“Real Steel” may be susceptible to criticisms of a sappy story that borrows from every Rocky-type movie from “Karate Kid,” “The Champ,” and “Iron Giant,” to several installments in the Rocky series itself, but that didn’t make the formula any less appealing to a new generation of young boys and their fathers this past weekend, especially at IMAX theaters.
The DreamWorks Pictures release distributed by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures was not only far and away the #1 movie of the weekend with $27.3 million in the U.S., it also pummeled its way to $3.2 mil. on 270 IMAX screens, according to IMAX, which is more than 12% of the overall domestic gross and, according to Hollywood.com Box Office, a September/October record at IMAX theaters.
The movie, set about 15 years in the future and featuring an irresponsible father (Hugh Jackman) and his estranged but precocious son (Dakota Goyo) struggling to build a new relationship while building a robot that becomes an unlikely champion of bot boxing, generated a total of $4.4 mil. at IMAX theaters worldwide, including $1.2 mil. in 62 IMAX screens overseas where the movie grossed $22.1 mil.
Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment, said the forecast for the movie is especially strong since it has yet to open on nearly half of the overseas IMAX screens.
The script is way too precious, the movie way too long at well over two hours, there are way too many blatant product placements, and Goyo is nearly as melodramatic as Ricky Shroder was in the 1979 “The Champ,” but it’s clear why this movie appeals to that target demo, and Jackman and the robot action are both enough fun to keep parents and less discriminating audiences entertained.
And, of course, all of the large-scale boxing action looks even better on the large-format IMAX screen.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ 3D “Dolphin Tale” also appealed to the family audience with another $9.1 mil. as it swims towards $50 mil. in U.S. theaters.
Still another family film, this one also in 3D, “The Lion King,” clawed its way to another $4.6 mil. even after the release of the Blu-ray 3D version of the movie this week, roaring to a total of $86 mil.
— By Scott Hettrick
I took my boy to see this movie this last weekend and I thought it was pretty decent. It reminded me of the toy Rock’em and Sock’em Robots. I remember playing that toy all the time when I was young. I thought it had a great story line and it was good for younger and older audience. I think it would have been awesome to see it on the IMAX screen.