Box Office Report: Jack Earns Less-Than-Giant Victory

WINNER OF THE WEEK: Oscar. Its pretty rare to see movies that have been in theaters for four or five months suddenly spike in sales, but thats the magic of Hollywoods most prestigiousmarketing toolaward. Most of the nominated films saw the biggest bounce in business during this years extra-long nomination season, but theres still money to be milked after last Sundays awards ceremony. According to studio estimates, Jennifer Lawrences Best Actress win was good for another $5.9 million this weekend forSilver Linings Playbook(at Number Eight, the only Best Picture nominee still in the top 10), for a total of $115.5 million after four months. Best Director winnerLife of Piadded another 54 screens (for a total of 626) and another estimated $2.3 million, for a 15-week total of $116.9 million. Best Picture winnerArgoincreased its theater count by a fourth (to 985 venues) and took in another estimated $2.2 million, for a total of $132.8 million over five months. ForDjango Unchained, which won Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz) and Best Original Screenplay, a boost in theater count by half (to 983) led to another estimated $1.0 million, for a total of $160.3 million after 10 weeks. Among the major nominees and winners, onlyZero Dark Thirty,Lincoln,Amour, andLes Miserablesdid less business than last week.

LOSER OF THE WEEK: Magic beans. Sure,Jack the Giant Slayerwas far and away the champ, debuting in first place with an estimated $28.0 million. Given that it cost $200 million to make, however, thats not a good number. By comparison, mega-flopJohn Carter, which opened at about this time last year, managed a $30.2 million opening before topping out at $73.1 million With next weekendsOz the Great and Powerfulnipping at its heels,Jackwont really have time to grow legs.

Peter Travers February Scum Bucket

This weekends other new wide releases underperformed as well. Party comedy21 and Overhad been expected to score sales in the mid-teens from spring-breakers, but it premiered with an estimated $9.0 million, good for third place. In fourth, horror sequelThe Last Exorcism Part II, which had been predicted to open at about $10 million, debuted with an estimated $8.0 million. And submarine dramaPhantomnearly sank without a trace. It was supposed to open on 2,000 screens, but it mustered just 1,118 and an estimated take of $465,000, outside the top 20. With a per-screen average of $416, that means only three or four paying customers attended each screening.

None of these movies seems to have the legs of, say,Identity Thief, which is the first 2013 movie to cross the $100 million mark. In its fourth weekend, it finished at Number Two and earned another estimated $9.7 million. Rounding out the top five,Snitchsnatched an estimated $7.7 million, for a 10-day total of $24.4 million.

THE TIDES OF MARCH: When did March become summers Mini-Me at the box office, anyway? Would-be blockbusters likeJack,Oz, and this monthsG.I. Joe: Retaliationwould once have been saved for summertime, leaving March as part of the long box office dead zone between Christmas and the beginning of May. But then, three years ago,Alice in Wonderlandstunned the industry with a March opening and a $334.2 million haul. March 2011 saw such blockbuster candidates asRangoandThe Adjustment Bureau(which did well) andSucker PunchandMars Needs Moms(which did poorly). And then last March saw such smashes as21 Jump StreetandDr. Seuss The Lorax, modest fantasy hitsWrath of the TitansandMirror Mirror, and a little movie calledThe Hunger Games. So now, for better or worse, studios think theyve found a second summer, a time of the year when expensive fantasy and sci-fi pics and ambitious animated features can succeed. Which is good, if youre a studio executive looking for prime real estate beyond the traffic-choked warm-weather months. Maybe not so good if youre a movie fan who enjoys the hard-to-pigeonhole fare that used to emerge as sleeper hits in March but may now be crowded out of the marketplace.

One last gasp, maybe, isStoker, the English-language debut ofOldboydirector Park Chan-wook. The South Korean directors thriller opened this week on just seven screens (it expands to 20 next week), but it averaged a huge $22,689 on each of them, for a total estimate of $158,822. Maybe it doesnt hurt thatStokersleading lady is Mia Wasikowka, who became the queen of March with her starring role inAlice.