Box Office: 'Snow White and the Huntsman' is the fairest of them all with $20 million Friday
'Men in Black 3' falls to second while 'The Avengers' passes another milestone
Kristen Stewart battles fire and evil as Snow White in "Snow White and the Huntsman."
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Anyone who presumed Kristen Stewart's box office firepower was limited to just the "Twilight" franchise is in for a rude awakening. Stewart has starred in a number of independent films since her breakout role as Bella in the first adaptation of Stephenie Meyers popular novels, but "Snow White and the Huntsman" is the first true studio tentpole that has attempted to capitalize on her celebrity. It may have just worked.
The Universal Studios re-imagining of the Grimm fairy tale grossed a shocking $20.3 million on Friday substantially surpassing all pre-release estimates. Considering the studio was conservatively low balling the estimate for the entire weekend in the low $30 million range, it's clear Stewart's hardcore fanbase came out in droves on opening day. At this stage, Rupert Sanders' directorial debut is now looking at anywhere from $45-50 million for the weekend.
The final gross will all depend on how deep Stewart's fan base really is. Are they just limited to a one-day surge? Or, is it substantial enough to keep the film at $18 million plus on Saturday as well? Universal will inevitably also credit the starpower of Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth for the big debut. While the latter's popularity is no doubt growing exponentially after the blockbuster success of "The Avengers," it's hard to see Theron really drawing moviegoers to the theater these days.
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The successful opening of "Snow White" has to be a huge sigh of relief for Universal after the back to back crashes of "The Five Year Engagement" and "Battleship." Comcast has already revealed they'll take a big loss on those two bombs and a third failure would not sit well with Universal's new corporate overlords. Of course, "Snow White" still has a way to go to get into the black. The picture officially cost $170 million, but industry observers believe that total to be significantly over $200 million. "Snow White" will have to bring in big overseas numbers to accomplish this task. It's already facing stiff competition from 20th Century Fox's "Prometheus" in numerous territories around the globe this weekend.
Dropping to the second slot Friday was last week's champ "Men in Black 3." The third installment of the Sci-Fi comedy franchise grossed another $8.2 Friday for $91.3 million in just 8 days. That means "MIB 3" should end up with around $140-150 million domestically when all is said and done. That's also significantly less than "Men in Black II's" $190.4 million take back in 2002.
Also noteworthy, "The Avengers" achieved a major milestone Friday as it passed "The Dark Knight's" 2008's $533.3 million gross with another $5.6 million and $538 million to date.
Look for complete weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupOaktown Girl
June 2, 2012 at 3:25PM EST Reply to CommentI don't think the draw is only about Kristen Stewart or the Hemsworth hunk factor. I know for a fact there are a substantial number of non-teeny bopper females who aren't Twilight groopies (ages about 25-55) hungry to see a fantasy/adventure movie with a strong female lead. And the trailers for the film show enough action that guys won't write it off as a "chick flick".
Tits McGillicuddy Agreed on all points. The success of The Twilight series had to do with the popularity of the book series. Not understanding what the fuss over Kristen Stewart is all about. Her casting is somewhat shocking as I imagine someone with an ethereal beauty playing Snow White. I don't find her engaging at all and only marginally attractive.
June 2, 2012 at 3:57PM EST
June 2, 2012 at 4:22PM ESTK People fail to realize most Twilight fans are not teeny boppers they are women in the 20+ age group & yes Kristen has a large Twilight fanbase, but there are also fans of hers that hate Twilight. I can't wait until the T word is never used again.
June 2, 2012 at 5:14PM ESTSWATHisGood My audience was filled with people of every race, age etc...There were just as many men as there were women and maybe even more so. So it wasn't a "Twilight" hardcore fanbase that was in the theater. Theaters are selling out across the country. This isn't even a premium ticket movie either which Mr. Hitfix failed to mention. It's not being boasted by IMAX or 3D ticket sales. It also has been trending throughout the world on Twitter consistently since last Thursday. People like Mr Hitfix and some on this board was hoping for a failure...rooting for a dud of an opening weekend as we can tell from the caveat Mr. HitFix just gave with the "Twilight fanbase" excuse. Can't everyone leave 'Twilight out of this conversation? One thing has nothing to do with the other! This movie stands on its own. And by the way, ADVERTISING IS SUPPOSED TO BRING BUTTS IN THE SEATS! Duh. I cannot believe the ignorance. Universal's ads...like duh, that's what ads are supposed to do. Whatever the case may be or whatever excuses you want to place on this, it was successful on its opening weekend. We all know with Prometheus coming next weekend with its IMAX and 3D ticket prices, it's going to be in first place. So what! Prometheus has to stand on it's own next to the biggest box office opener that's in its category of IMAX 3D and that's the Avengers. So let's compare it to that movie next weekend and not to a lowly 2D film. Let's see what kind of legs that movie will have. Congrats to Universal, Rupert Sanders, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Spruell, All the dwarves MsShane, Hoskins, Harris, Gleeson, Frost, Jones & Marsan! Excellent work that stands on its on. People need to get over it.
June 2, 2012 at 9:54PM ESTKeegan
June 2, 2012 at 5:11PM EST Reply to CommentIt may be hard for some to admit, but that girl Kristen Stewart has a massive fanbase & yes in recent polling most said they were going for her. Chris Hemsworth is a bonus, not sure about Charlize she doesn't really draw people to movies like the other two but she's nice to look at.
maria
June 2, 2012 at 5:11PM EST Reply to Commentshrugs I went for Kristen Stewart personally, cause the thought of a Snow White with a tablespoon of joan jett spooned in for good measure sounded great. Snow White as a fairy tale has never appealed to me personally, but I did like the notion of a Jett White.
twk22
June 2, 2012 at 5:14PM EST Reply to CommentDear Mr. Ellwood: You are apparently oblivious to the fact sold out movie theater audiences for SWATH are composed of all ages, men, women, children and most importantly Twi fans AND non Twi fans! It's not just Kristen's fan base but millions of other ppl too!
Darren
June 2, 2012 at 5:55PM EST Reply to CommentLet's be honest here. If this movie tanked, many would have blamed Kristen Stewart for that and that she was not ready for primetime. So when the movie does well, it's fair to give her some credit. She doesn't deserve sole credit, the commercials and marketing really did a good job of showing the movie's strengths with Charlize and beautiful imagery. But she does deserve some credit.
Hersher 'Let's be honest here. If this movie tanked, many would have blamed Kristen Stewart for that and that she was not ready for primetime.'
June 2, 2012 at 6:43PM ESTDarren - So true. People hate to admit that Kristen is more than Twilight, but she is. I went for her and the brilliant trailer (props to whoever was responsible for that), i loved it. Charlize is not a box office draw but she does give it some credibility as an oscar winner and she has now reached an age where she is given respect as an actress. For many years she wasn't. Chris also has fans but is still not a household name. I am very happy that the box office is doing well. I think i will see it again this week and am spreading the word.
Tadei Darren I so agree with you. If it fails it is Kristen's fault but if it does well then it is due to other factors. I like Charlize and she did a terrific job in playing Ravenna but Charlize started to get a lot of buzz when she was linked to Kristen and Snow White. The Snow White movie was not perfect but it was a good movie. It may have missed a couple of chances to address Snow White loving and caring nature despite her awful circumstances, romance between Snow White and The Huntsman, and the Huntsman teaching Snow White to fight and be a warriot. Those issues were introduced but a bit lightly. Kristen's performance was very good. She displayed the emoitions that she was suppossed to including being terrified, sad, lonely, angry, loving, happy, strong and fierce. This Snow White is not a happy Snow White since not much good happens to her throughout her life so people shouldn't say Kristen was again angry, sad and not smiling. Watch the movie then comment. Further, is the Snow White story after all and how much can it be changed? Not much after all. Sanders giving a dark and twisted side was a great idea and it worked. The movie is very good and Kristen delivered.
June 3, 2012 at 12:19PM ESTKay
June 2, 2012 at 10:20PM EST Reply to CommentI went for Kristen and the promising trailer, was really curious to see how Rupert did as a first-time director. I'm also 37 and while I appreciate what Twilight films did for Kristen and Rob Pattinsons careers they are not very good. I was really disappointed SWATH didn't develop the SW/Huntsman arc better. The original script showed some great initial bickering and sexual tension between the two while he was training her in the forest, which would have made the emotional monologue by the Huntsman more believable. Otherwise I liked Kristen's performance better, keeping my bias in mind, I just thought Charlize's was overkill. Hemsworth did a fine job. Special effects/CGI near flawless. I've seen it twice, bringing my mother for a third time.
DullDullDull
June 16, 2012 at 5:19AM EST Reply to Commentwhy oh why are there Kristen Stewart fans? the girl/woman is about as entertaining to watch as paint drying. Her 'acting' is about as wooden as your average thunderbird and she'd not all that on the eye either. I have watched this film, and although there were a few superb moments (the tech for the dwarves was awesome) every time Kristen was on screen I cringed. As for her rallying speech... it may actually be worse than Clive Owen's in King Arthur (2004) which I honestly believed was not possible.