'Cowboys & Aliens' Edges 'Smurfs' in Box Office Showdown
The official count is in and the results of the showdown between the cowboys and the little blue Smurfs have "Cowboys & Aliens" winning the duel with a gross total of $36.4 million. "The Smurfs" finished with an honorable $35.6 million, according to Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The two movies were thought to have tied for the number one spot in North American theaters this passed weekend - with estimated gross totals of $36.2 million each.
This was a disappointing blow for the $163 million-budget Western Sci-Fi film starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, which was expected to win given the high-profile cast, director and producers.
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The Steven Spielberg and Jon Favreau (Iron Man) directed film is about a posse of cowboys who try to defend the earth from an alien spaceship that lands in Arizona in 1873. The PG-13 movie had a difficult time attracting younger viewers. Universal Studios stated that 63 percent of audience members were 30 years or older.
"The film was a bet worth taking with these filmmakers," said Nikki Rocco, president of Universal Pictures distribution.
This tally is also a surprising result for “ The Smurfs” and exceeded studio predictions of a $30 million opening. In the PG-rated film, the evil wizard Gargamel chases the Smurfs out of their magical world into ours. The movie featured stars Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays and appealed mainly to children and parents.
“The Smurfs” characters have a long time history with the American public, with 53 years in comic strips and on television – whereas “Cowboys & Aliens” is based on a little-known graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.
“Smurfs” also had the support of an international market campaign that included over 200 partners, including McDonald’s Corp, reported the Wall Street Journal.
"There's more to 'The Smurfs' than just being a family film," said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of worldwide distribution. "There's also a nostalgia factor and a cool factor in these little blue guys, and Smurfette."
“The Smurfs” received an “A-” review from CinemaScore, with audience members under 25 giving the film a solid “A.” Theaters showing the movie in 3-D made up 45 percent of its opening gross.
CinemaScore graded “Cowboys & Aliens” a mediocre “B.”
The weekend’s other top releases were “Captain America: The First Avenger” with $24.9 million, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II” with $21.9 million, and “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” which rounded out the top five movies with $19.3 million.
