results from this weekend:

USA Weekend Box-Office Summary
week of 17 December 2010

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