Weekend Wrap-Up

Shrek Shows His Power at the Box Office Again

By John Hamann

May 20, 2007

Scary Spice agrees - Eddie Murphy is the perfect choice to play an ass.

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Like last weekend, outside of the top two films at the box office, there is little to get excited about. The bottom eight couldn't even match Spider-Man 3's third weekend total, so things are going to get tough as we go down. Finishing third this weekend is 28 Weeks Later, the fantastic follow-up to 28 Days Later. Unfortunately, I must have been one of the few that liked this one a lot. In its second frame, 28 Weeks Later earned only $5.2 million, which at least equals a fair drop for horror (and a sequel for that matter) of 47%. Usually horror follow-ups have second weekend drops in the mid to high 50% range, so maybe word is getting out about this one (but it's far too late). So far, the zombie flick has earned $18.6 million, and will most likely finish with about $35 million. Look for this one to be big on DVD.

Fourth spot this weekend goes to Disturbia, which has become a winner by default. Now in its sixth weekend, Disturbia earned another $3.7 million, and was once again off a small 22%, despite shedding about 600 venues. Disturbia has now turned a $20 million budget into a domestic gross of $71.3 million, and it earned the last $20 million of that due to the fact that there was no better competition out there. Look for Disturbia to finish with between $80 and $85 million.

Georgia Rule drops from third last weekend to fifth this weekend, as the Universal product fails to gain any steam. The Jane Fonda/Lindsay Lohan flick earned $3.5 million from 2,531 venues, and it was off 48% compared to its opening frame. If there was more new product out there this weekend, this one would have finished much lower down the list. Currently, Georgia Rule has earned $12.6 million, and will have to work hard to get to $25 million.




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Sixth spot goes to Fracture, the most travelled release in the top ten. Fracture opened in second, dropped to fourth and moved back to third before falling to sixth last weekend. This weekend, the Anthony Hopkins flick earns $2.5 million, and drops a tiny 17% in the process. So far, Fracture has earned $34.7 million for New Line, and will finish with about $40 million.

Seventh unfortunately goes to Delta Farce. The idiotic comedy earned $1.8 million, dropped 46%, and has now earned 6.1 million. Really, this one can't disappear fast enough - I'm almost embarrassed for it.

Finishing eighth this weekend is The Invisible from Buena Vista. This is another film that has no right being in the weekend top ten, but is. The Invisible earned a measly $1.3 million this weekend, dropping 43%, and it now sits with $17.7 million.

Ninth goes to Hot Fuzz, the other British product in the top ten. Hot Fuzz earned $1.3 million, giving it a percentage decline of 27%. Its grand total is $21.1 million, and it will likely be as huge on DVD as Shaun of the Dead.

A pleasant surprise earns a surprise spot at the bottom of the top ten. Waitress, written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, earned $1.1 million from only 116 screens, a solid per venue average of $9,828. Featuring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion, the film has received glowing revues and should continue to be a sleeper hit for Fox Searchlight.

Overall, thanks to Shrek and Spider-Man, the box office top ten earned a very powerful $170.8 million. A year ago, with The Da Vinci Code on top, the top ten films earned about $153 million, well back of this year's totals. In 2005, not even the $108 million debut of Revenge of the Sith could top 2007's totals, as the top ten that year came in at about $156 million. With Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on the docket for next weekend, the box office is guaranteed to be explosive over the Memorial Day Weekend.


Top Ten for Weekend of May 18-20, 2007
Rank
Film
Number
of Sites
Percentage Drop from Last Week
Estimated
Gross ($)
Cumulative
Gross ($)
1 Shrek the Third 4,122 New 122.0 122.9
2 Spider-Man 3 4,324 -51% 28.5 281.9
3 28 Weeks Later 2,305 -47% 5.2 18.6
4 Disturbia 2,547 -22% 3.7 71.3
5 Georgia Rule 2,531 -48% 3.5 12.6
6 Fracture 1,607 -17% 2.5 34.7
7 Delta Farce 1,931 -46% 1.8 6.1
8 The Invisible 1,378 -43% 1.3 17.7
9 Hot Fuzz 973 -27% 1.3 21.1
10 Waitress 116 +74% 1.1 2.2

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