IMAX and 3D contributed to a $70 million domestic opening four-day holiday weekend and more than $200 mil. overall globally in the first week of release for Sony’s Columbia Pictures‘ “Men in Black 3,” which uses both formats to significant visual advantage.
Another value-add is a six-minute teaser of the July 3 release of “The Amazing Spider-Man,” also in IMAX 3D, that precedes “MiB3” in IMAX theaters. In addition to impressive effects sequences, the extended preview shows a cute teen romance scene in which star Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker gets flustered when meeting his romantic interest (Emma Stone) in the school hallway.
The third installment in the 15-year old “MiB” series picked up $15 mil. domestically on Memorial Day Monday alone, easily surpassing Disney’s three-week box-office champ “The Avengers,” which still enjoyed a strong $47 mil. over the four days to climb to $524 mil. and inch closer to the $533 mil. of “The Dark Knight,” the third biggest movie of all-time domestically. “The Avengers” had also enjoyed the 3D and IMAX bump until this weekend when it lost most IMAX screens to “MiB3.”
IMAX contributed an estimated $5.3 mil. to overall domestic box-office this four-day weekend May 25-28 and $12.7 mil. globally, according to IMAX. “MiB3” opened on 474 IMAX screens globally, 278 of which are domestic theaters.
In addition to a refreshing component of deeper character development and even a couple poignant moments between partner Agents “J” (Will Smith) and “K” (Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin as young “K”),”MiB3″ also displays consistent visual depth that subtly draws in the audience. The 3D is effectively used for specific dramatic effect several times, such as when Will Smith’s character falls from the Chrysler building New York skyscraper to travel back in time, and during an extensive scene atop a gangway attached to the Saturn V rocket about to take off for the first moon walk in 1969. The over-sized IMAX screens also serve to increase the impact of these and most scenes.
The cumulative result is a much more immersive experience unavailable to audiences when the first two chapters were released in 1997 and 2002.
Overseas, “MiB3” enjoyed the seventh highest Hollywood movie opening of all-time in China with $19.5 mil., the sixth best opening in Russia with $18.9 mil., and picked up another $8.5 mil. in South Korea, $8 mil. in Japan, and $3.3 mil. in Taiwan.
It also played well in Latin America: Mexico ($5.9 mil.) and Brazil ($5 mil.), as well as Australia ($5.2 mil.).
Both of the first top two summer blockbusters are beneficiaries of the premium ticket prices for 3D and IMAX.
Now reaching $782 mil. internationally, “The Avengers” is already the fifth all-time biggest film overseas and has grossed $1.3 bil. worldwide in four weeks, and should surpass “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” within a few days to become the third biggest movie worldwide of all-time.
— By Scott Hettrick