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Americans spent an estimated $280 million at the movies from Friday to Monday, surpassing the previous high of $255 million set in 2007, before the recession, and blowing by 2010's paltry $192.7 million take.
That's good news for Hollywood, which had been despairing over lackluster ticket sales for months; through late April, sales were down roughly 17 percent and attendance had fallen 18 percent compared to 2010, according to Hollywood.com, which tracks such figures.
This weekend, though, seats were packed. Leading the charge was "The Hangover Part II," the sequel to the 2009 hit about three friends trying to figure out what transpired during a debaucherous night out. The movie grossed $137.4 million over five days in North America, according to an estimate from distributor Warner Bros., the biggest debut for any R-rated comedy ever.
The upturn at the box office began about a month ago, with the release of Universal Studios' "Fast Five," a heist film featuring high-speed cars that took in $86.2 million in its first weekend and has already passed the $500 million mark worldwide. Since then, receipts have been buoyed by blockbusters such as the fourth film in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and the superhero movie "Thor"; now, revenue is down about 9 percent compared to last year, while attendance is off 10 percent.
With big films such as the "Green Lantern," the third "Transformers" movie and the eighth and final "Harry Potter" picture coming out before Labor Day, though, the domestic box office tally could catch up to 2010 levels by the end of the summer. All three of those films and a slew of other big-budget movies will be released in 3-D over the next few months, though it remains to be seen whether moviegoers will opt for the more expensive ticket.
Still, no film in 2011 has surpassed the $100 million mark domestically in its first three days of release, a feat accomplished last year by four films, including "Toy Story 3" and "Iron Man 2."
Business overseas, however, has been strong and is becoming increasingly important to Hollywood studios as moviegoing has grown in Latin America, Russia and elsewhere. The latest "Pirates" film, which has been out for just over 10 days, has made nearly $635 million worldwide - with about 74 percent of that coming from overseas. That's up from the last "Pirates," in 2007, when foreign earnings accounted for about 68 percent of its worldwide box office. "Fast Five" has earned more than 63 percent of its revenue overseas, up from about 57 percent for the previous installment in the series.
Warner Bros. was giving "Hangover 2" an international push as well, opening it over the weekend in 40 foreign markets, including France, Germany and Australia. It's rare that studios open comedies simultaneously across the world, as American humor doesn't always translate globally, but the first "Hangover" was a surprise hit overseas, collecting $190 million there. The second film is on its way toward that figure, having already taken in $59 million abroad this past weekend.
Receipts in the first half of 2010 were bolstered by the megahits "Avatar" and "Alice," and many in the industry say the lack of such event films and quality content has kept audiences at home this year.
Compared to last year, moviegoers under 25 were 15 percent less likely to indicate that they were going to go to movies on any given weekend compared to last year, according a survey conducted this spring by research firm Ipsos OTX. The No. 1 reason? "There's not as much I wanted to see."
"We are all pushed to the theater by content, and the content that was available was not of interest to people," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. "Every time there's a glitch or a drop in the box office, it's panic time. But this is a circular business. There are periods where the product is great and not-so-great, and now the industry has turned a corner."
But there are other factors that may be keeping audiences away from theaters, namely higher gasoline and ticket prices and the increasing popularity of video-on-demand or subscription services such as Netflix not to mention video games and other digital media.
Outside of Regal Cinemas at the L.A. Live complex on Friday night, 18-year-old Suzette Castro - who was about to see the second "Hangover" film - said she and her friends rarely go to out to theaters anymore.
"I watch movies on-demand like once a week," she said. "It's always the same type of movie over and over again in theaters, and it's just not as fun as it used to be (going) to the movies."
People under 25 made up 54 percent of the audience for "The Hangover Part II," which is this time set in Bangkok instead of Las Vegas. Those who saw the picture, which was produced by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures for around $80 million, enjoyed it, giving it an average grade of A-minus, according to market research firm CinemaScore. That bodes well for the movie, as the first "Hangover" film received an A grade and went on to gross $467.5 million worldwide largely due to its strong word-of-mouth.
The weekend's other new movie in wide release, DreamWorks Animation's 3-D animated film "Kung Fu Panda 2," raked in a decent $68 million. Even small, independent movies did solid business, with Terrence Malick's pondering, Palme d'Or-winning "The Tree of Life" and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" posting some of the highest per-theater averages in recent history for films in limited release.
The PG-rated "Kung Fu Panda 2" attracted its target audience of parents and children. About a third of the audience, 33 percent, was under the age of 18, and those who saw the film loved it, giving it an average grade of A, which was even better than the A-minus grade the first movie received.
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With both the "Hangover" and "Kung Fu Panda" sequels luring audiences out this weekend, moviegoers may be getting back into the habit of heading to the theater.
"Good box office begets box office," said Vinny Bruzzese, president of OTX's motion picture group. "When moviegoers are at the theaters, they're more exposed to trailers and have more of a moviegoing mindset. It becomes a cascade effect."
