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Weekend Box Office Overview 9-07
By Vince Palomarez | Images property of respective holders.
The Brothers Grimm drops big.
September 5 Box Office Report
1. Transporter
2 ($20.3 million, 1st week of release): To say that I
may have underestimated the popularity of this film would be a severe understatement.
I didn't even have it listed finishing in the top 10 this week and it goes
on to take the number one spot by a fairly big (for September) margin, but
looking at it right now I can se where I made my mistake. It looks like
the cult following that this film created when it went to DVD was a big
factor in it grossing $20 million this weekend. Add in the fact that there
haven't been any good films the past two weeks and you can see how Transporter
2 shot to the top. With a $20 million dollar opening weekend, Transporter
2 is now the highest grossing film over the Labor Day weekend beating
out that other huge blockbuster Jeepers Creepers 2 (notice the
sarcasm). $20 million is huge opening for a film, especially one opening
up in September and with a modest production budget ($32 million); it should
end its run in the black. Now the big question is will Transporter 2's
cult following give it the staying power to stay in the top 5 for the next
few weeks? That…..I'm not to sure about.
2. The 40 Year-Old
Virgin ($16.6 million, $71.9 million total): An "R" rated
comedy in its third week of release manages make more than it did last week?
I'm feeling a little bit of deja-vu here cause this films run is reminding
me a heck of a lot like Wedding
Crashers run. Sure it's not raking in the numbers that
Wedding Crashers did by its third week, but not many films (especially
ones in August/September) can manage to increase its weekend take. The
40 Year-Old Virgin didn't have the huge increase that Wedding Crashers
did, but a 1.7% increase is still a great gain for a movie that really has
no big names attached to it. This film is inching closer and closer to the
$100 million mark and Universal couldn't be happier. I keep comparing this
to Wedding Crashers when in fact I should be comparing it to a
Universal film released around the same time a few years ago, American
Pie. If you look at the two films you'll see a very similar pattern.
3. The Constant
Gardener ($10.8 million, 1st week of release): This was
a film that I wasn't too sure how audiences would react to due to the lack
of advertisements as well as the mature subject matter. From the looks of
things, audiences reacted very well because despite the fact that it has
the lowest theater account in the top 10 it still managed to rake in $10
million and claim the third spot. You almost have to wonder what the total
would be had it been released in as many theaters as Transporter 2
was. Focus Features made a really good move releasing it during a time when
there isn't too many plot heavy dramas in order to help it stand out rather
than get lost in the shuffle later on in the year with all the Oscar hopeful
films. Director Fernando Meirelles follow up to City of God (One
of the best movies of the past few years. If you haven't checked it out
I highly recommend that you do) looks to have a healthy theatrical run as
its theater count grows in the coming weeks. Sadly, I have to wait at least
another week for it to be released in my town. Note to self: move to New
York or L.A or any major city that gets to see new releases when they are
supposed to come out.
4. Red Eye
($9.3 million, $45.4 million total): DreamWorks should be patting itself
on the back for releasing in Red Eye this late in the year because
there is no way it would be dropping only 9% in its third week of release.
Maybe I'm not giving Wes Craven or this film that much credit, but like
I mentioned last week, with these types of films (thriller/horror) you can
usually expect the films to take major drops after the first couple of weeks.
$9 million is a good take, but if it was released earlier in the summer
or in the fall it probably would be in the bottom of the top 10. Still,
Red Eye has managed to gross a respective $45 million and will
probably finish its run with a total gross close to $60 million.
5. The Brothers
Grimm ($7.9 million, $27.6 million total): Well, the writing
was on the wall and you knew it wasn't going to be a pretty sight for Terry
Gilliam's latest film. 1st week of release: second place finish and a meager
$15 million opening. In its second week of release The Brothers Grimm
got to look forward to winning the award for biggest % drop of the top 10.
Dropping a whopping 47% wasn't enough though, the film only managed to rake
in a paltry $8 million. Good enough for the 5th spot sure, but look at the
films below it and if any of those were just recently released The Brothers
Grimm would've been a lot lower. Dimension can be thankful for not
dropping more spots only because they were in their second week of release.
Look for this film to be out of the top 10 possibly by next week.
The Constant Gardener earns its due.
Another film that refuses to die is March of the Penguins. Thanks
to the long holiday it managed to increase its box office take for the weekend
jumping up 14% for a weekend take of $5.4 million and the number 8 spot.
In its 11th week of release (no film out that long is even in the top 20
anymore) the documentary has grossed a total of $63 million and is now one
of the top grossing documentaries of all time.
Last, but not least are two films I had predicted to be out of the top 10
and just like my mistake with doubting Transporter 2, The
Skeleton Key and The
Cave both held on to as much of the horror crowd as possible
to make enough money to keep them clinging to the 8th and 9th spots respectively.
Only a few hundred thousand separated the two, but while The Skeleton
Key managed to keep some moviegoers dropping only 10%, The Cave was
closing in on itself dropping 40% for a total of only $3 million. From the
looks of things The Skeleton Key might be able to hold out for
one more week while The Cave can kiss the top 10 goodbye and look
forward to a healthy run at the rental store.
One last interesting note is a film I picked to finish second this week
and didn't even crack the top 10. The Underclassman failed at the
box office this weekend only managing to take in a pathetic $3 million for
an 11th place finish. Overall the total box office for the year continues
to be down from last year despite the holiday weekend scoring a 16% increase
over last year. Studios are desperately hoping that the yearly total doesn't
drop any more for at least another month when Oscar season kicks in to full
swing and hopefully gives a shot in the arm to a hurting box office.
Last week's predictions:
1. The 40 Year-Old Virgin $12 million
2. The Underclassman $9 million
3. The Brothers Grimm $7 million
4. Red Eye $6 million
5. Four Brothers $4 million
6. Wedding Crashers $4 million
7. The Constant Gardener $3 million
8. March of the Penguins $3 million
9. The Cave $2 million
10. The Skeleton Key $2 million
Well…..I totally blew it this week. How did I come to the conclusion that
The Underclassman was going to nail it this week and finish second?
Apparently I partied a little too hard last week and one man called me out
on it and I need to give him his props. I need to give props to Russil Moody
of Colorado for calling me out on disrespecting Transporter 2 and
giving too much credit to The Underclassman. Russil basically told
me that I was smoking crack and there was no way Transporter wasn't
going to finish the weekend in the number one spot. I tried to come up with
an argument supporting my claim, but now that I look back on it I just looked
like an idiot. Congrats on your prediction Russil!
Last weeks predictions were a total train wreck that I hope to avert this
week. Looks like I also failed to give The Constant Gardner the
respect it deserves placing it in the lower half of the top 10. Well every
once in awhile a person needs to make some mistakes to keep them from going
through the motions every week (yeah, that sounds like a good enough excuse).
Box office predictions for next weekend:
1. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
$17 million
2. Transporter 2 $12 million
3. The 40 Year-Old Virgin $10 million
4. The Man $9 million
5. The Constant Gardner $9 million
6. Red Eye $6 million
7. Four Brothers $4 million
8. Wedding Crashers $3 million
9. March of the Penguins $3 million
10. The Brothers Grimm $2 million
What do you think? I want to hear from you guys what you think the totals
are. Agree with me? Disagree? E-mail me (vince@canmag.com)
your totals and I'll post the person who comes closest to the actual totals.
Stay tuned for updates.
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Vince Palomarez
Sources: Images property of respective holders.
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