None of the three new releases excelled at the weekend box office, but the biggest disappointment came in the form of “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”
The YA novel adaptation greatly underperformed at the box office, earning just $9.3 million this weekend for a cumulative total of merely $14.1 million since Wednesday.
It was clear from the film’s early stages that it would not rival “Twilight” at the box office, but in falling short of its late, very conservative targets, “City of Bones” proved to be a surefire miss with moviegoers.
With just a 13% on RT, it was also a miss with critics, although the successful “Twilight” saga proves that poor reviews are not a certain obstacle for the genre.
With its $9.3 million, “Instruments” trailed holdover winner “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” ($17.0 million) and second place finisher “We’re the Millers” ($13.5 million).
After losing to the fellow newcomer on Friday, it did, however, best “The World’s End,” which parlayed its $8.9 million take into fourth place. But given that film’s naturally-narrower appeal, lower budget and presence in half as many theaters–one can easily argue “World’s End” had a better weekend.
“Planes” followed the well-reviewed comedy for fifth place with $8.6 million.
“You’re Next,” the other major newcomer, delivered $7.1 million for seventh place. Though the total is respectable given the film’s niche content and low budget, it remains unremarkable in the big picture and suggests that the significant late buzz did little to fill seats.
