4 June 2011
It's the start of the school holidays as new box office records are set.
KUNG FU PANDA 2 debuts at No. 1 and is reported in its newspaper ads to have set a new record for biggest opening film in Singapore.
For the weekend of 29 May, the box office grossed a total of US$3,902,602. Could this be the highest figure ever in Singapore cinematic history? In US$ and according to records that go back to April 2007, this certainly seems the case.
In the past five years, the US$3m mark has only been breached 7 times during a weekend: twice this year, twice in 2010, twice in 2009 and once in 2008. Of course when the figures are converted to S$, the weekend of 24 Dec 2009 is still champion (US$3,751,909/S$5,279,686), followed by this weekend (US$3,902,602/S$4,822,640).
Back to PANDA, which lays claims to being Singapore's biggest opening film to date. With US$2,627,425, it beat the previous record holder, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN which grossed US$2,478,544 during its 1st weekend in 2009. But when converted to S$, TRANSFORMERS still wins (S$3,606,232 vs. S$3,246,840).
Here's an update on the top films of 2011 so far:
This year's top earners:
1. THOR (3D) * (US$4,295,507)
2. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (3D/IMAX) * (US$3,499,420)
3. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 5 * (US$3,390,736)4. KUNG FU PANDA 2 (3D/IMAX) * (US$2,627,425)
5. THE GREEN HORNET (3D) (US$2,222,872)
6. SHAOLIN (US$1,969,435)
7. IT'S A GREAT GREAT WORLD (US$1,902,926)
8. RIO (3D) (US$1,878,218)
9. BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (US$1,635,954)
10. I AM NUMBER FOUR (US$1,463,707)
* denotes still in release
This year's top average screen gross:
1. KUNG FU PANDA 2 (3D) (US$32,843) - 26 May
2. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 5 (US$27,015) - 5 May
3. THOR (3D) (US$25,393) - 28 Apr
4. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (3D/IMAX) (US$21,233) - 19 May
5. HOMECOMING (US$20,898) - 3 Feb
This year's widest opening films:
1. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (3D/IMAX) - 100 screens
2. KUNG FU PANDA 2 (3D) - 80 screens
3. THOR (3D)- 70 screens
4. THE GREEN HORNET (3D) - 64 screens
5. RIO (3D) - 46 screens
So even as big budget Hollywood films continue to dominate the box office in Singapore, 1 Singapore film and 1 HongKong film have managed to end up in Top 10 highest box office gross, and 1 Singapore film managed to be amongst the Top 5 highest screen average gross to date this year.
---
Perhaps worthy of note is the Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley crime romance drama LONDON BOULEVARD, which opened on 1 screen and grossed US$11,994. This makes it the 2nd highest debut for a 1-screen release this year.
The others 1-screen releases this year and their debut gross/total gross are:
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (US$19,212/US$53,320)
JANE EYRE * (US$8,949/US$23,127)
IF YOU ARE THE ONE 2 (US$5,595/US$10,451)
UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (US$5,511/US$22,904)
ALL GOOD THINGS (US$5,014/US$13,397)
MARY AND MAX (US$4,952/US$14,064)
THE RESIDENT (US$4,012/US$14,645)
FREAKONOMICS (US$4,120/US$17,871)
THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK (US$3,921/US$16,911)
CARMEN (3D) - Info N/A
* denotes still in release
This year, only 3 1-print releases have grossed more than US$20,000 so far, with THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT leading the pack at US$53,320, followed by JANE EYRE (US$23,127 and counting) and UNCLE BOONME WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (US$22,904).
Source:
Notes:
The box office figures reported are just estimates based on the above sources.
