Box Office Report: November 2005 Dude here again. Sorry for the delay in getting this up, it’s been a crazy day filled with fun things I will reveal at a later date and time. Suffice it to say, it should prove to be interesting. Or not. It’s entirely up to you, really. i think it’s interesting. But is it as interesting as this weekend’s box office grosses? This week, big numbers are back in business, causing the industry to shut up for another week about slumps and disappointing box office results. We had two major releases and a few expansions, and they all proved to be successful. Let’s go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. Numbers could change on Monday).
Ok, those are the numbers, so what does this all mean? Well, if you’re Disney/BV you’re a happy chappy. (I can’t believe I actually wrote that). Three of the top ten films are Disney or Touchstone. One of them has been in the top ten for seven weeks (Flightplan, obviously). One is a quieter, more art house kind of flick that recently expanded to a few hundred more screens, and made it on the list due to good reviews and word of mouth (Shopgirl). And the number one movie in the country is Chicken Little. Chicken Little fought through mediocre reviews to take the number one spot. This means that Disney might feel overly confident about not needing Pixar anymore. (For the record, last year at this time, the Disney/Pixar giant The Incredibles opened up to about $70 million). Disney had also recently closed down most traditional 2D hand drawn animated fare, so chicken Little was a big gamble that paid off. It should continue to pull in some coin in the next few weeks, although it’s going to have some stiff competition in the family film department from newcomers Zathura next weekend, and Harry Potter’s latest in a few weeks. Regardless, a $40 million is nothing to be sad about at all. If you’re a Jarhead, you might have something to be proud about. Bolstered by good reviews, and a somewhat timely subject matter, audiences flocked to the R-rated Jarhead in droves to bring the take to almost thirty million dollars. That’s very impressive, and Universal definitely needed a hit, seeing as how Jarhead made more in it’s first weekend than Doom, Two for the Money, and Serenity have made in their entire run. Jarhead will most likely continue to do well, and will most likely find itself boosted around awards time, seeing as how a lot of people are talking major nominations for this film. If you’re George Clooney, you can’t help but smile. Good Night and Good Luck broke the top ten and is getting some of the best reviews of the year. People want to see this movie (as they should, I think it’s great and many people should see it, despite how slight the subject matter might be) and they’re telling their friends. the film has made back it’s budget and looks to be in this for the long haul. Again, don’t expect it to go away until after awards time, where it should make a lot more money. The holdovers are performing alright. Saw 2 dropped 45%, but still took in $17 million, and has surpassed the gross of the original Saw. I said it last week, I’ll say it this week: expect Saw 3 this time next year. The Legend of Zorro dropped 38% and does not seem to be on track to even match it’s budget. Perhaps video and foreign sales might do well, but it’s not exactly a huge hit on this side of the pond. Prime (going on my universal kick) only dropped 15%, which is mighty impressive, and it could stick around for a little bit without anyone realizing it. Dreamer did not match my sleeper status, even though it added more screens to it’s run. But with all the family film competition I mentioned earlier, this one will likely fall by the wayside. And The Weather Man is just not attracting anyone to it. Below the radar, not too much is going on. There aren’t any reports from the limited releases that opened this weekend on the chart I consult, so I have nothing much to go on. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which I highly recommend, as it is VERy entertaining) expanded it’s run slightly and took in $386,000 on 80 screens bringing it’s total to $1.1 million. It looks to open wider next week, so if it comes near you, I suggest you check it out. The Squid and The Whale, which has been out for some time, also expanded to 81 screens this weekend, and took in $423,000, bringing it’s total to $1.85 million. Capote is doing well also, expanding to 183 screens taking it’s total to $5 million. Again, this should do more as awards start coming out, as Philip Seymour Hoffman has been getting a lot of praise for his portrayal of Truman Capote. And just because it’s there, and because I can’t champion the film enough, Serenity took in $188,000 this weekend, bringing it’s total to $25.168 million. People don’t know what they were missing with this one. There you have my wonderful break down. Next week, we have Zathura, which should be good because Jon Favreau knows how to make a good movie. We also have 50 Cent’s movie Get Rich or Die Trying, which could make a lot of money, or prove to be an 8 Mile rip off. (8 Mile opened on the same weekend three years ago). And I believe we have Pride and Prejudice, which stars Keira Knightley, and which I’m told is very good and not at all dull. I’ll get back to you on that. Until next weekend.... 2 Forum messages |
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