12:45 pm
Jack
Despite a plague of pathetic new releases over the past two weeks,
August 2011 ended up ahead of August 2010 in terms of gross. The month
came in at $894 million, which was up two percent over last August.
August 2011 ranked as the fourth highest-grossing
August of all time, behind 2007, 2009 and 2003. However, it saw the
steepest July-to-August drop on record, as business was off 36 percent
from July's $1.4 billion haul.
An estimated 111 million tickets were sold in August,
off two percent from last year. That was on par with August 2005,
ranking as one of the least-attended Augusts of the past 20 years.
Amidst the doldrums, three movies excelled: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Help and The Smurfs. Rise
had the mightiest haul, raking in $151.5 million in 27 days of August
play.
That was the fourth highest-grossing showing ever for a single
movie in August, after The Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 2 and Signs, though its standing was much lower in terms of attendance.
