OCT 11-13 BOX OFFICE REPORT: DEFYING GRAVITY

I'm gonna throw some stats at you. Gravity's 23% second weekend decline at the US box office is the smallest ever for a $50m+ non-holiday opener. Its $9.05 million IMAX haul is the second highest in history for a second weekend. Its 3D share was 82%, actually up from last weekend's 80%. Overseas, it fell just 10% in Spain, 11% in Australia and 15% in Germany, with its falls averaging at just 27%. With $43.2 million, it easily topped the US box office for a second weekend running. And that's fending off strong opener Captain Phillips, which mustered up $25.7 million - a figure suggesting that it'll certainly close above $100 domestically. Its demographic was practically identical to Gravity's, yet both films performed excellently. To put Captain Phillips' performance into a little perspective, it took in more in its first three days than fellow 2013 Sony releases The Smurfs 2 and White House Down, and wasn't far off After Earth and Elysium. A strong weekend for intelligent, major American releases at the American box office.

In comparison, it was a hideously bad weekend for Machete Kills (4), which claimed just $3.8 million, roughly a third of Machete's meagre start in 2010. In fact, Captain Phillips aside, it was a shit weekend for new releases. Romeo and Juliet (18), The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (24), Escape from Tomorrow (42) and As I Lay Dying (70) all flopped pretty damn hard. Holdovers up top were a mixed bag, with Gravity, of course, faring best. Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said (11) experienced a small decline, despite crossing the threshold into official wide release, and most other films dropped by a standard amount, with poor Runner Runner (5) holding badly, despite a weak start last weekend, and We're the Millers (13) once more holding remarkably well for such a bad film!

The Winner / Top Per-Theatre Average: Gravity ($$43,188,256 / $11,800)

Highest Opener: Captain Phillips ($25,718,314)

Looky here! It's Box Office Mojo!