Uhoh, looks like all the negativity surrounding the violence in Matthew Vaughn’s dizzying Kick-Ass has had a dramatic impact on its box office bow.
Despite phenomenal buzz and plenty of critic love (apart from one shocked and appalled Roger Ebert), Kick-Ass opened with a disappointing $19.7m this weekend. Small consolation, though, that it at least recouped two thirds of its $30m budget.
Date Night got one over on Clash this week, though, hitting third place with $17.3m, while Clash slid to fifth with $15.7. Sandwiched in between the two of them was opening Neil LaBute comedy Death At A Funeral , which earned itself a respectable $17m.
A throng of Miley Cyrus fans ensured The Last Song remained in the top ten (now in at sixth) with a diminished haul of $5.8m, while Why Did I Get Married Too? dropped to seventh place with $4.1m.
Hot Tub Time Machine continued its underwhelming performance with a teeny $3.5m (proving that the ‘80s really are dead), while third 3D flick Alice In Wonderland added $3.5m to its money pile. The Bounty Hunter rounded out the top ten with $3.2m - no doubt its last appearance in the charts.
Next week comic book flick The Losers makes its entrance. Will it fare any better than Kick-Ass ? Check back next week to find out.
Update: Hurrah for Kick-Ass ! As with last week's close-run-last-minute-surprise-turn-around (in which Date Night lost out to Clash ), the final figures for this weekend's box office have revealed that Kick-Ass is the real box office titan.
Early figures had How To Train Your Dragon as the victor, but in a last minute coup, Kick-Ass beat the CGI animation by the slimmest of slim wins. Final tally: Kick-Ass took $19.8m, Dragon took $19.6m. Phew!
Will you be going to see Kick-Ass ?
