U.S Box Office Report - 24th - 26th August 2012

1. The Expendables 2 - $13.5M - $52.3M
2. The Bourne Legacy - $9.2M - $85.4M
3. ParaNorman - $8.5M - $28.1M
4. The Campaign - $7.4M - $64.5M
5. The Dark Knight Rises - $7.15M - $422.2M
6. The Odd Life of Timothy Green - $7.12M - $27M
7. Premium Rush - $6.3M - $6.3M
8. 2016: Obama's America - $6.2M - $9M
9. Hope Springs - $6M - $45M
10. Hit and Run - $4.7M - $5.8M
(12. The Apparition - $2.9M - $2.9M)

A relatively low key weekend with just three releases, one of which is it at less than 1,000 locations. We're now in the tail end of August, where studios will often off-load movies that they're not quite sure what to do with. According to Box Office Prophets, last frame was only the second time that seven films made more than $10M. This weekend couldn't be further from that, as we will see. Next weekend isn't expected to be very much different,  with only Lawless looking to stand head and shoulders above the competition. But back to this frame and the big news wasn't to do with any of the new releases but a documentary that was already six weeks old....

U.S Box Office Report - 17th - 19th August 2012

1. Expendables 2 - $28.5M - $28.5M
2. The Bourne Legacy - $17M - $69.9M
3. ParaNorman - $14M - $14M
4. The Campaign - $13.3M - $51.6M
5. Sparkle - $12M - $12M
6. The Dark Knight Rises - $11.1M - $409.9M
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green - $10.9M - $15.1M
8. Hope Springs - $9.1M - $35M
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - $3.8M - $38.7M
10. Total Recall - $3.5M - $51.7M

Something for everyone this week, with four major releases and a potentially interesting limited one.  The Expendables 2 will be looking to open stronger than the first film, while ParaNorman offers fresh family entertainment. Meanwhile, Sparkle and The Odd Life of Timothy Green hope to play well as counter programming. They'll all be facing of against the second frame for The Bourne Legacy and The Campaign, two films which opened quite well last weekend. Next frame brings us action-comedy Hit & Run and the delayed Joseph Gordon-Levitt film, Premium Rush.

U.S Box Office Report - 10th - 12th August 2012

1. The Bourne Legacy - $40.2M - $40.2M
2. The Campaign - $27.4M - $27.4M
3. The Dark Knight Rises - $19.5M - $390.1M
4. Hope Springs - $15.6M - $20.1M
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - $8.2M - $33.4M
6. Total Recall - $8.1M - $44.1M
7. Ice Age: Continental Drift - $6.7M - $144M
8. Ted - $3.2M - $209.9M
9. Step Up Revolution - $2.8M - $30.1M
10. The Watch - $2.2M - $31.3M

This week brings us three major releases, one opening Wednesday, the other two on Friday. The Bourne Legacy will be looking to finally knock the Batman off his perch and establish a Matt Damon-less franchise, while the makers of The Campaign hope the public aren't too tired of politics to come and see their movie. Meanwhile, Hope Springs, which opened midweek, entered the weekend with a few million dollars under its belt. How it would fare against the flashier releases, however, remained to be seen. Last weekend Total Recall got off to a poor start and would need all the help it could get just to stay above water, especially with the increased competition. Ahead on to next week, we have four new releases, including The Expendables sequel.

U.S Box Office Report - 3rd - 5th August 2012

1. The Dark Knight Rises - $36.4M - $354.6M
2. Total Recall - $26M - $26M
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - $14.7M - $14.7M
4. Ice Age: Continental Drift - $8.4M - $131.9M
5. The Watch - $6.4M - $25.4M
6. Ted - $5.4M - $203.4M
7. Step Up: Revolution - $5.3M - $23M
8. The Amazing Spider-Man - $4.3M - $250.6M
9. Brave - $2.8M - $223.3M
10. Magic Mike - $1.3M - $110.8M

Parts of this report have previously appeared at Mendelson's Memos

Blockbuster season begins its wind down as we enter August. Only a handful of major tent-pole releases remain, and they'll be surrounded by smaller films, along with those which the studios want to quietly offload. This week it's the turn of Sony's costly Total Recall re-imagining and the third in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Dog Days. Last week's openers, The Watch and Step Up Revolution will be hoping for anything they can get after such weak starts (especially for the former) while The Dark Knight Rises will be hoping to make three weeks at the top. Next weekend sees the release of The Bourne Legacy, along with the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis comedy, The Campaign.