The Battle At The Box Office: It's All Up To Us

Water for Elephants opens in US theaters nationwide today, and this is when fans get to make a difference for Rob. Here are some of the box office predictions:

Entertainment Weekly:

3. Water for Elephants: $16 million

Will Robert Pattinson’s Twihards show up for this $40 million adaptation of Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel? The answer will play a significant role in how well the traveling-circus romance, co-starring Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz, performs this weekend. Fox’s PG-13 film should appeal to adults — particularly women — who are familiar with the book, but those aren’t the moviegoers who typically rush out on opening day. Furthermore, reviews have been mediocre, and that could deter those who haven’t read the source material. So it all comes down to Pattinson’s teenage minions. If they buy tickets in large quantities, then Elephants could easily collect more than $20 million this weekend. But if they treat Elephants like they treated Pattinson’s last non-Twilight effort, the 2010 dud Remember Me, then an opening gross in the mid-teens seems more likely.


The Hollywood Reporter:

Water for Elephants is a new direction for director Francis Lawrence, who helmed I Am Legend and Constantine. But Witherspoon has a sizable fanbase, and Pattinson could end up pulling in a lot of Twilight moms with the prospect of seeing him once again tortured and in love.

According to the Flixster Bullseye, all three releases are skewing into the female, over-25 demo and could bite into each others' potential audiences. Elephants shows the most activity and interest, and skews youngest, mainly because of Pattinson.


In a different article The Hollywood Reporter asked whether fans will turn out to watch Rob:

Going out Friday in 2,817 theaters, Elephants isn't expected to have a big opening, with Fox estimating a weekend gross of $13 million to $15 million, though the film has increased its momentum with adult females. The studio believes the movie will serve as counterprogramming as summer tentpoles start to unfurl and that it will play like an adult drama. Elephants cost $40 million to produce.

Latest tracking shows an uptick in the number of younger women who want to see Elephants, although females over the age of 25 -- the demo who turned the book into a best-seller -- continued to lead. As with younger females, interest among older men is picking up.


Every ticket counts, so get out to watch Water for Elephants this weekend!