There was no question the 3D Justin Bieber biopic/concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never was going to make money this weekend. The question was a matter of how much, and after Friday’s impressive $12.4 million haul it is in good position to dethrone Disney’s 3D pop queen Miley Cyrus whose own concert film opened with $31.1 million back in 2008. However, there are a few glaring statistics that should be addressed before we really begin comparing the two.
First off, Cyrus’s Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour opened in only 683 theaters compared to the 3,105 theaters you can find the Bieber pic in. Cyrus’s film, however, was billed as a limited engagement signaling to fans to see it now or see it never. As Bieber fans now know, never say never, as the Cyrus pic eventually ran for 15 weeks, but never expanded larger than 687 theaters. Add to that the hiked ticket prices for the Cyrus flick and you have another factor to consider. However, I think it’s safe to assume Justin Bieber’s film wouldn’t have done Cyrus numbers if you stripped 2,422 theaters from its opening run. Or perhaps you would like to argue it would have. If so, the comment section is directly below.
The question we now face is how high will the Bieber pic climb? $12.4 million on a Friday for a G-rated film tells me it should easily surpass Hannah Montana‘s $31.1 and likely gross over $35 million for the weekend. We’ll know soon enough.
In second is the Adam Sandler comedy, which won’t likely catch up to the Bieber pic. Just Go With It tallied an estimated $9.7 million and will likely end around $29 million or thereabouts. The A- CinemaScore says word of mouth is going to keep people filling the seats, eventually making for Sandler’s twelfth film to surpass $100 million at the box-office by the end of its run.
Disney’s Gnomeo and Juliet brought in an estimated $6.1 million and will hover around $19-20 million for the weekend while Focus’s Roman adventure The Eagle opened with an estimated $2.8 million from 2,296 theaters looking at an estimate $8-8.5 million opening weekend.
I have included the Friday top ten estimates below and will be here on Sunday with a complete wrap-up.
- Justin Bieber: Never Say Never – $12.4 million
- Just Go With It – $9.7 million
- Gnomeo and Juliet – $6.1 million
- The Eagle – $2.7 million
- The Roommate – $2.6 million
- The King’s Speech – $1.8 million
- No Strings Attached – $1.7 million
- Sanctum – $1.4 million
- True Grit – $950,000
- The Green Hornet – $885,000
