Box office: 'How Do You Know' flops; 'Tron' doesn't; and like the bear himself, 'Yogi' is soft [Updated]

On a weekend packed with new releases, some movies came out well positioned to become holiday hits while one was dead on arrival. Walt Disney Studios' big-budget sequel "Tron: Legacy" opened to a solid $43.6 million. The 3-D animation/live-action hybrid "Yogi Bear" started with a soft but not terrible $16.7 million. And the costly Reese Witherspoon-Owen Wilson adult comedy "How Do You Know" turned out to be one of the year's biggest flops, opening to $7.6 million.

The weekend also saw two movies expand from limited to nationwide release with very strong ticket sales given their modest budgets. "The Fighter," starring Mark Wahlberg, took in $12.2 million. "Black Swan" grossed $8.3 million, a particularly impressive figure as it was playing at only 959 theaters, less than half the number of any other film in the top ten.

The audience for "Tron: Legacy," which cost Disney about $170 million to make and is a hugely hyped property for the company with spinoffs in theme parks, video games and on television, was primarily adult males. The studio had expected on opening weekend to get fanboys who remembered the 1982 original. Now, with children starting holiday vacation this week, it's opening for more of an all-ages event film for families looking for 3-D effects and action.

Exit polls indicated most audiences liked "Tron: Legacy." It received an average grade of B+, according to market research firm CinemaScore.

Initial foreign grosses were a little more troublesome for Disney. "Tron" took in a so-so $23 million from 26 foreign markets, but bad weather in Europe left the studio hopeful the film would recover for a strong foreign run.

Despite an unimpressive start for "Yogi Bear," which cost $80 million to make, Warner is hoping families with young kids will turn out over the holidays. If that proves correct, the movie, which got a B CinemaScore, could be a solid performer. But any prospects for it to be a breakout smash in the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" mode already have been dashed. That 2007 picture, also based on a classic cartoon and debuting the weekend before Christmas, opened to $44.3 million.

"How Do You Know" will be a big money loser for Sony Pictures, which spent more than $100 million to produce the James L. Brooks-directed film. After a terrible opening, it's likely to fade quickly from theaters, as the mostly adult-female ticket buyers gave it a CinemaScore of C-, agreeing with critics who largely disliked the movie.

"The Fighter" and "Black Swan," meanwhile, appear to be positioned for very strong runs in the coming weeks as the films, which earned Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations, garner more awards-season attention.

The performance of "The Fighter," which got an A- CinemaScore from an adult audience evenly divided between men and women, is similar to that of "Up in the Air," which took in $11.3 million on its first weekend playing nationwide and ultimately grossed $83.8 million domestically. Relativity Media financed "The Fighter," based on a true story, for $25 million, and the film is being distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The box-office performance of "Black Swan," meanwhile, looks similar to that of the 2007 Coen brothers movie "No Country for Old Men," which collected $7.8 million on its third weekend, when it played in 860 theaters. That Oscar-winning film went on to rake in $74.3 million; a similar total would be a huge win for "Black Swan" as it cost only about $13 million to make.

The weekend's only new movie in limited release was "Rabbit Hole," based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a family coping with loss. It opened to a soft but not terrible $55,000 at five theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto.

Director Julie Taymor's adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" continues to do weak business. Walt Disney Studios expanded its last release from the recently sold Miramax Films to 21 theaters and brought in only $53,500.

[Update, 11:11 a.m.: Below are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, along with international grosses when available, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:

1. "Tron: Legacy" (Disney): Opened to $43.6 million. $23 million overseas from 26 foreign markets.

2. "Yogi Bear" (Warner Bros.): Opened to $16.7 million.

3. "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (Fox/Walden): $12.4 million on its second weekend, down 48%. Domestic total: $42.8 million. $29.9 million overseas in 61 foreign markets. International total: $124.4 million.

4. "The Fighter" (Relativity/Paramount): $12.2 million on its first weekend in nation-wide release, second in theaters. Domestic total: $12.6 million.

5. "The Tourist" (GK Films/Sony): $8.7 million on its second weekend, down 47%. Domestic total: $30.8 million. $10.5 million overseas in 24 foreign markets. International total: $22.3 million.

6. "Tangled" (Disney): $8.7 million on its fourth weekend, down 40%. Domestic total: $127.8 million. $14 million overseas in 17 foreign markets. International total: $97.8 million.

7. "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight/Cross Creek): $8.3 million on its first weekend in nation-wide release, third in theaters. Domestic total: $15.7 million.

8. "How Do You Know" (Sony): Opened to $7.6 million.

9. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1" (Warner Bros.): $4.8 million on its fifth weekend in theaters, down 43%. Domestic total: $265.5 million. $24.3 million overseas in 62 foreign markets. International total: $558.6 million.

10. "Unstoppable" (Fox/Dune/Ingenious): $1.8 million on its sixth weekend in theaters, down 51%. Domestic total: $77.3 million. $665,000 overseas in 16 foreign markets. International total: $56.9 million.]

-- Ben Fritz

Photos, from top: A scene from "Tron: Legacy." Credit: Walt Disney Studios. Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd in "How Do You Know." Credit: David James / Columbia Pictures

Comments

[Jack C NYC]

The Fighter is one good movie. See it. Christian Bale nails it.

[exie]

Sony authorized a budget of 120 million for the movie How Do You Know. How do I apply for the CEO job at Sony? I'm pretty sure I can do better and I would never budget a comedy for more than 60 million.

[Off the Grid]

Why buy into Disney's spin for "Tron"? If it's not an outright flop, it's a huge, huge disappointment. Why Disney isn't required to more accurately disclose the spend against it, I don't know. But history is not on the side of these numbers. It looks like it will end up in the $190 million range at the U.S. box office, with those foreign numbers indicating no more than another $200 million globally. If the production and marketing spend really were the reported $270 million combined, then once you factor in the actual "rental" revenue from distribution, Disney's looking at a loss. Just like the massively hyped 1982 original. Hm.

[mslewis]

I'm also a bit stunned that Sony paid $120M for a romcom. Has any other romcom cost that much? Seems like an awful lot of money for a movie that didn't have foreign locations, only one big star and a silly premise. It should not have cost more than $40M, maybe $50 at the outside. What did they spend the other $70M on? I just don't get it.

Still, I am sort of surprised that it only open at $7.6M. I thought people liked Reese Witherspoon and her cuteness, although I think the trailer was so bad people just didn't want to haul themselves through a snowstorm and spend $12 to see her in this tripe.

[goodluckca]

Why would anyone want to see The Fighter?

[Ridunculous]

The fact that Sony green-lighted $120 million for a tired, rehashed rom-com that makes a paltry $7.6 million on opening weekend is ridiculous. Two heads are obviously not better than one because neither studio head was using their brain on this flick. People at Sony should expect layoffs to pay for Michael and Amy's folly.

[Paul Nesson]

The trouble with Hollywood is they produce CRAP!
Not one movie this year was even good!
Avatar was so-so and I worked on it!
Until the studio execs stop looking at the bottom line-Ticket sales
and START MAKING QUALITY FILMs
I will avoid the cinemaplex
Just like millions of other intelligent americans
YOGI BEAR-what the hell, It was a crappy cartoon so
Make a CRAPPY movie

[Paul Nelson]

Tron=Bomb
no matter how you put it

[michael Jenning]

"The Tempest" opened weakly? How could this be? Below are all the movies made from Shakespeare plays that took movie audiences by storm:

.....

He was a VERBAL artist, pretentious studio-niks, not a VISUAL one. Seek your culture creds elsewhere.

[david]

Poor stupid, er... now LITERALLY POOR Columbia/Sony... close but no cigar. The Social Network was an amazing-- best picture worthy-- high concept story, superbly written; all around classic Hollywood in 21st century American cinema. Tightly written plot and characters and great story that doesn't rely on sex or violence-- nary a single explosion or topless stripper anywhere. Remember those pictures, Hollywood? Ya, so don't tons of content-starved adult moviegoers. Which brings us to the patronizing "How do You Know". A movie that's been made ten times already; and not opening anywhere near Valentines Day. And PAUL RUDD?! Who the hell is that?! ...And WHO CARES? NOT a name for a number 1 B.O. OPENING. How could the same studio churn out these two different pictures?!

[CB]

$170 million to make Tron? Really?- someone at Disney is walking around with $160 million in their pocket. It was ok, but most of the set animation was soooo simple, just a lot of neon lines. I just don't see where they spend the money. I mean really, Tron was just some guy in a motorcycle helmet.

[Fred Reade]

Where can you find the cinemascore grades for films? i've googled and searched and can't find. Any help would be appreciated.

This piece does not give the cinemascore grade for Black Swan.

[La Animator]

@ CB... You Obviously know nothing about digital FX. Even the actual costumes were much harder to create than they look (I mean like 40+ minutes to put on)... I still shocked that Yogi Bear opened so high!

[Spin]

Tron was fun to watch in 3D.

I can't stand some of you that go to movies like Tron and expect to see a Godfather or Schindler's List level of drama and acting.

It's Tron for heaven's sake!!!! It is a shut-off-your-brain action movie with cool visuals. It was entertaining and worth watching in 3D. Oliva Wilde is crazy-sexy in Tron. The story could have used a little more development, but overall was a fun movie.

Can't wait to see The Fighter sometime this week.

[Jack Meoph]

Movies are now developed with the thought of only $$$$ at the other end. Yeah, you need to make money, but everything doesn't have to be a home run. Everything is PG-13, and everything sucks. My home system is superior to most local theaters out there except 3-D and IMAX. The 3D stuff I've seen isn't that impressive. Adds a bit of depth, but that's about it. I'm too far away for IMAX. So, I wait until most of the dreck reaches disc or Netflix, and I'm mostly disappointed. I watch so much foreign cinema, that reading subtitles has become second nature. I don't know if I've become jaded, or if the movies coming out of the big american studios just suck, but I'm no longer am interested in going to the theater.

[cbarb]

So glad that How Do You Know flopped -- I saw it Friday night based on the review of our simple-minded critic here in Chicago (Phillips), and it was just about the worst two hours of my life! Sitting through the cheap and nearly non-stop psychobabble dialogue, and suffering through that nebbishy Paul Rudd trying to play a romantic lead, was just horrible. This in spite of the fact that the movie featured one of our best -- and most beautiful -- actresses (Reese W.).

Nebbish Hell!!!!

[marcus]

Great interview with Jeff Bridges talking about TRON:LEGACY. http://bit.ly/grBLY6

[Ethan Q]

What a shame that Warner chose to make Yogi a movie only an 8 year old could love. There is obviously a huge market for remakes of older cartoons for older audiences if they are done well, as the first Alvin movie amply showed. By when I saw the trailer for the movie, it made the Transformers look like high Shakespeare.

What a waste.

Hanna Barbera deserve so much better than this!

[David]

Best film of the year: ENTER THE VOID.

Runner up: NEVER LET ME GO.