The love of all things vampires didn’t extend to Daybreakers which opened in fourth place with an okay $15M. This was very close to my prediction of $14M. The film has been getting decent reviews from critics but was roundly ignored by the audience that has made the Twilight films such a box office sensation. Vampires are only popular at the box office when played by young, good looking actors that can tap into the fantasies of teenage girls everywhere. Daybreakers is sorely lacking this. The audience for a horror film is typically front loaded so Daybreakers should experience a decent decline next weekend and in the weeks ahead. Look for the vampire flick to collect about $35M by the end of its run. Given the opportunity, the films future contract should still be sold at $40 or above (it’s currently trading at $41) at the Cantor Exchange.

Romantic comedy Leap Year starring Amy Adams failed to connect with its target audience of young women, debuting in sixth place with $9.2M, right in line with my $10M forecast. Despite starring in hits such as Julie & Julia and the Night at the Museum sequel, Adams has yet to prove that she can carry a movie on her own. Leap Year was killed by critics and this certainly didn’t help its cause. The future contract for the film is trading at $22 per contract at the Cantor Exchange and seems like an ideal price to cover any and all positions in the stock. 

The last new film of the weekend, Youth in Revolt starring Michael Cera debuted with a measly $7M in 9^th place, very close to my $6M call. The reviews were pretty decent for the coming of age comedy, but its R rating restricted most of Cera’s fanbase from seeing the film. Currently, Youth in Revolt is trading at $17.50 per contract and I think this movie will top out at about $16M. That being said $20 or above it should be sold, $15 or lower it is a good buy.

Avatar continued to break records this weekend, achieving the highest grossing fourth weekend ever with $48.5M. The previous record holder was 1997’s Titanic which collected $28.7M during its fourth voyage. Avatar collected another $48.5M, off a slim 29% from last weekend, very close to my call of a 32% drop. After only 24 days in theatres, James Cameron’s 3-D epic has grossed a staggering $429M. The film now stands at #7 on the list of all time domestic blockbusters and will be #2 for sure by the end of its run and possibly even #1. Take a look at the current list.

 

Worldwide, the film has collected $1.335B making it the second biggest moneymaker of all time. Only Titanic has made more money, collecting the massive total of $1.848B during its voyage.

To see how the rest of the top 10 shaped up and how my other predictions for the weekend fared, check out the chart below.

Be sure to come back Thursday for my predictions for this weekend’s new releases The Book of Eli and The Spy Next Door. Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones will also be expanding wide this weekend.

Follow me on Twitter for box office updates throughout the week.