Weekend Wrap-Up
Box Office Brutal in Early April
By John Hamann
April 6, 2008
Fourth brings us to Dr. Seuss and Horton Hears a Who!, which didn't have a great time of it in its fourth frame. Horton, now a month old, earned $9.1 million and was off a larger than expected 49%. Nim's Island may have had a small impact on Horton's gross, but won't slow its march toward $165 million. So far, the Jim Carrey voiced feature has earned $131.1 million.
Fifth place goes to our last new film of the weekend, the horror film The Ruins. The Ruins looked like it had better production values than some of its compatriots, but audiences didn't care, as the Ben Stiller produced flick earned only $7.8 million in its debut frame. Out to only 2,812 venues, the Paramount/DreamWorks flick had a venue average of $2,788. With Prom Night coming next weekend, The Ruins run could be over quite quickly.
The rest of the top ten reeks because its garbage that's been sitting on the curb way too long. Sixth goes to Superhero Move, the ill fated Blank Movie miss. Superhero Movie, from MGM and the Weinstein Boys, earned $5.4 million in its second weekend and was off an expected 43%. So far, this one has earned $16.9 million.
Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns finishes seventh, making it hard to believe it opened to $20 million plus only two weekends ago. Meet the Browns earned $3.5 million in its third frame, dropping 53%. The Lionsgate feature has now earned $37.8 million.
Eighth goes to Drillbit Taylor, Judd Apatow's second consecutive miss. Drillbit earned $3.5 million this weekend and was off 39%. The comedy has now earned $25.6 million, and Apatow's fans will be happy to hear that his next film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is already seriously fresh at RottenTomatoes.
Ninth goes to Shutter, Fox Atomic's take on Japanese horror. Shutter earned $2.9 million this weekend, and fell 45%. Really, this one has no good business being in the top ten after three weekends, but has managed a gross so far of $23.2 million.
The pain ends with tenth as 10,000 B.C. manages one more weekend in the top ten. The highly forgettable Roland Emmerich flick earned $2.8 million and was off 44%. The domestic total for the prehistoric throwback has now reached $89.3 million.
Overall, the pain for studios and exhibitors is overwhelmingly evident. Last year the box office was quite hot in early April, with Blades of Glory, Meet the Robinsons, Grindhouse, Are We Done Yet?, and The Reaping all taking in more than $10 million. The top 12 last year grossed a powerful $110 million, which improved on the 2006 take of $102 million when Ice Age 2 was on top. This year, the top 12 films could only manage $80.9 million, and things don't look to be improving next weekend. Up for offers next weekend are Street Kings, with Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker; the remake of a film better left alone in Prom Night, and Smart People with Ellen Page and Dennis Quaid. Think the top ten will beat last year's $100 million haul? Don't count on it.
| 1 |
21 |
MGM |
$15,100,000 |
$15,337,418 |
- 36.4% |
$45,337,418 |
| 2 |
Nim's Island |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$13,300,000 |
$13,210,579 |
New |
$13,210,579 |
| 3 |
Leatherheads |
Universal |
$13,485,030 |
$12,682,595 |
New |
$12,682,595 |
| 4 |
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears Who |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$9,100,000 |
$9,115,987 |
- 48.6% |
$131,076,768 |
| 5 |
The Ruins |
Dreamworks/Paramount |
$7,840,000 |
$8,003,421 |
New |
$8,003,421 |
| 6 |
Superhero Movie |
Dimension Films |
$5,405,000 |
$5,417,920 |
- 43.0% |
$16,899,661 |
| 7 |
Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns |
Lionsgate |
$3,510,000 |
$3,418,255 |
- 54.3% |
$37,662,502 |
| 8 |
Drillbit Taylor |
Paramount Pictures |
$3,495,000 |
$3,405,937 |
- 40.4% |
$25,490,483 |
| 9 |
Shutter |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$2,875,000 |
$2,830,336 |
- 45.8% |
$23,138,277 |
| 10 |
10,000 B.C. |
Warner Bros. |
$2,775,000 |
$2,797,409 |
- 43.5% |
$89,349,915 |
| 11 |
Stop-Loss |
Paramount Pictures |
$2,314,000 |
$2,271,595 |
- 50.1% |
$8,170,755 |
| 12 |
Under the Same Moon |
Fox Searchlight |
$1,708,839 |
$1,730,661 |
- 23.1% |
$8,959,462 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
|
Shine a Light |
Paramount Vantage |
N/A |
$1,488,081 |
New |
$1,488,081 |
|
My Blueberry Nights |
The Weinstein Company |
$73,742 |
$74,146 |
New |
$74,146 |
|
Flight of the Red Balloon |
IFC Films |
N/A |
$35,222 |
New |
$35,222 |
|
Meet Bill |
First Look |
$39,305 |
$35,201 |
New |
$35,201 |
|
Jellyfish |
Zeitgeist |
N/A |
$25,352 |
New |
$25,352 |
|
Click here for all weekend data
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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