Weekend Box Office: October 7-9

 

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Real Steel - $27.3 million

2.  The Ides of March - $10.4 million

3.  Dolphin Tale - $9.1 million

4.  Moneyball - $7.5 million

5.  50/50 - $5.5 million

6.  Courageous - $4.6 million

7.  The Lion King 3D - $4.552 million

8.  Dream House - $4.5 million

9.  What's Your Number? - $3 million

10.  Abduction - $2.9 million

The box office was ruled by boxing robots this weekend as Real Steel takes the top spot with an estimated $27.3 million.  While it wasn't an earth-shattering debut, it was a decent start in what was essentially another relatively quiet weekend at the box office.  However, the film did earn an impressive "A" Cinemascore rating from audiences (which, unsurprisingly, were mostly guys), and with no big family films opening until Puss In Boots hits theaters at the end of the month, good word of mouth could sustain some steady box office for this one until then. 

I'll add to the good word-of-mouth for Real Steel with a mini-review here:  I saw the movie this weekend and it was a blast.  It was basically a mashup of Rocky, The Iron Giant, and The Champ (without the miserable ending), and shockingly, it all worked.  Even the kid did a great job.  The audience I saw it with went nuts for it, and the fight scene at the end was worth the extra cash spent on the IMAX ticket.  Definitely catch it if you get the chance.

As far as the rest of the box office, the George Clooney/Ryan Gosling political thriller The Ides of March opened about as expected with $10.4 million.  Whether or not that keeps it in the Oscar race will depend on how well it does from here.  Oscar contender Moneyball continues to play well, landing in fourth place with $7.5 million.

Dolphin Tale remained a popular choice for the family crowd this weekend, dropping only 34% to earn another $9.1 million.  With The Lion King arriving on DVD/blu-ray this past week, the 3D theatrical release is quickly fading out, falling down to seventh place with $4.5 million.  The re-release has grossed an impressive $86 million since returning to theaters last month, which is why Disney recently announced that 3D re-releases of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc. will be heading to theaters in 2012 and 2013.

It was better news this weekend for 50/50, which dropped only 36% from its not-so-great opening last weekend, so positive word about the movie seems to be taking hold a little.  The mainly church-group audiences that fueled Courageous to an $8 million opening dropped by half this weekend with $4.6 million, although with a budget of about $2 million, it's still a big hit.

Next weekend sees the releases of two remakes that no one asked for:  The Thing (which is actually a remake of a remake), and Footloose (which, going by the ads, looks like the exact same film as the 1984 version, only the Kevin Bacon character has a Boston accent).  Who said Hollywood has run out of ideas?