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Weekend Box Office Overview 9-12
By Vince Palomarez | Images property of respective holders.
Chill! You were number one this week.
September 12 Box Office Overview
1. The
Exorcism of Emily Rose ($30.2 million, 1st week of release):
Well…..in a weekend with zero competition this could hardly come as
a surprise. The biggest mystery was how badly it was going to slaughter
the rest of the competition. $30 million is a spectacular opening, but Sony
has to realize that it huge reason for this success was due to the rest
of the competition being old and stale with the majority of moviegoers having
seen everything else. It’s not a bad thing at all for Emily Rose.
With a $19 million dollar budget, the big opening has given the studio the
luxury of reaping the profits now that it has made its money back. Don’t
expect this trend to continue though. Horror films usually do very well
the first week and then fall flat on their ass the next week. With some
decent new releases next week, expect Emily Rose to take in a third
of this total.
2. The 40 Year-Old
Virgin ($7.9 million, $82 million total): The comparisons
I’ve been making the past few weeks with Wedding
Crashers can officially be put to rest after this weekend.
While Wedding Crashers was dropping a small percentage in its 4th
week, Virgin took the first big drop of its run. 40% isn’t
a bad thing for a film out this long, but the film might struggle to reach
the $100 million mark that studios love to boast about. Still, Universal
has to be happy and Virgin is definitely a big hit for them.
3. Transporter 2
($7.2 million, $30.1 million): The audience has spoken and while Transporter
2 may have scored some success by winning the top spot last week, the
results from the second week reveal about what I originally expected this
movie to make. Again, like Emily Rose this week you can cite the
lack of any big name movies out to explain the past two week’s number
one films. I’m not trying to say the Transporter 2 is a bad
film, but a 56% drop in its second week not only wins the “biggest
drop of the week” award, but also gives you a look at what the audience
thinks of this film which is not much. With a relatively low budget, Transporter
2 is fairly close to recouping it and should just set its Audi A8 on
cruise control and take whatever box office dollars it can get and be happy
about it.
4. The Constant
Gardener ($4.8 million, $19 million total): I don’t
think this is quite what Focus Features was hoping when they expanded the
movie to 500 more theaters this weekend. I’m pretty sure they expected
to capitalize on last weeks $10 million opening, but I don’t think
they should be in panic mode. The majority of last weeks total can be attributed
to the hardcore movie audience that loves to see the Oscar hopefuls in their
first week of release. Once they got out of the way, The Constant Gardener
needs to find the rest of its audience and Focus needs to help promote it.
I think they scored a major victory in their quest to get an Oscar bid by
releasing it so early, but a big obstacle is going to be to keep awareness
for the next few months as well as trying to get that “buzz”
factor that is key to keep these small films successful. I have to say after
seeing this over the weekend (and I recommend that you check it out) I was
a little surprised by the results, but I don’t think this is in as
much trouble as say Transporter 2 (man you Transporter
fans are going to hate me after this is done).
Red Eye redeems Craven
The Brothers Grimm takes an early bow.
The rest of the pack: Only one other new release managed to crack the Top
10, Samuel L. Jackson's buddy comedy The Man. I don't think New
Line is too happy about the $4 million take in its first week and 6th place
finish, but by not starting advertising until two weeks before its release
and the lack of positive reviews, they really can't surprised by the meager
opening weekend.
The last four films to round out the Top 10 are the usual pack of films
that have been hanging around the last month or so. The
Brothers Grimm doesn't look like it's going to live happily
ever after as it continues to drop like a lead weight. Dropping 54% in its
3rd week of release, Brothers managed to take in $3.3 million which
was good enough for the 7th spot. Terry Gilliam's latest film has taken
in a total of $33 million which is a long ways away from recouping its $88
million dollar budget. Look for this film to bow out of the Top 10 by next
week.
The Wedding Crashers officially hit the blockbuster $200 million
mark over the weekend dropping only 32% and taking in another $3 million
this weekend claiming the 8th spot. In its 9th week of release Wedding
Crashers has entered a group that not too many films belong to.
Battling out for the last two spots in the Top 10 are two films that are
going in opposite directions. Four
Brothers looks like it's ready to take its final bow dropping
41% from last week and into the 9th spot with a weekend total of $2.9 million.
John Singleton's latest film has managed to stick around for 5 weeks and
in the process taken in a respectable $70 million. While Four Brothers
$70 million take in 5 weeks is pretty good, March of the Penguins
$66 million total in 12 weeks is a lot more impressive. Just by looking
at the two you may be questioning my sanity, but for such a small documentary
that started out with a small theater count to continue to make money and
stick around is quite an impressive feat to me. Penguins refused
to bow out gracefully taking in $2.5 million this weekend which was good
enough to claim the last spot on the Top 10.
Hollywood actually has something to be excited about for once. Unlike the
constant declines from last years summer season, the first week of the fall
movie season starts off on a positive note. Business for the first fall
weekend was up 16% over last year and if you look at the weak slate of releases
this month that is definitely a positive as studios get ready to release
the big films in the next few months.
Last weeks predictions:
1. The Exorcism of Emily Rose $17 million
2. The Transporter 2 $12 million
3. The 40 Year-Old Virgin $10 million
4. The Man $9 million
5. The Constant Gardener $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
I knew the totals were going to drop, but if you told me that the second
place film was going to gross only $7 million I would’ve laughed in
your face. Hell, if you would have told me that The Exorcism of Emily
Rose was going to make $30 million its first weekend I would have had
you committed right on the spot. My prediction wasn’t too off, but
looks like I gave just a little too much credit to The Man, Transporter
2 and Four Brothers. I think I should take my own advice from
now on when I predict these things. At least I got the number one movie
right……good job me!
Lord of War steps up to the plate.
1. Just Like Heaven $20 million
2. Lord of War
$18 million
3. The Exorcism of Emily Rose $12 million
4. The 40 Year-old Virgin $6 million
5. Transporter 2 $5 million
6. Cry Wolf
$5 million
7. Red Eye $4 million
8. The Man $3 million
9. Wedding Crashers $2 million
10. Thumbsucker
$2 million (My surprise pick of the week!)
Let's try something new this week, I want to hear from you guys what you
think the totals are. Agree with me? Disagree? E-mail (vince@canmag.com)
me 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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