Weekend Wrap-Up for October 12-14, 2007

Tyler Perry Surprises Box Office Again

By John Hamann

October 14, 2007

I bet you won't even let me buy you dinner.

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Finishing fourth is Sony's We Own The Night, with Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix. The 1980s-set crime drama failed to live up to expectations as the star-studded picture could only find $11 million from 2,632 venues. It had a disappointing opening weekend average of $4,657. Everything came out blah for We Own The Night, as it failed in its marketing and film making, leading to a middle of the road opening weekend. The marketing carried no impact and failed to market the stars of this flick, both of whom had recently been nominated for Oscars: Walhberg for The Departed and Phoenix for Walk the Line. Critics also mostly abandoned this project, although there were a few that thought this flick was quietly brilliant. At RottenTomatoes, 80 reviewers chimed in, and 43 found something to like, leaving We Own The Night decidedly mixed with a 54% fresh rating. The good news here is that the production cost was only $20 million, so financially, no one is going to get hurt.

Fifth spot goes to The Heartbreak Kid, but I think its Paramount that has the heartbreak, not the Kid. After underperforming over its opening weekend in the last frame, The Heartbreak Kid got slapped again, earning only $7.4 million and dropping 47%, which is severe for a comedy like this one. The Heartbreak Kid has now earned $26 million and will be Stiller's biggest disappointment since Envy ($13.5 million finish), in which he co-starred with Jack Black.

Opening in sixth place is Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the sequel to the Oscar-nominated Elizabeth from 1998. The Golden Age took in more than the original did over any of its weekends at $6.2 million, but will most likely fail to reach the $30 million that the original grossed. Elizabeth: The Golden Age was released to 1,951 venues this weekend (more than three times more than the original received during the high point of its run) and has to settle for a venue average of $3,090. Critics slammed this follow-up, inverting the scores of the original picture. This one has gathered 93 reviews at RottenTomatoes, and only 23 were positive, leaving this Elizabeth with a rotten rating of 25%. Expect this Queen to disappear quickly.

Seventh spot goes to The Kingdom, the failed counter-terrorism movie from Universal. The Kingdom, now in its third weekend, earned a measly $4.6 million, and was off a painful 53%. This $80 million production has now earned $40 million, and will be lucky to make it to $50 million.




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Landing in eighth is the expanding Across the Universe, as the Julie Taymor release brings its venue count up from 364 venues last weekend to 954 this weekend. Across the Universe increased its gross to $4 million, leaving it with a venue average of $4,193. The Beatles infused musical now has a running total of $12.9 million, and will end up a success for the folks at Sony.

Ninth goes to Resident Evil: Extinction, as it enjoys its last weekend in the top ten. The video game/zombie flick earned $2.7 million in its fourth weekend of release, dropping 41% from last weekend's frame. Extinction looks like it will finish exactly where the second film in the series, Apocalypse, did, right at $50 million. So far, Resident Evil: Extinction has earned $48.1 million.

Finishing tenth is The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, which somehow manages to hang on for a second weekend on the charts. It earned another $2.2 million, and dropped a hefty-for-a-family-film amount of 43%. Its current total is $7.1 million, and it will shed the bulk of its theaters next weekend.

Overall, things were better than last weekend, but still deplorable compared to last year. In 2006, The Grudge 2 and Man of the Year disappointed over their opening weekends, but the top 12 at the box office still managed to ring up $99.1 million. This year, with a poor crop of holdovers, the top 12 earned $85.5 million. Next weekend, the box office will get a pick up when 30 Days of Night, the new vampire flick produced by The Evil Dead's Sam Raimi, hits movie theaters.


Top Weekend Box Office for 10/12/07-10/14/07 (Actuals)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Actual Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? Lionsgate $21,500,000 $21,353,789 New $21,353,789
2 The Game Plan Walt Disney Pictures $11,506,000 $11,037,505 New $58,978,627
3 We Own the Night Sony/Columbia $11,000,000 $10,826,287 New $10,826,287
4 Michael Clayton Warner Bros. $11,010,000 $10,373,422 New $11,450,629
5 The Heartbreak Kid DreamWorks $7,425,000 $7,280,450 New $25,856,010
6 Elizabeth: The Golden Age Universal $6,183,090 $6,153,075 New $6,153,075
7 The Kingdom Universal $4,565,900 $4,608,025 New $39,996,300
8 Across the Universe Sony/Revolution Studios $4,000,000 $3,824,988 New $12,734,454
9 Resident Evil: Extinction Sony/Screen Gems $2,650,000 $2,646,261 New $48,063,414
10 The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising $2,150,000 $2,212,955 New $7,167,028
11 Good Luck Chuck Lionsgate $2,030,000 $2,032,380 New $32,758,031
12 3:10 to Yuma Lionsgate $1,460,000 $1,538,167 New $51,535,461
  Also Opening/Notables
Final Season Yari Film Group $665,000 $664,351 New $664,351
Lars and the Real Girl MGM $84,000 $90,418 New $90,418
Sleuth Sony Pictures Classics $50,090 $50,090 New $50,090
Control The Weinstein Company $27,000 $27,674 New $35,856
The Darjeeling Limited Fox Searchlight Pictures $1,125,000 $1,085,337 New $2,155,758
Lust, Caution Focus Features $606,091 $609,623 New $1,259,026
Into the Wild Paramount Vantage $955,502 $928,678 New $3,959,354
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Warner Bros. $385,000 $432,273 New $1,404,225
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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