These are for the opening weekend, via Variety:
Japan – $7 million
UK – $4.5 million
France – $5 million
Germany – $5 million
Korea – $8 million
Spain – $2.7 million
Australia – $5 million
Italy – $3.2 million
Russia – $17 million
Mexico – $5 million
Switzerland – $1 million
Hong Kong – $2 million
It was the #1 movie in every country.
Based on past franchise performances in the UK, plus the Memorial weekend box office in the USA, it would be expected that MIB3 would have UK receipts of £5M+.
As it happens, the take for the first weekend was just £2.94m, barely half that of The Dictator. The new sunny weather has been blamed, which makes sense because figures were down across all films. More at The Guardian.
SPOILER ALERT
To be fair, most of the problems revolve around time travel, the fundamentals of which are lost on 99.9% of the audience, and event those who are versed in logic and science can get wrong. But of course there are some nitpickers out there.
1. J v. Boris at Cape Canaveral
Normally time travel takes you instantly from A to B. But in this scene time rewinds like on a DVD player. This is not how time travel usually works.
2. Time Travel Launch Velocity
In real-world science, any sort of speed that can promote time travel is faster than the speed of light. Stolen from Back to the Future is the idea of reaching a certain escape velocity. Unfortunately the fall from the Chrysler Building, in which he only just manages to make the needed speed is much higher than J’s fall from the space rocket, where he achieves it more easily.
3. J is Uniquely Special
Somehow the ramifications of changes in historical time have zero impact on J. If K is dead (nobody at MIB HQ remembers him), then how come J is accepted as a staff member, given that it took K to recruit him? Or, more to the point, how come J remembers K if nobody else can. This is physics, and physics doesn’t discriminate.
These plus three more are over at Mike Ryan’s piece at Huffington Post.
… subjecting the franchise’s zippy cornball energy to committee rethink and patchwork solutions could have been toxic, and the sequel survives with the original’s spirit largely intact. … a strangely low-key manner, as though this were merely a midseason episode of a long-running series, rather than a comeback after a decade away. This serves the movie well, however, as it’s clear the filmmakers aren’t simply expecting to coast on audience goodwill.” — Andrew Barker, Variety
“To move forward, the story jumps backwards — to the summer of 1969, when the Mets were destined to win the World Series and astronauts were preparing to walk on the moon. …This is a winning plan for a lot of reasons, beginning with the axiom that, as the crew of the USS Enterprise demonstrated in ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’ back in ancient 1986, it’s always fun when fancy folks from the sci-fi future are forced to fumble with the less elegant technology of the past…. MIB’s auteur director Barry Sonnenfeld captures the nostalgic hopefulness of the era.” — Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Brolin as Tommy Lee Jones
“Brolin’s [performance] is a feat of egolessness in which one actor completely subsumes himself into the style and sound of another. The performance works as an optical illusion: Our eye sees Brolin, but our brain is fooled into seeing Agent K and, through him, the craggy, beloved Jones made youthful again. ‘Men in Black 3′ is essentially a bait-and-switch — a movie that promises one star and delivers another — but because the imposture is so well-crafted, so serenely inventive, we accept the bargain. As far as the studio sees it, everybody wins: Tommy Lee Jones gets a paycheck and a vacation, while the young audiences of America are spared the horror of spending 106 minutes with an old person.” — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
You don’t need to study up on the previous installments or master a body of bogus fanboy lore to enjoy this movie for the breezy pop throwaway it is. Your expectations may be pleasantly low, and you may therefore be pleasantly surprised when they are exceeded. … The first two ‘Men in Black’ movies did some spoofing of the conventions of the black and white, cross-generational buddy picture, but the third one finds its way back to the heart of the genre. It manages, in the end, to be touching as well as hectic and whimsical, and to send a few interesting thematic bubbles into the air, having to do with lost fathers, obscure regrets and racial reconciliation.” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“As good as Brolin is, though, the novelty wears off quickly, and we’re once again left with the realization that there’s no substance to the script… But the most disappointing part of all: Frank the talking pug is nowhere to be found. The movie is a dog anyway without him.” — Christy Lemire, The Associated Press
“Let me say that although I liked the first ‘MiB’ movie, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this belated sequel. But I had fun. It has an ingenious plot, bizarre monsters, audacious cliff-hanging, and you know what? A closing scene that adds a new and sort of touching dimension to the characters of J and K.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times
According to the Hollywood Reporter:
In North America, MIB3 is expected to post a four-day total of $70 million after grossing $55 million for the three-day weekend. The $70 million is short of the $75 million or $80 million Sony hoped the tentpole would earn (rivals thought it would do more) on the strength of kids and families. Moviegoing is down a sizeable 32 percent from Memorial Day 2011, when The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2 both debuted.
When you add in the international box office, the total take for the weekend is just over $200 million.
There are many factors to take into consideration regarding how well a blockbuster sequel will do at the movies, especially MIB3:
Will people be remembering the excellent original, or will they recall the disappointment of the first sequel? Based on reviews, it would seem that MIB3 will be somewhere between the first two in terms of audience satisfaction.
International markets love big, loud, easy to understand movies. But they tend to prefer action over comedy, and will they understand the time travel aspect? Plus, is Will Smith a big star outside of the USA?
Timing. They’ve probably got this aspect down perfect. The Avengers was universally loved, and cinema-goers could just presume the second big blockbuster of the season will be just as good.
Publicity. Will Smith slapping a reporter will probably help, because we love his cheekiness.
Here’s a prediction for this weekend’s USA box office from Screen Crave:
They say that the mystery will be MIB3, which could conceivably surge as high as $100 Million this weekend, and a total of $200 Million domestically. They also guesstimate that a $600 Million gross worldwide would be needed for it to break even. Wow!
Ukrainian television prankster Vitalii Sediuk attempted to kiss MIB3 star Will Smith on the lips, and got a smack ion reply.
An angry Will told the Vitalii: ”Hey man, what the hell is your problem?”
Video here.
He told another reporter that it could have been worse: ”He tried to kiss me on the mouth. He’s lucky I didn’t try to sucker punch him. … Sorry, I said that on camera.”
The media tend to see a movie before the general public do (unless the studios have no pride in their latest release). Here’s what movie reviewers are saying about MIB3:
* CBM: If the film falters anywhere, it’s that it feels a little too short. “Men in Black 3″ avoids the threequel curse of the likes of “Spider-Man 3″ and “X-Men: The Last Stand” and instead ends up being the best film in the “Men in Black” franchise. Fantastic fun which will leave you wanting more. (8/10)
* Digital Spy: Of course, it stops short of profound, but this is a funny, exciting, spectacular and surprisingly poignant thrill-ride – definitely worth two of your Earth hours. (8/10)
* Huffington Post: The story, despite all the aliens, takes on a ghostly, dreamy, vibe, at times somewhere between “Harry Potter” and “The Time Traveller’s Wife.” …it’s all about perfecting the balance. (8/10)
* ScifiNow: Lady Gaga, Tim Burton and Mick Jagger dragged through the otherworldly dirt for our amusement. Whilst “MIB 3″ wraps up the series neatly, there’s talk of a fourth already and you can’t help but feel the joke is wearing a little thin. (6/10)
* SFX: It’s Josh Brolin who almost steals the show in a performance that’s much more than an uncanny K pastiche. It’s neither a disaster, nor a roaring success. Not as good as “Men In Black,” but superior in almost every way to the risible sequel. (6/10)
* IGN: “Men in Black 3″ is another lackluster installment in this series, but somewhat better than the second film. A bit darker and edgier. But ultimately, Men in Black 3 never really comes together (5/10)
* Empire: …something of a too-many-cooks muddle. Despite some good moments, Agents J, O and K are missing an E. (4/10)
In summary:
Two sundaes, the “Lunar Lander” and the “Agent 31,” top “Lunar Cheesecake” ice cream with what Stan Frankenthaler, Vice President of Innovation at Dunkin’ Brands, called “creative flavor combinations and toppings” that mirror the movie’s “theme of unexpected twists.” In practice, that means marshmallow and yellow cake on the “Lunar Lander” and brownies and hot fudge on “Agent 31.”
The most exciting of the offerings is probably a “Pink Surprise Cake,” which allegedly clones a dessert featured in a “pivotal scene” in the movie.
All new, for a limited time at Baskin-Robbins, to promote Men In Black 3. There’s also the Lunar Cheesecake flavor, originally launched in 1969 to celebrate the first man on the moon.
Created in 1969. Lunar Cheesecake launched the day after the first man landed on the moon. It featured lunar green cheesecake ice cream with an Apollo 11 Marshmallow ribbon.
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/icecream/thedeepfreeze.aspx
