Weekend Wrap-Up
Comedies Rule Pre-Summer Box Office
By John Hamann
April 27, 2008
The rest of the top ten is dreck, a typical last-weekend-in-April phenomenon. Fifth goes to Nim's Island, a film than never seems to do well, but never goes away. Now in its fourth weekend, the Jodie Foster kid flick earned $4.5 million and was off a small 20%. Like almost everything in the top ten, Nim's Island was made with costs in mind ($37 million), and has a gross that meets or beats the production figure ($40 million so far).
Number six is the laughable remake of Prom Night. The Screen Gems release earned $4.4 million in its third weekend, dropping 49%. That's much better than last weekend's plunge of 58%, and brings the total gross for Prom Night (and its 9% fresh rating) up to $38.1 million. Not bad for a film that cost only $20 million to make.
Landing in seventh is 21, the Sony gambling flick that is now in its fifth weekend of release. 21 earned $4 million and was off 28%. 21, with Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth, was made for $35 million, and has now earned an impressive $75.8 million.
Al Pacino and 88 Minutes manages to hold on to a top ten finish. 88 Minutes earned $3.6 million in this frame after debuting last weekend with $7 million. That gives this two-year-old film a drop of 48%, and raises the total for this one to $12.6 million.
Top ten stalwart Horton Hears a Who! finishes ninth, which tells us the spring box office is coming to a close. Horton, now in its seventh weekend, earned $2.4 million, and was off 31% from the previous frame. The $85 million film has now earned $147.9 million, and will disappear now that blockbuster season has arrived.
Finishing tenth is the new release no one has heard of, despite a big cast. That film is Deception, and stars Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams. Moviegoers ignored this one despite its 2,001 venues, as it earned only $2.2 million. The reason for its failure could include the fact that Fox forgot to market this one, its 11% fresh rating, or that it was made in 2006 and audiences could smell the dust. Whatever the case, this one is dead, and Fox will deal with a $25 million corpse.
Overall, things were quite good compared to last year, but the box office may want to enjoy it while it lasts. The top 12 films this weekend pulled in a solid for late April $80.2 million, which is well ahead of last year's totals of $62.1 million. Next weekend Iron Man faces off against Spider-Man 3 from last year, when the webslinger earned an amazing $151 million. Good luck beating those totals.
| 1 |
Baby Mama |
Universal |
$18,271,455 |
$17,407,110 |
New |
$17,407,110 |
| 2 |
Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay |
Warner Bros. |
$14,570,000 |
$14,908,404 |
New |
$14,908,404 |
| 3 |
The Forbidden Kingdom |
Lionsgate |
$11,230,000 |
$11,212,364 |
- 47.6% |
$38,237,498 |
| 4 |
Forgetting Sarah Marshall |
Universal |
$11,014,065 |
$11,028,060 |
- 37.8% |
$35,090,955 |
| 5 |
Nim's Island |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$4,525,000 |
$4,548,792 |
- 20.0% |
$38,977,518 |
| 6 |
Prom Night |
Sony/Screen Gems |
$4,400,000 |
$4,508,122 |
- 48.0% |
$38,222,732 |
| 7 |
21 |
MGM |
$4,000,000 |
$4,018,064 |
- 27.2% |
$75,792,625 |
| 8 |
88 Minutes |
TriStar Pictures (Sony) |
$3,600,000 |
$3,593,890 |
- 48.3% |
$12,625,951 |
| 9 |
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears Who |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$2,410,000 |
$2,486,903 |
- 29.2% |
$147,959,805 |
| 10 |
Deception |
Fox |
$2,225,000 |
$2,312,146 |
New |
$2,312,146 |
| 11 |
Street Kings |
Fox Searchlight |
$2,125,000 |
$2,149,063 |
New |
$23,705,977 |
| 12 |
Leatherheads |
Universal |
$1,815,275 |
$1,827,555 |
- 40.1% |
$29,287,855 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
|
Then She Found Me |
THINKFilm |
$74,395 |
$72,594 |
New |
$72,594 |
|
A Plumm Summer |
|
$60,668 |
$53,752 |
New |
$53,752 |
|
Deal |
MGM |
$31,000 |
$35,281 |
New |
$35,281 |
|
Up the Yangtze |
Zeitgeist |
N/A |
$15,851 |
New |
$15,851 |
|
Click here for all weekend data
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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