It may not be fair to judge a movie’s success based on just a week or two’s box office take, but I think it’s a good way to get a handle on things. For examples, here are some movies I’ve seen nationally advertised that have opened recently, and their take so far (via boxofficemojo.com):
“The Fifth Estate” (the wikileaks movie starring KHAAAAAN): worldwide, after 10 days… $4.4 million.
“All Is Lost,” starring Bob Redford: domestic, after 10 days: $656,000 (yes, less than a million), out of a budget of $9 million
“Kill Your Darlings,” starring Harry Potter as a poet nobody cares about anymore (and probably shouldn’t have 40 years ago): after 12 days, $131,000 domestic
“Machete Kills,” starring some angry leather: after more than 2 weeks, $7.26 million
“12 Years a Slave” starring The Operative and apparently directed by a zombie action star: $3.4 million domestic after 10 days.
Lest you think that it’s just that nobody is going to the movies these days… “Bad Grandpa” just raked in $40 million on its opening weekend (nearly 3X it’s budget, in two days); in the same period, the Stallone/Schwarzenegger flick “Escape Plan” made $45 million ($5M short of its budget). “Gravity,” by the way, in a bit over three weeks has made $364 million. Woo!