Weekend Wrap-Up for July 6-8, 2007
By David Mumpower
July 8, 2007
The rest of the top ten includes a couple of $100 million earners and Michael Moore's latest incendiary documentary. Eighth place belongs to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which brings in an estimated $4.2 million, giving it a grand total of $123.8 million. Nobody at Fox is crying over the total, but I suspect that everyone involved realizes they left some money on the table with this one. A better movie would have showed vastly more staying power after the $58.0 million debut. Sicko's performance continues to be a head scratcher. $3.7 more this weekend gives the attack on American health care only $11.5 million after ten days of general availability for consumers. Given the amount of free press the title has received, this level of box office does not feel like a winner for Lionsgate thus far. Sicko still has a chance to recover as it goes even wider in coming weeks but its $5,199 venue average in 702 exhibitions is not indicative of unmet demand. Ocean's Thirteen, on the other hand, faced an uphill battle due to the negative reinforcement movie goers received from Ocean's Twelve. So, another $3.5 million this weekend and a running total of $109.1 million has to feel like a win for Warner Bros.
The 11th place finisher this week merits special mention. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End earned an estimated $3 million over the weekend, taking it over the magical $300 million barrier. Its current box office of $301.7 million makes it the 25th most successful movie of all-time. Interestingly, the film it needs $3.7 million to surpass is Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. At World's End seems to be at the end of its box office run, but if it can manage another $13.2 million, it would overtake The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, thereby earning a spot in the top 20.
Overall box office for the top ten was down 23% from 2006. A lot of this is due to calendar configuration. Had July 4th fallen later in the week, Transformers would have not opened on a Tuesday and its weekend box office would have been much higher (unless July 4th had fallen on a Saturday). Still, given that Monday-through-Thursday's top ten combined for $175.9 million, the $48.4 million decline from 2006 sounds worse than it is.
Top Box Office for 7/6/7-7/87 (Estimates)
|
Rank |
Film |
Number of Sites |
Estimated Gross |
Percentage Change from Last Week |
Cumulative Gross |
1
|
Transformers
|
4011
|
$67,600,000
|
New
|
$152,503,000
|
2
|
Ratatouille
|
3940
|
$29,029,000
|
- 38.3%
|
$109,546,000
|
3
|
Live Free or Die Hard
|
3411
|
$17,400,000
|
- 47.9%
|
$84,160,091
|
4
|
License to Wed
|
2604
|
$10,410,000
|
New
|
$17,826,000
|
5
|
Evan Almighty
|
3460
|
$8,113,700
|
- 46.4%
|
$78,101,350
|
6
|
1408
|
2631
|
$7,140,000
|
- 33.0%
|
$53,789,346
|
7
|
Knocked Up
|
2219
|
$5,159,175
|
- 29.3%
|
$132,025,920
|
8
|
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
|
2618
|
$4,150,000
|
- 54.6%
|
$123,791,001
|
9
|
Sicko
|
702
|
$3,650,000
|
- 18.9%
|
$11,500,000
|
10
|
Ocean's Thirteen
|
2102
|
$3,525,000
|
- 42.1%
|
$109,145,000
|
11
|
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
|
1869
|
$3,025,000
|
- 39.0%
|
$301,741,000
|
12
|
Evening
|
979
|
$2,336,878
|
- 33.3%
|
$8,340,408
|
Also opening:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rescue Dawn
|
6
|
$104,000
|
New
|
$104,000
|
|
Joshua
|
6
|
$51,086
|
New
|
$51,086
|
|
Introducing the Dwights
|
4
|
$20,000
|
New
|
$20,000
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
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