That figure caused the new movie musical, which was the sixth top earner over the June 22-24 weekend, to drop to the 13th highest-grossing film of the weekend just ended. Top earners of the June 29 weekend included "Ted" ($54,100,000), "Magic Mike" ($39,155,000), "Brave" ($34,011,000) and "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection" ($26,350,000).
To date, "Rock of Ages" has brought in $34,912,000 at the box office.
During its first weekend in release, June 15-17, "Rock of Ages" earned $14,437,269. For comparison, in their original opening weekends, movie versions of "Mamma Mia!" and "Hairspray" brought in $27.8 million and $27.5 million, respectively.
"Rock of Ages," which is populated with classic tunes from the 1980s, includes Oscar nominee Tom Cruise as rocker Stacee Jaxx, Tony Award nominee Alec Baldwin (A Streetcar Named Desire) as Dennis, the owner of the Bourbon Room, where most of the film's action is set; and actor-comedian Russell Brand ("Arthur") as his sidekick, Lonny. Newcomer Diego González Boneta stars as Drew, an aspiring rock star who gets by bussing tables at the Bourbon with Julianne Hough (Ariel in the film adaptation of Footloose) as love interest Sherrie Christian, who also dreams of stardom. Also featured are Grammy Award winner Mary J. Blige as Justice, Paul Giamatti (The Iceman Cometh) as Paul Gill and Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") as Mayor Mike Whitmore.
New characters to the film version of Rock of Ages are played by Tony Award winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (A Little Night Music) as the mayor's wife, Patricia Whitmore, who is determined to take down Stacee Jaxx and the Bourbon Room (Zeta-Jones covers "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," the 80s song made famous by Pat Benetar); and Malin Akerman ("Watchmen") as Constance Sack, a conservative Rolling Stone journalist looking for the truth behind pompous rock star Jaxx. The characters of German developer Hertz Klinemann and his son and comedic counterpart, Franz—originated on Broadway by Paul Schoeffler and Theatre World Award winner Wesley Taylor, respectively—have been cut from the story for the film.
Constantine Maroulis, who originated the role of Drew in Broadway's Rock of Ages and received a Tony nomination for his performance, makes a cameo in the film and is featured in "Any Way You Want It."
2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. |
Songs featured in the film include "Paradise City," "Sister Christian," "Just Like Paradise," "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "Waiting For A Girl Like You," "More Than Words," "Wanted Dead Or Alive," "I Want To Know What Love Is," "I Wanna Rock," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Harden My Heart," "Shadows of the Night," "Any Way You Want It," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Don't Stop Believin'," among others.
The film is produced by Matthew Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Grant and Jennifer Gibgot; Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Samuel J. Brown, Hillary Butorac Weaver, Janet Billig Rich, Shankman and D'Arienzo are executive producers.
The stage musical premiered Off-Broadway at New World Stages in October 2008 and transferred to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway in March 2009. Rock of Ages earned five Tony nominations including Best Musical, Best Direction, and Best Actor. The production is currently playing at the Helen Hayes Theatre.