Box Office / Review Report: "Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)"

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DISCUSSION: "Resident Evil: Retribution" Official 3D + Standard Post @residentevilmov





New 'Resident Evil,' 'Finding Nemo 3D' Should Rejuvenate Struggling Box Office:

(RTTNews) - After a couple incredibly slow weekends, the box office should get a shot in the arm this week with the release of "Resident Evil: Retribution," the fifth movie in the franchise based on the popular video game series. Also getting launched this week is the 3D version of "Finding Nemo," Pixar's critically acclaimed smash hit that should be able to resonate with a new generation of young moviegoers

As "Finding Nemo 3D" hits an estimated 2,900 theaters, "Resident Evil: Retribution" is slated to hit 2,850 total venues and will appeal to a completely different target audience. Though the "Resident Evil" franchise hasn't been a runaway blockbuster, it has put up solid numbers for the last decade, starting with its first release in 2002. No "Resident Evil" release has yet to approach $100 million domestically, but they have been inexpensive to produce and have a strong international following, with worldwide revenues consistently cracking $100 million. The franchise has also grown over the years, culminating with a $296 million worldwide intake for 2010's "Afterlife," which more than doubled the revenue of predecessor "Extinction."

With star Milla Jovovich back atop the cast and virtually no competition, "Resident Evil: Retribution" has another great weekend to launch, particularly with recent new releases doing so poorly. "Resident Evil: Retribution" should be able to put up somewhere in the $23-$25 million range, easily enough to finish near the top of the box office charts once again for distributor Sony/Screen Gems.

RTT Box Office Predictions for 9/14/12 - 9/16/12 (in millions):
1. Finding Nemo 3D (Disney): $30
2. Resident Evil: Retribution (Sony/Screen Gems): $24
3. The Possession (Lionsgate): $4.8
4. Lawless (Weinstein): $3.3
5. The Expendables 2 (Lionsgate): $2.4

6. The Words (CBS Films): $2.3
7. The Bourne Legacy (Universal): $2.1
8. 2016 Obama's America (Rocky Mountain): $2
9. ParaNorman (Focus): $1.8
10. The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Brother): $1.7 [SOURCE]

'Resident Evil: Retribution' the best of the bunch

The more things change in Resident Evil, the more they stay the same for Alice and the Umbrella Corporation. Alice is still fighting evil in Resident Evil: Retribution. Umbrella is still evil. Zombies still want to eat all the human survivors of past horrors involving the T-virus. Milla Jovovich is still a butt-kicking beauty who looks great in leather and latex. And Jovovich's husband of three years -- English-born filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson -- is still in charge of the series as producer, writer and director.

Anderson adapted the gonzo video game and gave us the original Resident Evil movie 10 years ago. Two years ago, he returned to the director's chair -- after producing and writing episodes two and three -- and gave us the fourth episode, Resident Evil: Afterlife in 3D. Now the sci-fi horror and action specialist has done his finest work. Resident Evil: Retribution is the best Evil ever. It also happens to be Anderson's most accomplished filmmaking in any franchise or genre.

Retribution is the way genre pictures should be made and played -- and it's fascinating on the business side that these are international co-productions with a significant Canadian component. I expect it to win this year's Canadian film award as the top Canadian production at the hometown boxoffice. It should do great internationally, too.

The movie is convoluted, of course, but it is also slick, savage and thrilling. The ridiculous if sometimes surprising plot is secondary to the taut pacing, the explosive action and the quick reveal of the mental and physical state of characters, both familiar and new. Even the 3D effects, which are used as a gimmick here, actually do add a new dimension to our enjoyment.

In other words, the gimmick works. That applies both in intimate scenes, like witnessing one of Alice's clones trying to survive an attack on her house, or in big set pieces, such as watching real Alice and her pals trying to survive Umbrella's complex challenges and city environments.

As for performances, people don't "act" in a Resident Evil movie so much as they move. Jovovich moves brilliantly, even at 36 years old. It is intriguing to have Michelle Rodriguez back after a 10-year absence in the series. Likewise Colin Salmon. Oded Fehr is not an original cast member but he returns after missing Afterlife. Sienna Guillory makes it two in a row after missing Extinction. Among newcomers to the franchise are China's Li Bingbing and Canada's Kevin Durand (in a self-sacrificing heroic role right out of a war movie or classic western).

Resident Evil: Retribution looks great. It was shot almost entirely in Toronto, especially at the Cinespace Film Studios, which also hosted Afterlife. Some scenes were filmed on location in Moscow. It is difficult to fake Red Square, even with CGI. The real thing looks better, although reality vs. illusion is one of the themes of Retribution.

As for the next instalment, both Anderson and Jovovich seem committed to a sixth in the series. After that is a question mark. But Resident Evil has now generated $675.7 million in worldwide boxoffice grosses, according to Box Office Mojo. That is enough "mojo" to keep it going indefinitely, even without Jovovich. [SOURCE]

Resident Evil: Lots of blood and bang-bang, not much retribution:

Videogame-based film auteur Paul W.S. Anderson has said that he wanted this fifth Resident Evil entry to have “global” reach and maximal “bone crunch.”

So he’s set the film in simulated versions of New York, Moscow, Tokyo, and a generically named “Suburbia,” within which resistance fighters battle zombies, assorted giant monsters and clones under the control of a digital Red Queen, the virus-spreading Umbrella corporation, or whomever. The word “apocalypse” is bandied about in the film’s first five minutes, in case we’re not tense enough.

When necessary, the rebel strike team can emerge from a subway tunnel into an unspecified Arctic military installation. Or they can go through an enormous Red Bull energy drink billboard that’s parting like the Red Sea and find themselves in a stark white corridor leading to a blood-spattered suburban dream home, or a nuclear submarine factory, or wherever. Maps, or people with information, like Umbrella’s head honcho Wesker (Shawn Roberts), appear on omnipresent screens when our heroes are in trouble, or to feed back stories to Resident Evil newbies. De facto resistance leader Alice (Milla Jovovich) can fearlessly use a pistol in either hand to take out a gun ship, and defies gravity while blasting the brain matter from zombie heads.

The unlikely is endlessly made possible because everyone’s within a computer simulation, and a plot device, that allows for the sudden appearance of things that Joss Whedon’s horror sci-fi mishmash Cabin in the Woods attempted to satirize earlier this year. Other conveniences include dreams-within-dreams – which Alice wakes from in something resembling an oversized moist towelette. Fans of the series are less likely to be interested in untangling story intricacies than in immersing themselves in the glitzy devastation of primo locales, hand-to-hand combat, and situations cribbed indiscriminately from The Matrix (unknowingly enslaved masses, et al), Inception (a team navigating warped space-time, et al), Blade Runner (slatted light, demonic neon cityscapes, et al) and, most explicitly, Aliens (a makeshift “mother” protecting a scruffy, traumatized “daughter” from monsters). This material is de rigeur for sci-fi thrillers, but fails to fully energize Resident Evil: Retribution.

Alice’s maternal devotion to Becky (Aryana Engineer) is given an all-too-brief treatment that characterizes this film. Like an established pizza chain, director Anderson is in thrall to a guarantee: all relationships, of any significance, will be established in three seconds or less.

Theoretically, it’s nice to see a representation of our globalized world, with older spatial and temporal ideas challenged by the Internet and other technologies. We can accept that New York, in some sense, is “next” to Tokyo, each subsuming the other. But, here such proximity is primarily an excuse to whip the audience from one action set-piece to another, none of which are particularly gripping in their own right, leading only to a semi-amusing final-act cliffhanger out of left field.

Though one heroic sacrifice is absurdly over the top, Resident Evil: Retribution’s typically unceremonious approach to heroism is an accidental boon of sorts, as is its jokey self-awareness about Alice’s leather outfit and its sadomasochistic vibe. Curiously, a resistance fighter named Luther (Boris Kodjoe) is constantly being emasculated by powerful women. A few striking images keep our attention – like evil warrior Rain (Michelle Rodriguez) seated menacingly with an assault rifle on a playground swing in the ‘burbs. But the film’s title promises payback, without offering ample compensation. [SOURCE]

MTV: THE REVIEWS ARE IN:
Critics are (predictably) less than thrilled with zombie apocalypse franchise's fifth installment.

"Resident Evil: Retribution," the fifth film in the franchise, hit theaters Friday (September 14). Can you believe that the zombie apocalypse is still going strong and the evil Umbrella Corporation is up to its old, bad tricks? If you're a fan of the video games and/or the movies, the answer is: Of course!

"Retribution" once again centers on badass zombie assassin Alice (Milla Jovovich), but this time around, director Paul W.S. Anderson has played with the mythology a bit in order to incorporate a bunch of familiar faces from previous installments. The premise ultimately reveals more about the Umbrella Corporation and its experimentation with the T-virus.

The "Resident Evil" films have never been critical darlings, as indicated by the latest "Rotten" rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, but they are intended to be crowd-pleasers for the die-hard fans. So ready your zombie apocalypse survival skills as we sift through the "Resident Evil: Retribution" reviews!

The Story
"For those keeping track, this installment ends precisely where the previous one ended, with a titanic battle sequence aboard a ship where Alice is fighting the multitudinous forces of the evil Umbrella Corporation which is intent on transforming the earth's population into flesh-eating zombies. The action then inexplicably shifts to a placid suburban neighborhood, where Alice is now a blonde housewife who wakes up to a loving husband (Oded Fehr) and an adorable hearing-impaired young daughter (Aryana Engineer). But it isn't long before reality rushes back, in the form of legions of undead who swarm their home. It all naturally turns out to be a dream sequence, with Alice then reawakening in the corporation's confines clad in — much to the delight of the teenage boy fanbase — some barely concealing towels. But it doesn't take long for her to don her trademark skintight black latex suit and automatic weaponry to once again take battle against a variety of monsters. That's pretty much it for the plot in this particularly action-heavy fifth edition that helpfully includes an introductory narration by Jovovich to bring viewers up to speed. Other story elements are provided by explanatory computer graphics that help clue us in to who exactly is fighting who." — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

The Zombie-slaying Action
"While the script unsurprisingly suffers from Anderson's cold grasp (after the opening sequence he spends a good 5 minutes recapping the entire franchise, which made more sense than anything I've seen onscreen the past 8 years), he does manage to dazzle with his visual effects work. The film opens in stunning reverse slow motion setting up Alice's capture. There's no lack of fight sequences, all of which are all beautifully orchestrated. And there's a heft of sweet visual effects work that popped on the IMAX 3-D screen. It becomes obvious, though, that Anderson has a bit too much creative freedom as he goes a bit overboard by riffing on the Crank-esque X-ray shots that are so 2000 (you know, showing the bones breaking, and hearts stopping inside of the body)." — Brad Miska, Bloody-Disgusting.com

Its Place in the 'Evil' Canon
"Those who have despised the series since it began in 2002 and questioned its durability at the box office, why are you even reading this? That goes for those detractors out there who balk at the franchise's lack of faithfulness to the video games as well. In fact, that goes especially for you guys. Turn away. Because 'Resident Evil: Retribution' will draw up the same complaints from you: It's a loose interpretation of the Capcom video games, and an even more loose representation of the characters you love. But as I've always said before, the 'Resident Evil' films get a pass from me, save for the last installment, 'Afterlife.' Understand this: Everything I say critically about 'Retribution' is taken within the context of the series. I can't rightfully say it's a 'good' film compared to some of the movies I've praised this year, but I can say, again, within the context of the series, Retribution is a vast improvement over 'Afterlife.' " — Ryan Turek, ShockTillYouDrop.com

The Final Word
"Theoretically, it's nice to see a representation of our globalized world, with older spatial and temporal ideas challenged by the Internet and other technologies. We can accept that New York, in some sense, is 'next' to Tokyo, each subsuming the other. But, here such proximity is primarily an excuse to whip the audience from one action set-piece to another, none of which are particularly gripping in their own right, leading only to a semi-amusing final-act cliffhanger out of left field. Though one heroic sacrifice is absurdly over the top, 'Resident Evil: Retribution' 's typically unceremonious approach to heroism is an accidental boon of sorts, as is its jokey self-awareness about Alice's leather outfit and its sadomasochistic vibe. Curiously, a resistance fighter named Luther (Boris Kodjoe) is constantly being emasculated by powerful women. A few striking images keep our attention — like evil warrior Rain (Michelle Rodriguez) seated menacingly with an assault rifle on a playground swing in the 'burbs. But the film's title promises payback, without offering ample compensation." — Adam Litovitz, The Globe and Mail

TV FILM NEWS: 'RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (2012)'

The plot of this sequel maintains the authenticity of the series, but fails to deliver momentum to the story. The entire movie takes place in faux environments which left me feeling a bit constrained. The concept was fascinating but I think other options could have also been explored by these characters. Speaking of characters, I found them to be a tad two dimensional. There is so much history to pull from and I felt as though each and every character left their passion and drive in several movies that came before them. I might be getting picky, but for me, one of the great things about “Resident Evil” was that it was based on a video game, yet instead of playing just to younger folks, it went with the gritty and the unkempt. The cussing has slowly been depleted as each sequel came out, and in this one, it’s almost non existent. The film has an R rating for it’s violent tendencies, why dull down the language so much? It doesn’t compute in my brain.

Before I continue, I only have one thing to point out regarding the plot, and I’m not going to say much as I don’t want to give anything way, especially since a lot of people might like this movie, I don’t want to ruin their experience. The entire film, instead of being it’s own film that happens to be a continuing story, is one big set up for another sequel. There is nothing driving the plot except the idea that we must leave point A and get to another sequel.


The Umbrella Corporation, as most people know, is the antagonist to humanity, and you know, they didn’t deliver the villain aspect for me as they usually do. I was quite disturbed that one of the main villains sort of just gave up his wicked ways. Not entirely, but if you, as an audience member, take in the often overlooked concept that the bad guy doesn’t always know he’s a bad guy, because their motivations come from a different side of the fence then the hero, then the fact of the matter is that in this film, the bad guy becomes a conformist. In some scenarios this can be a plot amplifier, in this case, it’s sort of mentioned, but with no elaboration or follow through, so for me, it became, “what’s the point?”

One of the biggest marketing pieces to the release of “Retribution,” was having Michelle Rodriguez reprise her role as Rain. I personally enjoy Michelle even though, yes, I am aware she is one of the most type cast individuals Hollywood has ever seen. But I just can’t help it, she’s so fun to watch. Going in I had a solid idea of how and why she would return. Turns out it’s exactly what I thought which works. However, the lack of development on what should have been such an obvious play by Umbrella was not there. What I mean by that, without saying too much, is the lack of emotion from the main character Alice, in regards to interacting with Rain, simply kills the anticipation. Again, what’s the point?” Michelle does do well in what she portrays, typecast or not. There is one scene in particular, a fight scene, where I just loved her facial expressions. She delivers sarcasm so well with smallest contortions of her mouth. Such a blast to watch, absolutely entertaining. [READ MORE]

IGN.COM REVIEW:

HDDREW REVIEW:

JeremyJahns:

'Evil' reigns with $8.4 mil; 'Master' on track for per screen record
Sony/Screen Gems' actioner helps break B.O. slump; Weinstein drama headed for $180K per location

On the first weekend bouncing back from the post-summer slump, Sony/Screen Gems' fifth "Resident Evil" entry is slaying the competition with $8.4 million domestically Friday, while Weinstein Co.'s modest rollout of buzz bringer "The Master" is expected to destroy the per screen average record set earlier this year by Focus' "Moonrise Kingdom."

"Resident Evil: Retribution" started to a modest $665,000 at Thursday midnight screenings, low relative to big ticket summer actioners but right in line with more recent late night bows. Three-day estimates are more or less the same as they were Thursday with "Retribution" closing in on $22 million or $23 million, comparable to numerous prior "Resident Evil" installments. [READ MORE]

Weekend Box Office: No. 1 Probably RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION
Resident Evil: Retribution, Finding Nemo top modest end-of-summer weekend

Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil: Retribution, starring Milla Jovovich, is expected to top the North American box office on Friday, grossing somewhere around $9m (including $665,000 from Thursday midnight screenings) at 3,012 locations according to early, rough estimates found at Deadline.com. Resident Evil: Retribution‘s weekend gross is expected to hover around $23m.

Beauty and the Beast 3D went on to gross a modest $47.61m in North America and a highly disappointing $14.41m overseas. Reportedly budgeted at $60m, Resident Evil: Afterlife brought in $60.12m domestically and an astounding $236.09m overseas, where 3D action / disaster movies have been all the rage since Avatar. That’s likely where Resident Evil: Retribution will earn most of its cash. [READ MORE]

Resident Evil: Retribution Tops Friday Box Office With $8.8 Million

In the battle of the Paul Andersons at the box office, each one of them gets to be a winner in their own way. Paul Thomas, director of the fascinating new film The Master, is leading the critical pack with an 88% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while Paul W.S. will be sitting happily on top of the box office with Resident Evil: Retribution. The fifth film in the franchise based on the video game franchise made $8.8 million on Friday, setting it up for a $23 million weekend and an easy #1 spot at the box office. [SOURCE]

Franchise’s Worst Ever Opening Weekend at Domestic Box Office: RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION
Milla Jovovich Resident Evil: Retribution, Pixar’s Finding Nemo 3D underperform at the domestic box office [X]

www.wyomingnews: The No. 1 film at the box office was "Resident Evil: Retribution," which took in an estimated $21.1 million in its debut. This is the fifth film in the Sony Screen Gems action franchise, starring Milla Jovovich. That topped the 3-D re-release of the Disney Pixar animated favorite "Finding Nemo," which opened in second place with $17.5 million.

The 3-D "Resident Evil: Retribution" was directed by Jovovich's husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, who has made three of the five films. It features the actress once again as the warrior Alice, the last hope for the human race as an evil corporation unleashes a deadly virus that creates more flesh-eating undead on a worldwide scale. And fittingly, the film performed even better internationally, where it made a healthy $50 million.

"You have to give so much credit for that to Milla," said Rory Bruer, Sony's head of distribution. "She's such an incredible star and absolutely just works so hard in every country. Whether it's Russia or Japan, everywhere she's gone, she's worked so hard in regards to making the franchise a success."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Resident Evil: Retribution," $21.1 million ($50 million international).
2. "Finding Nemo," $17.5 million.
3. "The Possession," $5.8 million.
4. "Lawless," $4.2 million.
5. "ParaNorman," $3 million.
6. "The Expendables 2," $3 million ($7.5 million international).
7. "The Words," $2.88 million.
8. "The Bourne Legacy," $2.875 million ($9.1 million international).
9. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," $2.5 million.
10. "The Campaign," $2.4 million.

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Resident Evil: Retribution," $50 million.
2. "The Bourne Legacy," $9.1 million.
3. "Masquerade," $8.3 million.
4. "Ted," $8.1 million.
5. "The Expendables 2," $7.5 million.
6. "Prometheus," $7.1 million.
7. (tie) "Brave," $6.9 million.
1. "Madagascar 3," $6.9 million.
2. "The Dark Knight Rises," $6.4 million.
3. "The Watch," $4.3 million. [SOURCE]

Alt Film Guide: Starring Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil: Retribution topped the North American box office this weekend (Sept. 14-16), taking in $21.1m (including $665,000 from Thursday midnight screenings) at 3,012 locations according to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. That’s about $2m less than early Friday estimates indicated, and $5-6m less than box-office pundits had been expecting. (Photo: Milla Jovovich Resident Evil: Retribution.)

Resident Evil: Retribution‘s domestic box-office gross was also by far the weakest among all Resident Evil movies. Oh, but the original Resident Evil made only $17.7m when it came out. Well, yes, but that was a decade ago. Adjusted for ticket-price increases, the first Resident Evil flick earned about $24.5m in 2012 dollars. It’s ludicrous to compare box-office grosses of movies made years apart without taking inflation into consideration. And never mind the fact that unlike Resident Evil: Retribution, the original Resident Evil didn’t have the benefit of 3D surcharges.

Besides gun-toting star Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil: Retribution also features Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez, Li Bingbing, Johann Urb, Shawn Roberts, Oded Fehr, Kevin Durand, Colin Salmon, Mika Nakashima, and Aryana Engineer. Paul W.S. Anderson directed. The production budget of the latest Resident Evil sequel has been pegged at $65m.

Box Office Results: Resident Evil: Retribution Opens to $71.1M Worldwide

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

Milla Jovovich returned as Alice in Resident Evil: Retribution and the fifth installment topped the domestic box office with an estimated $21.1 million. The Screen Gems release opened in 3,012 theaters and averaged $7,005 per site. Made for $65 million, the movie earned another $50 million overseas from 50 territories for a worldwide total of $71.1 million. The previous film, Resident Evil: Afterlife, took in $26.7 million domestically and $39 million internationally its first weekend. IMAX theaters accounted for $6.1 million of "Retribution's" total worldwide with $3 million coming from domestic locations and $3.1 million from overseas. [SOURCE]

Resident Evil:Retribution Box Total Office Gross

Domestic Total as of Sep. 18, 2012: $24,604,334
Distributor: Sony / Screen Gems Release Date: September 14, 2012
Genre: Action Horror Runtime: 1 hrs. 35 min.
MPAA Rating: R Production Budget: $65 million

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $24,604,334 33.0%
+ Foreign: $50,000,000 67.0%
= Worldwide: $74,604,334

Domestic Summary
Opening Weekend: $21,052,227
(#1 rank, 3,012 theaters, $6,989 average)
% of Total Gross: 85.6%
> View All Weekends
Widest Release: 3,012 theaters
In Release: 5 days / 0.7 weeks [SOURCE]

Box Office Report: 'Resident Evil' Upsets 'Nemo,' 'The Master' Sets Record

WINNERS OF THE WEEK: Directors Named Paul Anderson. Both Paul W.S. Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson had great weekends. W.S. saw Resident Evil: Retribution, the latest movie in his horror/thriller series starring Mrs. W.S. (Milla Jovovich), earn a minor upset victory as the top seller at the multiplex, scaring up an estimated $21.1 million. That's a bit less than the $26.7 million earned by the last sequel, Resident Evil: Afterlife, when it opened two years ago, but still not bad for a movie in its fifth installment. Thanks to 3D, Afterlife ultimately did much better overseas than any of its predecessors, and Retribution should enjoy similar results.

Meanwhile, Thomas saw his new movie The Master set a record for per-screen average with an estimated $145,949. (It beat the record of $130,749 set earlier this summer by similarly much-anticipated art-house film Moonrise Kingdom.) The film opened on just five screens, for a total of about $730,000, but a per-screen average like that speaks of a strong want-to-see factor, meaning the Joaquin Phoenix-Philip Seymour Hoffman drama should do well as it expands across the country. [SOURCE]

Foreign Box Office: 'Resident Evil: Retribution' Repeats as No. 1 Overseas in Sluggish Session

In a somnolent weekend at the foreign box office, Resident Evil: Retribution again took the No. 1 spot by grossing $30.3 million – a 39% drop from its overseas opener last weekend -- at 7,691 venues in 70 markets.

The latest title in director-producer Paul W. S. Anderson’s action/sci-fi series starring Milla Jovovich has bagged an offshore total of $103.3 million so far, which already puts Retribution ahead of three of the four prior franchise titles released since 2002. Foreign box office champ remains 2010’s Resident Evil: Afterlife, which recorded$236.1 million.

Retributionopened strongly in Mexico, taking the No. 1 spot with $3.5 million at 1,359 playdates. Biggest holdover market was Japan where the weekend tally (down only 28% from the prior round) was $6.3 million at 775 sites for a market cume of $28.1 million. [SOURCE]

RPT-The top films at the North American box office

NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Following are the top 10
movies at North American box offices for the weekend starting
Sept. 21, led by "End of Watch" and "House at the End of the
Street" sharing the No. 1, according to studio estimates
compiled by Reuters.
The top films for weekend of Sept. 21
1 (*) End of Watch..........................$ 13.0 million
1 (*) House at the End of the Street........$ 13.0 million
3 (*) Trouble with the Curve............... $ 12.7 million
4 (2) Finding Nemo (3D).....................$ 9.4 million
5 (1) Resident Evil: Retribution............$ 6.7 million
6 (*) Dredd.................................$ 6.3 million
7 (NA) The Master...........................$ 5.0 million
8 (8) The Possession........................$ 2.6 million
9 (4) Lawless...............................$ 2.3 million
10(5) ParaNorman........................... $ 2.3 million

NOTES: Last weekend's rankings in parenthesis.
(*) = new release "The Master" was in limited release the prior
week and did not rank in the top 10.

CUMULATIVE TOTALS:
ParaNorman..................................$ 52.6 million
The Possession..............................$ 45.3 million
Lawless.....................................$ 34.5 million
Resident Evil: Retribution..................$ 33.5 million
Finding Nemo (3D)...........................$ 30.0 million
End of Watch................................$ 13.0 million
The House at the End of the Street..........$ 13.0 million
Trouble with the Curve......................$ 12.7 million
Dredd.......................................$ 6.3 million
The Master..................................$ 6.1 million


Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner Inc,
distributed "Trouble with The Curve."
Lions Gate Entertainment released "Dredd" and "The
Possession."
"House End of the Street" was released by independent studio
Relativity Media.
"End of Watch" was distributed by Open Roads Film, a joint
venture of AMC Entertainment Inc and Regal
Entertainment Group
"Lawless" and "The Master" were released by The Weinstein Co.
Walt Disney Co distributed "Finding Nemo 3D."
Sony Corp's movie studio released "Resident
Evil: Retribution."
Universal's Focus Features released "ParaNorman." [SOURCE]

Was the House at the End of the Street Where Resident Evil Lives Filled with Dredd?

It was a great weekend for an action thriller about two cops ambushed in a bad part of town by drug dealers. Unfortunately for Dredd 3D, that movie was End of Watch. While it dueled with House at the End of the Street for #1, Resident Evil: Retribution got evicted from the top spot in a big way.

Despite almost universally negative reviews and middling word-of-mouth, House at the End of the Street ended the weekend neck-and-neck with both the Jake Gyllenhaal cop drama End of Watch and the Clint Eastwood baseball drama Trouble with the Curve for the top of the box office, according to Box Office Mojo. The tweener screamer’s $13 million put it in a virtual tie with End of Watch and only a couple hundred thousand dollars ahead of Eastwood’s latest, which may still take the top spot when the dust finally settles.

Whether you attribute the film’s strong opening to the PG-13 rating or Jennifer Lawrence’s post-Hunger Games star power, Relativity is happy its low budget teen horror flick opened this strong on what is being considered a relatively poor box office weekend for the movie industry. Don’t be surprised if audiences vacate the House at the End of the Street in droves next weekend.

Speaking of residences being vacated en masse, Resident Evil: Retribution suffered a near 70% freefall, taking it from last weekend’s comfortable first place to a $6.7 million fifth place. That’s the steepest second weekend drop ever for a Resident Evil movie, and its $33 million total is ten million behind the previous installment. The real money for this franchise remains overseas, particularly in Japan and Asia, where the name brand and 3D will assure it the financial success required to ensure many more sequels to come.

Audiences passed judgment on Dredd 3D and the verdict seemed to be indifference judging by its dreadful sixth place $6.3 million opening. These numbers yet again go to show how overrated internet word-of-mouth and fanboy film festival ravings can be, especially when the property in question is a movie based on a cult British comic book that’s only best known to mainstream audiences as the subject of a god awful Sylvester Stallone movie from seventeen years ago (that film was considered a flop in its day, and Dredd 3D didn’t even open half as well).

Dredd’s opening also, depressingly, continues to prove that R-rated action movies are still hard sells at the box office these days. Those hoping for the start of a new Judge Dredd franchise had better cross their fingers for strong showings internationally and on DVD/Blu-ray if they ever expect to see Karl Urban don that helmet again.

Next weekend horror goes back to the kids – and maybe even the dogs given some of the early reviews – when Hotel Transylvania opens featuring the voice of Adam Sandler as Dracula. Yeah, I think I’ll wait an extra week for Frankenweenie. [SOURCE]