Never say never to Justin Bieber and the power of his fans. The 3D “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” topped $30 million at the box-office this weekend, only slightly edged out of the top spot for now but in a virtual tie with the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy “Just Go With It.”
That meshes with the forecasts of 62% of 3DHollywood.net readers who predicted the Biebs bio-pic/concert film would exceed $30 mil. Preliminary results show the movie grossed $30.26 mil. compared to an even $31 mil. for “Just Go With It.” Final results will be come in a couple days.
Whatever benefit “Bieber” may have had with the premium price on 3D tickets was most llikely mitigated by several factors: a.) the lower number of screens in which “Bieber” was exhibited — 3,105 vs 3,548 for “Just Go With It,” b.) nearly 600 of the 3,105 “Bieber” showings were in 2D, so no 3D premium prices, and c:) most likely a higher percentage of child-priced tickets, though that may have been more than offset by adult ticket purchases of parents taking their kids.
The feat is particularly notable since Sandler is this era’s most consistent box office performer with 11 films over $100 million, 11 number one openings, and more than $2 billion in total box office, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box Office.
<Story continues below the following 75-second video of Bieber, Usher, and Jaden Smith showing up unannounced at recent screening of the movie to surprise the audience.>
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The nearly two-hour “Never Say Never” is in another dimension compared to other recent 3D teeny-bopper 3D concert films/bio-pics featuring the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. While that may not be setting the bar real high, director Jon Chu has masterfully used the 3D experience he gained on last year’s “Step Up 3D” to deliver some subtly impactful 3D moments. As in the Jonas Brothers movie, the 3D is limited to the Madison Square Garden concert footage, with footage outside the arena in 2D. But it’s Chu’s assembly and presentation of the story of Bieber that makes the biggest impact, delivering the cute hair-shaking footage (in slo-mo 3D, no less) that makes the young girls squeal with delight, but also making a case to any skeptics about the talent and effort of Bieber that makes him more than just a YouTube phenom.
Chu also imbues the film with soft moments such as when Bieber returns to the steps of a building in Canada where he used to play his acoustic guitar on the sidewalk and finds a very young girl doing the same thing with a violin. When the girl looks up slowly from her music stand and sees the hooded kid (and presumably the cameraman and no doubt an entourage), she shyly asks, “Are you Justin Bieber?” Rather than go into hysterics, she goes a little into her shell but is encouraged by Bieber to continue with her music. It’s a sweet moment in a nice film.
Meanwhile, Elton John’s 3D animated “Gnomeo & Juliet” also scored big with a $25.5 mil. opening via Disney. That puts four movies back in the top 10 with “Sanctum” generating another $5.1 mil. to land in eighth place and “The Green Hornet” to collect another $3.6 mil. to rank 10th for the week and fly closer to $100 mil. with a to-date total of $92.3 mil.
— By Scott Hettrick