Box Office Breakdown: Record-Breaking Weekend for The Dark Knight
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Musicals, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Okay, let’s not beat around the bush. We all know The Dark Knight was huge. But how big exactly was it? Let’s break the numbers down:
- The film grossed approximately $158.3 million, beating the record set by Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) last year. The total already comes within reach of Tim Burton’s Batman. (The $251.2 million grosser has been the best earner in the franchise so far.)
- Knight pulled in $18.5 million during its Friday midnight screenings alone. The previous record holder was 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ($16.9 million).
- The movie had the best Friday total ever: $67.8 million.
- The sequel earned $6.2 million from IMAX showings alone. That number, again, beat Spider-Man 3 ($4.7 million).
- In one weekend, The Dark Knight grossed more than the last three Batman installments made in their opening weekends combined.
- The Christopher Nolan feature, along with the strong performance from Mamma Mia!, helped the industry attain the best box office weekend ever. Mamma‘s $27.6 million outperformed last year’s Hairspray ($27.5 million) to become the biggest musical opener ever.
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Variety
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Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Army Raises Hell
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Picturehouse, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Picturehouse, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Apparently moviegoers were simply not interested in meeting anyone named Dave.
This past weekend, Eddie Murphy’s latest effort debuted in a disappointing 7th place. Fox’s Meet Dave pulled in only $5.2 million, the third worst opening total for the comedian. (Holy Man pulled in $5.1 million in 1998; The Adventures of Pluto Nash scraped up $2.2 million in 2002.)
Dave‘s poor performance gave two other entries plenty of room at the top of the charts. Hellboy II: The Golden Army earned approximately $11 million more than the original 2004 film. The sequel’s $34.5 million haul also narrowly edged out last week’s winner, Hancock, and gave director Guillermo del Toro a first place berth. Meanwhile, the Journey to the Center of the Earth‘s $21 million was good enough for third place.
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Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Hancock Soars to #1
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Picturehouse, Columbia Pictures, Disney, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
For theatergoers, the Fourth of July holiday has come to mean fireworks, barbecues….and now Will Smith. This past weekend, the powerhouse’s latest blockbuster, Hancock, took in over $62 million giving Smith his eighth straight #1 debut. In total, the Sony Pictures production grossed nearly $104 million during a 5 1/2 day period.
In addition to being Will’s second-best opener ever (I Am Legend set his record), Hancock was the actor’s fifth movie to reach first place over the same holiday weekend. (Men in Black, Men in Black II, Independence Day and Wild Wild West were the other four.) The Peter Berg film also became the third best July 4th grosser behind Transformers and Spider-Man 2.
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Variety
In Theaters This Holiday Weekend (7/2)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Columbia Pictures, IFC Films, Magnolia, Sony, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Independent, Romance, Comedy, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your three-day weekend:
- Hancock (PG-13): starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman (directed by Peter Berg)
- Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl** (G): starring Abigail Breslin, Stanley Tucci, Glenne Headly (directed by Patricia Rozema)
- Diminished Capacity* (NR): starring Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen, Alan Alda (directed by Terry Kinney)
- Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson* (R): starring Johnny Depp, Hunter S. Thompson, Sonny Barger (directed by Alex Gibney)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Holiday Weekend (7/2)
Will Smith’s Nepotism Streak Continues
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Columbia Pictures, Drama, Casting, Upcoming Releases,
First, he introduced son Jaden to theatergoers in The Pursuit of Happyness. Then he let daughter Willow take on a much smaller role in last year’s I Am Legend. Now another kid will be participating in a Will Smith movie: Connor Cruise.
Yes, I know. Connor is not exactly related to Will. (He’s actually Tom Cruise‘s adopted son.) But that doesn’t make the whole situation smell any less nepotistic to me.
In Seven Pounds, Will Smith stars as a man who affects the lives of seven strangers. Connor, in a minor part, will play a younger version of the main character.
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People
Box Office Breakdown: Cloverfield Attacks the Charts
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Books, Lists, New Releases,
Final numbers for the three-day weekend revealed what many had suspected: Cloverfield toppled New York and the competition. The strong numbers were a result of Paramount’s smart marketing. In addition to the eerie trailers, the film debuted in January - usually a fairly quiet month for decent films. Cloverfield’s $46 million take has already covered the movie’s budget (estimated at around $25 million). That dollar amount also earned the Matt Reeves flick the title for best MLK and January opener ever.
Although 27 Dresses raked in $20 million less than the horror flick, Katherine Heigl had nothing to cry about. Thanks to more strategic marketing - this time by Fox - the film was able to take advantage of those looking for something less dark. Dresses was originally scheduled to debut last week but was repositioned so it could open during the busy weekend.
Unfortunately, female focus on the romantic comedy didn’t help the female-filled Mad Money. The movie - co-starring Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes - cashed out in 8th place. This makes two disappointing debuts in a row for the Cruise Clan (the first being Tom’s Lions for Lambs). Let us not forget that Katie opted to do this film instead of the Batman sequel for her post-Tom movie return. Come to think of it, maybe it was for the best. I could just hear Tom telling us now that if he had known Heath was doing drugs, he would have cured Ledger himself.
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Yahoo! Movies
Box Office Breakdown: The Bucket List Rises to the Top
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
After placing 23rd last week, The Bucket List - starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman - soared 22 spots to take the #1 spot this past weekend. It seems a simple case of addition was all that was needed to accomplish this feat. Up until now, the movie had only been playing in 16 theaters total; it expanded to nearly 3000 on Friday. Bucket’s impressive finish was not only a win for 70-year-olds everywhere, it was a win for director Rob Reiner. His biggest opener had been 1992’s A Few Good Men. (That film grossed $15.5 million.) Maybe Reiner should write Jack into all his films.
Debuting at #2 was the latest Ice Cube comedy. First Sunday, co-starring Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), earned an impressive $8000 per screen average. That was the best median performance for any movie in this week’s Top Ten. (There Will Be Blood, this week’s #17, averaged $14,421 over the past three days.)
Will this yesterday’s Golden Globes have any effect on Sweeney Todd’s financial future? After only 4 weeks in release, the dark feature dropped off the chart and landed at #12. Assuming theatergoers are still interested in watching potential Oscar nominees, I’m guessing the win for Best Comedy/Musical will give the movie a nice boost next weekend.
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Yahoo! Movies
Box Office Breakdown: Atonement Joins Juno in Top Ten
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, FOCUS, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Music, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
When the final numbers were tallied on Monday, something exciting happened at the top of the charts. After a very close race, Juno surpassed I Am Legend for the second place finish. (National Treasure was tops for its third week in a row.) Already in its fifth week, the comedic charmer continued its steady climb up the box office ladder. After gaining five spots last week, Juno rose another two spots this weekend. (A wider release contributed to this feat.) If the movie continues at its current pace, it is expected to be the most successful film from Fox Searchlight. Sideways grossed $71.5 million while last year’s darling, Little Miss Sunshine, earned $59.9 million.
Meanwhile, another praised film is slowly making an ascent in its fifth week. Atonement, starring ribby Keira Knightley and James McAvoy (the man who has replaced Ewan McGregor), made its first entry into the Top Ten. Although the Golden Globe-nominated drama is only being seen in about 1/6 of the theaters Treasure is in, Atonement had a per screen average of $8687. In comparison, the Nicolas Cage film only had a $5332 median.
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Yahoo! Movies
Box Office Breakdown: Juno Makes An Impressive Surge
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Satire, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Come Wednesday morning, the box office chart saw very few changes at the top. That’s not to say the five-day holiday weekend didn’t have any notable moments at all:
- Strong word of mouth helped boost last week’s #10, Juno, up five whole spaces. The movie - already in it’s 4th week - continues to soar despite its fairly limited release. It’s $15,788 per screen average even topped National Treasure’s $14,232.
- Golden Globes buzz also contributed to the success of seven-time nominee Atonement. Although it only placed 14th overall, the romantic weeper scored a $15,764 average.
- Alvin and the Chipmunks outmuscled last week’s #2, I Am Legend. The family-friendly flick traded spots with the Will Smith blockbuster thanks to its $2.5 million edge.
- The Debaters narrowly missed a place in the Top Ten despite its connection to both Denzel Washington and Oprah. You heard it right - the talk show host’s touch does not always mean gold.
- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story followed up its disappointing debut with another out of tune performance. The musical satire plummeted five spots all the way down to #13.
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Yahoo! Movies
Box Office Breakdown: Book of Secrets a National Hit
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Satire, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
This holiday weekend introduced a slew of big-ticket features in our cineplexes. It also brought us a wide cast of former Oscar-winners competing for our theater dollars. By Monday, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Johnny Depp, Hilary Swank and Oscar-nominee John C. Reilly had all made entries into the Top Ten - but it was Nicolas Cage who wound up striking gold.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets earned $45 million, an increase of $10 million over the 2004 original. This was the second hit for Cage this year, following the critically-panned Ghost Rider. In addition to having the weekend’s best gross, Secrets also had the best average of any movie over those three days. Although Charlie Wilson’s War‘s fourth place was respectable (especially for a politically-based film these days), its $3760 per screen take clearly set it apart from this week’s champ. In contrast, Juno earned an $11,184 average for an impressive 10th place finish.
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Yahoo!
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