Newfangled videogaming warfare led by a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears whippersnappers? It was all too much for a certain bad grandpa. Last week’s mustachioed champion opted to take a nap as Ender’s Game topped Jacka‑‑ Presents: Bad Grandpa for the weekend’s box office crown.
Ender’s Game gunned down the rest of the field in short order. But just as in the movie, victory came with a somewhat ambiguous coda. Sure, Ender’s Game won, but the $28 million the flick earned didn’t exactly have studio execs dancing a victory jig—not with a $110 million budget to cover. And while multiplexes have been awash in movie versions of popular young adult novels as of late, it’s rare that one, well, catches fire. February’s Beautiful Creatures finished its run with just $19.5 million domestically. March’s The Host banked $26.6 million. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters collected a tidy $67.5 million, but its budget was $90 million, so there’s that. Ender’s Game started better than either Beautiful Creatures or The Host, but its trajectory suggests a disappointing finish.
Bad Grandpa slid to second with $20.5 million, spoiling the debut of a couple of newcomers. Last Vegas, the star-studded geriatric trip to Nevada’s Sin City, collected $16.5 million—not enough to keep Social Security solvent, but enough to buy brunch for the entire community of Sun City, Ariz. And despite a dearth of family fare available, the animated movie Free Birds proved to be something of a turkey: It gobbled up just $16.2 million and crashed ungracefully to earth.
But while Free Birds couldn’t shake the box office’s gravitational pull, Gravity itself is still maintaining a strong orbit. It earned another $13.1 million this week, bringing its 2013 total to $219.2 million. It’s already the eighth biggest hit of the year, and No. 7 (Star Trek Into Darkness, with $228.8 million) is in its sights.
Of course, the weekend box office could be scrambled further in the coming weeks. Thor: The Dark World has already earned $109.4 million overseas, and it strides into theaters this Friday, swinging its mighty hammer. And for Ender’s Game, that could mean game over.
Final figures update: 1. Ender’s Game, $27 million; 2. Jacka– Presents: Bad Grandpa, $20 million; 3. Last Vegas, $16.3 million; 4. Free Birds, $15.8 million; 5. Gravity, $12.8 million.
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