End-of-Run Report: 'Up in the Air,' 'When in Rome' Grounded
Two travel-themed pictures have reached their final destinations: Up in the Air exited with a high-flying $83.8 million, while When in Rome bowed out with $32.7 million. As usual with such closings, these pictures continued to play at a few theaters, but as far as their distributors are concerned, their box office is dead (even though a slight trickle persists).
Closing out on April 8 with 126 days of play, Up in the Air, was the 38th highest-grossing release from 2009. The drama opened in limited release on Dec. 4 to a potent $1.18 million at 15 sites, and then it reached nationwide release on Dec. 23, grossing $11.3 million at 1,895 sites on Christmas weekend. It consistently saw small declines until early March, when it debuted on DVD/Blu-ray.
Up in the Air was the biggest-grossing movie that star George Clooney has carried on his own. Only the Ocean's Eleven movies, The Perfect Storm and Batman and Robin made more, but they were ensembles or movies where Clooney was essentially a cog in a much larger machine. Up in the Air was also the third commercially successful picture in a row for director Jason Reitman, following Juno and Thank You for Smoking, and it soared significantly higher than such recent, similarly-themed pictures as Lost in Translation and About a Boy.
When in Rome's trip ended on April 15 and ran for 77 days, but it was far from a success despite an aggressive Jan. 29 launch that tried to beat Dear John and Valentine's Day to the punch for the date crowd. The romantic comedy fared only slightly better than Ireland-set Leap Year from early January, but it was well below such comparable first quarter titles as 27 Dresses, Fool's Gold and Bride Wars. The picture's marketing campaign aimed for cutesiness with lead actors Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel talking to the camera in ads, but it was all over the map and failed to explain what the movie was about. On top of that, the movie's nondescript poster was a garish yellow sight that exaggerated Bell's choppers. When in Rome arrives on home video on June 15.
Opening Weekend Reports
• When in Rome
• Up in the Air
Previous End-of-Run Reports
• 'Edge' Goes Dark, 'Mr. Fox' Stopped
• 'New Moon' Sets, 'Wolfman' Leashed
Related Charts
• 2009 Grosses
• 2010 Grosses
Closing out on April 8 with 126 days of play, Up in the Air, was the 38th highest-grossing release from 2009. The drama opened in limited release on Dec. 4 to a potent $1.18 million at 15 sites, and then it reached nationwide release on Dec. 23, grossing $11.3 million at 1,895 sites on Christmas weekend. It consistently saw small declines until early March, when it debuted on DVD/Blu-ray.
Up in the Air was the biggest-grossing movie that star George Clooney has carried on his own. Only the Ocean's Eleven movies, The Perfect Storm and Batman and Robin made more, but they were ensembles or movies where Clooney was essentially a cog in a much larger machine. Up in the Air was also the third commercially successful picture in a row for director Jason Reitman, following Juno and Thank You for Smoking, and it soared significantly higher than such recent, similarly-themed pictures as Lost in Translation and About a Boy.
When in Rome's trip ended on April 15 and ran for 77 days, but it was far from a success despite an aggressive Jan. 29 launch that tried to beat Dear John and Valentine's Day to the punch for the date crowd. The romantic comedy fared only slightly better than Ireland-set Leap Year from early January, but it was well below such comparable first quarter titles as 27 Dresses, Fool's Gold and Bride Wars. The picture's marketing campaign aimed for cutesiness with lead actors Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel talking to the camera in ads, but it was all over the map and failed to explain what the movie was about. On top of that, the movie's nondescript poster was a garish yellow sight that exaggerated Bell's choppers. When in Rome arrives on home video on June 15.
Opening Weekend Reports
• When in Rome
• Up in the Air
Previous End-of-Run Reports
• 'Edge' Goes Dark, 'Mr. Fox' Stopped
• 'New Moon' Sets, 'Wolfman' Leashed
Related Charts
• 2009 Grosses
• 2010 Grosses
