Things didn't go as well as expected for both The World's End and You're Next. Both movies were getting positive responses from genre fans and critics, but neither were able to make a huge splash at the box office. With so few original R-rated genre movies being released, we're going to place the blame on these two movies opening at the same time.
Both are R-rated movies that have a limited target audience. There's absolutely no reason that they needed to compete against each other, and don't forget that Kick-Ass 2 and Elysium are also taking away some of those potential ticket sales. Both new movies also had a relatively low screen count. The World's End is playing on 1,549 screens, while You're Next is in 2,437 screens. In comparison, We're the Millers is playing on 3,445 screens.
With that being said, The World's End had a bigger opening than Shaun of the Dead ($3.3 million) and Hot Fuzz ($5.8 million), and it's likely to be the highest grossing of the three "Cornetto" movies. It's production budget was a good bit higher at $20 million, so it's going to need long legs to earn back production and marketing costs.
It's very important for genre fans to go out and support original projects like these. We're not saying that you have to go see everything, just to support original projects, but if you're really interested in a movie, go to the theater on opening weekend and take your friends. When original movies like The World's End and You're Next don't perform as well as expected, it gives studios more of a reason to ignore original projects and push forward with sequels and remakes.
Next week sees the release of Closed Circuit, Getaway, and One Direction: This is Us. Here are the top ten results for this weekend:
1. Lee Daniels’ The Butler - $17,018,000
2. We’re the Millers - $13,500,000
3. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - $9,300,000
4. The World’s End - $8,942,000
5. Planes - $8,567,000
6. Elysium - $7,100,000
7. You’re Next - $7,050,000
8. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - $5,200,000
9. Blue Jasmine - $4,300,000
10. Kick-Ass 2 - $4,270,000