First look: 'Karate Kid' crane kicks 'A-Team' to No. 2 spot

In what had looked to be a tight battle of '80s brand names, a team of mercenaries was decimated by a 11 year-old.

Sony Pictures' remake of "The Karate Kid" starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan opened to an excellent $56 million, according to a studio estimate, while 20th Century Fox's big screen version of TV show "The A-Team" starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel debuted to a soft but not terrible $26 million.

Pre-release polling had indicated that the two new films would be in a tight race for first place at the box office in the $30-million to $35-million range, with "Karate Kid" drawing more families and "The A-Team" mostly guys.

But Sony's film got off to a surprisingly strong start on Friday, indicating that it played as well to adults as to children, and expanded on its 2 to 1 advantage over "The A-Team" on Saturday as families attended matinees.

Both movies got mixed reviews, but audiences were much more positive. "The Karate Kid" got an average grade of A and "A-Team" got a B+, according to market research firm CinemaScore.

"Karate Kid" is the first movie to substantially exceed pre-release estimates in what so far has been a disappointing summer movie season for Hollywood. The film looks to be a big financial winner for Sony, which spent about $40 million to produce the picture. Fox and its financing partner, Dune Entertainment, may struggle with "A-Team," which cost around $100 million after tax credits.

Both movies have yet to open in most major foreign countries.

Three movies that opened last weekend both had relatively good holds of less than 50%. Comedy "Get Him to the Greek" declined 43% to $10.1 million, family film "Marmaduke" was down 48% to $6 million, and romantic comedy "Killers" dropped 48% to $8.1 million.

-- Ben Fritz

Top photo: Jaden Smith in "The Karate Kid." Credit: Jasin Boland / Sony Pictures. Bottom photo: Liam Neeson in "The A-Team." Credit: 20th Century Fox

Comments

[jerry]

Sony didn't spend as much. That film is actually the largest co-production between a Chinese and Japanese/American company, and a Chinese studio kicked in $5 million to it.

[e cig]

I respect this movie because I was a big fan of the karate kid. But I urge all newcomers to the karate kid experience to first view the original karate kid, because Mr.Miyagi was the man! No joke!

[hoodshow.com]

great movie and very positive, great job lil smith.
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[Cursors]

Just saw the movie yesterday and I was pleasantly surprise. I read the reviews before hand and it seemed like the critics didn't like it. The movie was about 2 hours and 30 minutes long I think. Will's Kid did an awesome job, and Jackie was still good for his age.

I took my 3 nephews and they all had a blast.

[Steve Jamieson]

I am a huge A-Team fan. I loved the movie too, it was really great. Critics just don't get it. I have yet to see a movie I liked where critics didn't rate it fairly.

I wish the A-Team would do better at the box office because I would really love to see a sequel. At this rate it's hard to know if we will see a part 2. I am all for the Karate Kid, but I knew the box office would determine it this weekend. Both movies were very busy here in Canada.

Everyone go see the A-Team...it kicks major ass.

[Bruno]

I need more remakes. There aren't enough. And I want a remake of Avatar as well, it could be brilliant, even if it is a bit recent. Seriously, I think we could make Friends the movie, Desperate housewives the movie, get another Batman in as personally I think there haven't been enough actors to portray Bruce Wayne. Hopefully the Shining II could be made as well, Jack could come back as the hotel could carry on its legacy as an evil entity.

I think Hollywood is so inventive, it hurts. I reckon Airwolf or Blue Thunder could work. The Golden Girls, or maybe even Married with Children could be fantastic family flicks that would appeal to all the family.

We live in fantastic times people. Our music is fresh and is the soul of the current generation and the films and TV have so much spirit.

Hats off to the execs for dreaming up this fantastic stuff. Wish I'd been born in the 90s because the youth of today have it all.

[Charlee]

I like how people who are dissing this movie most likely haven't seen this movie, simply over some preconceived notion like how they think the trailer sucks, or how it stars Will Smith's son, or how it's like some useless remake of a classic.

In the end, it really was a great movie.

[Jesika]

I cannot stand Will Smith's kid. I remember watching "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and absolutely despising the kid. I was rooting for him to die the whole time. The movie wasn't great by no means but that kid made it unwatchable.

[James Schumacher]

I can't believe this beat the A-Team so badly. A-team really was a pretty perfect summer movie. Not an amazing film, this isn't Shindler's List, but compared to all the other summer tripe and disappointments it was great.
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[Tia]

I just saw the karate kid 2day & I thought the movie was very very good! My kids & I enjoyed it a great deal! To the previous blogger whom said they can't stand Jayden Smith omg how could you say such a thing! That kid is so adorable & talented! Wow....somebody been drinking some haterade big time! Its nice to see african americans doing great positive things & it was refreshing to finally see a talented young blk young man act in a starring role!