Toy Story 3 Breaks June Opening Record

Both Toy Story 3 and Jonah Hex exceeded most expectations this weekend, but for completely different reasons. TS3 broke the record for biggest June opening ever while Jonah bombed even worse than anyone had figured it would.

For Toy Story 3 most predictions fell in the $85-$100 million range but I felt that the nostalgia factor and appeal to the older crowd would push it over the top and predicted $110 million. Pixar had never opened a film over $70 million so there seemed to be this sense out there that the opening would be somewhat capped based on that but then it would burn hot over the coming weeks. It ended up making $109 million which just barely edges out last June’s Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen which held the previous mark with $108 million. Audiences obviously have a trust for Pixar like none other and the 3D factored in providing higher ticket prices for the boost that put it over the top.

On the other end of the spectrum was Jonah Hex. As much as reviewers loved Toy Story 3 they despised Jonah. Those reviews, plus bad buzz leading up to release, and a cast that can’t draw on their own all led to a bomb of epic proportions. Jonah made only $5 million landing in eighth place. To put that in perspective it trailed even the Ashton Kutcher movie Killers in its third week. Jonah’s budget is rumored to have been $65 million.

Last weekend’s top film The Karate Kid slipped to second with a strong $29 million taking its total to $106 million. The A-Team also in its second weekend drew $14 million and has hit the $50 million mark.