Weekend Wrap-Up
Quantum of Box Office for Bond
By John Hamann
November 16, 2008
Changeling finishes fifth, as Universal shows it can do more with a film like Role Models than an Angelina Jolie flick directed by Clint Eastwood. After a $7.2 million gross last weekend, Changeling falls to $4.2 million for a drop of 41%. Universal added a handful of venues, bringing the run up to 1,896, but it wasn't enough to keep momentum and word-of-mouth going. Now the $55 million release has a gross of $27.6 million. Unless something odd happens, I'm looking for Changeling to finish with about $45 million.
That means Zack and Miri Make a Porno drops to sixth this weekend. The Kevin Smith flick earned $3.2 million in its third frame, and drops 49% from the previous weekend. The $24 million flick has a domestic gross so far of $26.5 million, but will still end up being Seth Rogen's lowest grosser. Too bad he didn't stick with Paul Rudd and do Role Models.
Soul Men drops one spot to seventh, with a very low gross of $2.4 million. The Bernie Mac/Samuel L. Jackson flick didn't work, and drops 55% in its second weekend. Soul Men now has a gross of $9.4 million after two weekends.
Eighth goes to The Secret Life of Bees, one of the good news stories in the bottom rungs of the top ten. Bees earned another $2.4 million in its fifth weekend of release, and drops a small 22% compared to last weekend. The $11 million Fox Searchlight feature has now earned $33.7 million.
Ninth is Saw V, as Jigsaw is just about done for another year. Saw V earned $1.8 million and was off 56% compared to last weekend. It has a total now of $55.4 million against an $11 million budget.
Finally in tenth is The Haunting of Molly Hartley, which earns $1.6 million as it drops another 50%. Released by Freestyle, this movie has to be considered a minor success, as it has more than doubled its $5 million budget with a running total of $12.7 million.
I just want to make a quick point about Fireproof, the religious Kirk Cameron starrer. When this one showed up fourth place in late September with $6.8 million, I thought it would disappear quickly, but man has it held on. It dropped 41% in its second weekend, but since then hasn't seen a drop above 21%. This weekend it earned more than a million for the eighth consecutive weekend, and has a gross so far of approximately $30 million - against a budget of only $500,000.
In limited release this weekend, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire opened, and is noted as it could be an Oscar nominated release. This Fox Searchlight release opened at 10 venues, and had a gross of $350,000 - good for a venue average of $35,000. Expect to hear a lot more about this one as the weekends move forward.
Overall, the box office blasted last year off the map. The top 12 films earned an amazing $142.9 million, thanks to James Bond, Madagascar, and Role Models. At this time last year, the box office was floundering with the top 12 earning only $92.7 million. Fred Claus had missed, a Tom Cruise feature (Lions for Lambs) flopped, and Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium opened to only $9 million. With 2008 hot, next weekend could bring two very big films in Twilight and Bolt, so check back then to see how it all rolls out.
| 1 |
Quantum of Solace |
Columbia Pictures (Sony), MGM |
$70,400,000 |
$67,528,882 |
New |
$67,528,882 |
| 2 |
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa |
DreamWorks |
$36,130,000 |
$35,017,301 |
- 44.5% |
$116,905,195 |
| 3 |
Role Models |
Universal |
$11,709,630 |
$11,150,030 |
- 41.8% |
$37,577,245 |
| 4 |
High School Musical 3: Senior Year |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$5,879,000 |
$5,656,162 |
- 38.2% |
$84,169,216 |
| 5 |
Changeling |
Universal |
$4,247,040 |
$4,254,080 |
- 41.3% |
$27,631,772 |
| 6 |
Zack and Miri Make a Porno |
The Weinstein Company |
$3,200,000 |
$3,146,312 |
- 49.9% |
$26,465,482 |
| 7 |
Soul Men |
Dimension Films |
$2,428,000 |
$2,350,141 |
- 56.5% |
$9,370,925 |
| 8 |
The Secret Life of Bees |
Fox Searchlight Pictures |
$2,400,000 |
$2,338,279 |
- 24.3% |
$33,627,359 |
| 9 |
Saw V |
Lionsgate |
$1,790,000 |
$1,767,405 |
- 56.5% |
$55,380,488 |
| 10 |
Beverly Hills Chihuahua |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$1,538,000 |
$1,579,080 |
- 37.3% |
$90,878,127 |
| 11 |
Eagle Eye |
DreamWorks Pictures |
$1,538,000 |
$1,463,140 |
- 42.4% |
$98,738,396 |
| 12 |
The Haunting of Molly Hartley |
Freestyle Releasing |
$1,648,893 |
$1,438,561 |
- 56.7% |
$12,484,484 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Slumdog Millionaire |
Warner Independent Pictures |
$350,434 |
$360,018 |
New |
$427,715 |
| |
Familiar Strangers |
Cavalier Films |
N/A |
$11,553 |
New |
$11,553 |
| |
How About You |
Strand |
N/A |
$6,022 |
New |
$6,022 |
| |
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas |
Miramax Films |
$490,000 |
$474,390 |
+ 87.4% |
$827,683 |
| |
Happy Go Lucky |
Miramax Films |
$374,000 |
$370,651 |
- 7.8% |
$1,760,854 |
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Click here for all weekend data
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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