Box Office Power Rankings: May 1-25, 2009
The conventional wisdom says that among the early entrants in the summer 2009 sweepstakes, Star Trek is a hit (and a winner in its first three weekends in our Box Office Power Rankings), Wolverine is a disappointment, and nobody cares about Angels and Demons. Yet X-Men Origins: Wolverine had the biggest North American opening of the three: $85 million. These evaluations are muddied by so many variables that it’s difficult to cut through the crap. But one simple measure is second-weekend drop-off, generally considered a reliable indicator of a movie’s staying power. So: Wolverine dropped 69.0 percent from $85 million; Star Trek dropped 42.8 percent from $75 million; and Angels and Demons dropped 53.0 percent (not counting the Monday holiday) from $46 million.
