Hugh Jackman stars in "Real Steel" (Buena Vista)
As anticipated, the long-awaited science-fiction/action/family/drama “Real Steel” took the championship in the weekend box office tournament, easily outpacing the star-studded “The Ides Of March” in claiming the top spot. A slew of other smaller releases flooded the arthouses and a couple of high profile independent films, a milestone 100th movie for Jackie Chan and the car crash of a horror film, “The Human Centipede II: Full Sequence”, were met with tepid to mediocre attendance.
Budgeted for $110 million (though many feel that number is vastly underreported), “Real Steel” shocked no one by running away with the domestic crown, with $27.3 million banked for its opening weekend. Starring Hugh Jackman, in a film executive produced by Steven Spielberg amongst others, “Real Steel” was mocked as the Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots Movie, a fair depiction for a film set in a world in the not-to-distant future where boxing, MMA, and professional wrestling has given way to remote-controlled robots waging battle in the esteemed WRB – The World Boxing League. Critics were muted and middle-of-the-road on the film, some championed the family dynamic of a father/son story which lies at the heart of the film. Others made comparable comparisons to “Real Steel” as a “Science-Fiction Rocky”, citing its underdog trying to overcome the odds fighting story. Others, including yours truly, found it incomprehensible and an outright mess. Either way, tracking indicated that opening night audiences were on board, CinemaScore reported an “A” grade, and word-of-mouth was strong leading into Saturday.
Read more on Box Office Final: “Steel” Wins The Tournament…
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