Weekend Wrap-Up for August 17-19, 2007
Superbad Keeps Box Office Hot
By John Hamann
August 19, 2007
Rush Hour 3 got smacked around pretty hard by the boys of Superbad, as the carpet has been pulled out from under Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. After an okay $49.1 million opening last weekend, Rush Hour 3 got slapped, and only earned $21.8 million this weekend. That gives it a big time percentage drop of 57%, as it joins the long list of three-quels this summer that have opened strongly, only to be put down hard in their respective second weekends. After opening to an only okay score, the writing was on the wall for this one. For New Line, it doesn't really matter – the gross so far equals $88.2 million, with foreign totals sure to be either equal or bigger.
It's better news for The Bourne Ultimatum, as Matt Damon's spy film did much better than last weekend's drop of 53%. The third child born of Bourne grossed $19 million, and drops a much better 44% this weekend. The Bourne Ultimatum should reach $200 million, as it will have holding power for many weekends to come. Currently, the super-spy has earned $163.8 million at the domestic box office.
Finishing fourth is The Simpsons Movie. The big opener for Fox earned $6.7 million this weekend, off a much better 40%, as drops for the Simpsons have come in at 66%, 55% and now 40%. After opening to $74 million, The Simpsons Movie has now grossed $165.1 million, which is barely $90 million since its first three days.
Our other new opener, The Invasion, opened in a poor fifth spot due to the fact that it was exactly the opposite of Superbad. The Invasion grossed only $6 million from a telling venue count of only 2,776. The Nicole Kidman effort was plagued with bad worth-of-mouth going into the weekend, and paid for it dearly. Critics hated it, as it received a rotten rating of 20% at RottenTomatoes. Nicole Kidman needs to pick it up a little, as The Invasion joins Bewitched, Birth and The Stepford Wives as forgettable films on her recent resume. Look for this one to disappear quickly.
Finishing sixth is Stardust, the film based on the Neil Gaiman novel. Stardust did nothing spectacular in its second weekend, earning only $5.2 million. It fell 42% compared to its opening weekend, and has now earned a lower-than-expected $19.1 million.
Hairspray comes in seventh and crosses the $100 million plateau with this effort. Hairspray earned $4.3 million and was off 33% from last weekend. Its grand total currently sits at $100.6 million.
Eighth spot goes to Underdog, Disney's live-action take on the once popular cartoon show. Underdog has had a tough go of it at the box office, and its woes continued. Underdog grossed $3.6 million, and was off 44% compared to last weekend. Underdog has now grossed $31.7 million.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix finishes ninth, as the latest in the Potter franchise begins to close up shop for another summer. Order of the Phoenix finished the weekend with $3.5 million, off 34% from last weekend. Phoenix now has a grand total of $278.6 million, and will finish with about $285 million.
Finally in tenth we have I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. The Adam Sandler comedy earned $3.5 million this weekend, and now has a total of $110.4 million.
Overall, there was again only good news at the box office, even as the summer winds down. The top 12 this weekend took in about $110.5 million, a significant increase from the $91.4 million pulled in by the top 12 films last year, when Snakes on a Plane failed to live up to months of hype. Next weekend could be interesting as well – Mr. Bean's Holiday debuts, along with Jet Li's War, as well as what looks to be a very good Samuel L. Jackson flick in Resurrecting The Champ.
Top Box Office for 8/17/7-8/19/7 (Estimates)
|
Rank |
Film |
Number of Sites |
Estimated Gross |
Percentage Change from Last Week |
Cumulative Gross |
1
|
Superbad
|
2948
|
$31,200,000
|
New
|
$31,200,000
|
2
|
Rush Hour 3
|
3778
|
$21,831,000
|
- 56.5%
|
$88,154,000
|
3
|
The Bourne Ultimatum
|
3701
|
$18,986,130
|
- 43.6%
|
$163,806,450
|
4
|
The Simpsons Movie
|
3162
|
$6,675,000
|
- 40.0%
|
$165,116,795
|
5
|
The Invasion
|
2776
|
$6,005,000
|
New
|
$6,005,000
|
6
|
Stardust
|
2565
|
$5,244,000
|
- 41.8%
|
$19,087,000
|
7
|
Hairspray
|
2389
|
$4,274,000
|
- 32.9%
|
$100,577,000
|
8
|
Underdog
|
2551
|
$3,613,000
|
- 44.0%
|
$31,692,000
|
9
|
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
|
1955
|
$3,540,000
|
- 34.3%
|
$278,646,000
|
10
|
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
|
2258
|
$3,499,900
|
- 41.2%
|
$110,382,690
|
11
|
Becoming Jane
|
1186
|
$3,015,000
|
+ 0.2%
|
$9,164,000
|
12
|
The Last Legion
|
2002
|
$2,597,000
|
New
|
$2,597,000
|
Also opening:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Death at a Funeral
|
260
|
$1,303,000
|
New
|
$1,303,000
|
|
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
|
5
|
$50,294
|
New
|
$50,294
|
|
The 11th Hour
|
4
|
$42,000
|
New
|
$42,000
|
|
7 Dias
|
8
|
$9,520
|
New
|
$9,520
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
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