‘Real Steel’ opens at no. 1, grosses P 48.28-M in 5 days

MANILA, Philippines—DreamWorks Pictures’ robot-boxing action ride “Real Steel” punched up a no. 1 opening in the country, grossing a knockout P48.28-million nationwide opening weekend for the October 12-18 frame.  This was announced Monday by Victor R. Cabrera, managing director of Walt Disney Studios Philippines, the film’s local distributor.

With that spectacular opening, Real Steel broke the record for all-time biggest October weekend, beating 2008’s “High School Musical: Senior Year” at P31.6-M and 2009’s “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” with P26.2M.

The Hugh Jackman-starrer also posted the 5th biggest live action opening from Disney, right after “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (P71.3M), “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (P65.6M), “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (P62.3M) and “Prince of Persia” (P60.8M).

Real Steel predominantly captured the family market as its Saturday (Oct. 14) and Sunday (Oct. 15) grosses surged to P13.9M and P15.2M, respectively.  Its Wednesday to Friday bow collected a strong P19.2-M from the male and teen demographics.

Bowing in 184 screens nationwide, “Real Steel” reaped its biggest receipts from SM Mall of Asia (P3.39-M), Trinoma (P2.78-M), SM North EDSA (P2.18-M), SM Megamall (P1.87-M), Power Plant (P1.61-M), Glorietta 4 (P1.58-M), SM Cebu (P1.50-M), Newport Cinemas (P1.33-M), Eastwood Mall (P1.17-M) and Alabang Town Center (P1.11-M).

Rounding up the Top 20 cinemas are Robinsons Ermita (P1.10-M), Greenbelt 3 (P1.04-M), Gateway Mall (P1.03-M), Greenhills (P1.00-M), Shang Cineplex (P940,077), Robinsons Galleria (P895,021), Ayala Cebu (P841,220), SM Fairview (P795,470), Festival Mall (P794,553) and Market! Market! (P679,813).

In Real Steel, Jackman stars as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up boxer in the near future who, because his sport has been taken over by 8-foot steel robots, now lives in a world where he doesn’t fit in. With no fights and no prospects, Charlie is forced to hustle as a small-time robot fight promoter. He earns just enough money to survive by piecing together low-end “bots” and traveling from one seamy underground boxing venue to the next for whatever prizefight he can wrangle for his automatons. Just when things can’t become any more desperate and complicated, his estranged, tough-beyond-his-years son Max (Dakota Goyo) suddenly and unwillingly comes back into his life.

The alienated duo reluctantly team up to rebuild and train a scrap-heap robot and turn it into a boxing contender. As stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred fighting arenas are raised, against all odds Charlie gets one last shot at a comeback.

Still playing across the Philippines in IMAX, 2D and regular theaters, Real Steel is a DreamWorks Picture distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.