On Top Of Grammy Miss, Bieber Comes Up Just Short At Box Office ♥

The pop phenom’s ”Never Say Never” comes in second for weekend, and just behind Miley Cyrus among the strongest-opening concert movies.

LOS ANGELES — Justin Bieber lost out at the Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Album, and he also came in a close second at the box office this weekend. His new concert documentary, Never Say Never, earned $30.2 million, just below Adam Sandler’s Just Go With It, which earned $30.5 million.

That also puts Bieber second behind Miley Cyrus on our list of the best opening weekends of all time for concert movies. Her Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour opened to $31 million in 2008.

It’s a strong opening for Bieber, but he has a long way to go if he’s going to beat the highest-grossing concert film of all time: This Is It. The film, which hit theaters just four months after Michael Jackson died, featured rehearsal footage from the world tour the singer was working on when he passed away. The film grossed an amazing $261 million, $190 million of which was earned overseas. That ranks the film first on our list of the Top-Grossing Concert Films of all time.
In Pictures: The Top-Grossing Concert Movies

Jackson had the kind of global appeal that few musicians can compete with. Miley Cyrus’ movie earned only $5 million internationally. That movie’s $70 million in box-office earnings ranks it second on our list (which does not include Never Say Never since the film just opened).

Concert movies can be tricky. In the ’80s, concert films like Stop Making Sense and Rattle and Hum gave devoted fans the chance to see their favorite bands in a concert-like setting but at one-tenth the price. They also made for collectible CDs and DVDs.

But those movies often appeared in only a few theaters or for only a limited time. Stop Making Sense, a concert film about The Talking Heads from director Jonathan Demme, played in only seven theaters for one week so the fact that it earned $5 million is very impressive.

Concert movies got a little bigger, and a little more lucrative, in the ’90s with films like Madonna: Truth or Dare. The 1991 movie promised to give fans a look at the racy backstage antics at a Madonna concert. It earned $29 million at the global box office and ranks third on our list.

Concert films really took off in the last few years with the growth of 3-D. U2 filmed their second concert film in 2008: U2 3D. The film earned $23 million at the box office, making it the fifth-highest-grossing concert film of all time. It brought in $14 million more than the band’s 1998 concert film Rattle and Hum.

Where will Bieber’s film fit in? Only time will tell. If the movie has legs, it could easily earn $100 million. Not a bad payday for Bieber and Paramount Pictures considering the film cost only an estimated $12 million to make.