Weekend Wrap-Up

Hellboy II Devilishly Big; Dave Meets Doom

By John Hamann

July 13, 2008

Sometimes, guys just want to drink beer and listen to Barry Manilow together.

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Pulling up in second is this summer's original superhero, Hancock. After pulling in $62.6 million over the three-day portion of last weekend's holiday frame, and $103 million over its first five days, Hancock actually did slightly better than expected as it earned $33 million. That puts the Will Smith starrer down 47%, which is an improvement over other big budget flicks like The Incredible Hulk and Wanted (60% second frame drop for both), despite much worse reviews, and potentially, word-of-mouth. Sony can thank Will Smith for that, as his name carries more power than critics at this point. They also had he advantage of a lower-than-normal Friday due to the July 4th holiday calendar configuration. The total for the $150 million-budgeted Hancock sits at $165 million, with $100 million being reached already in international sales. For a domestic total, I see Hancock reaching at least $225 million, but let's see what impact The Dark Knight has next weekend.

WALL-E and Journey to the Center of the Earth battled hard for third this weekend, with Journey coming out on top, probably due to an aggressive estimate by Warner Bros. and friends. The Brendan Fraser flick, shown in 3-D in about a third of its venues, grossed $20.6 million. The total venue count came in at 2,811, about 900 of which were equipped to project this one in 3-D. While not the $27.5 million that Beowulf opened to, this is still an okay start for a film like this, due to its tiny $45 million production cost (there are really only three actors in this one, two of whom are kids). Journey to Center of the Earth came in at 62% fresh, so Hollywood is going to have to work harder to make the 3-D movie stick.

That puts WALL-E fourth this weekend, and it at least has a better hold than it did last weekend. The Pixar masterpiece earned $18.5 million in its third frame and was off 43%, which is an improvement over last weekend's plunge of 48.5%. WALL-E was not a cheap flick to make for Pixar, as it cost $180 million to produce. So far, WALL-E has earned $162.8 million, and looks like it will finish above $200 million, but lower than its Pixar compatriots.

Dropping to fifth is Wanted, which eclipses $100 million in domestic sales. The James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie thriller earned $11.6 million over its third frame, and was off 42%, which is a big step up after last weekend's 61% meltdown. Wanted, another hot Universal property, has now earned $112 million against a $75 million budget, and will most likely finish with about $140 million in domestic sales, and $100 million in overseas sales.

Get Smart is sixth, and is another film to cross the $100 million mark in the last five days. The Steve Carell flick earned another $7.1 million and was off 36% compared to last weekend. It has now earned $111.5 million against an $80 million production budget.




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Way down in seventh is Meet Dave, Eddie Murphy's latest mega-flop. This one didn't look quite as bad as the Adventures of Pluto Nash, but it behaved like it, earning only $5.3 million in its opening frame. 20th Century Fox put this one out to 3,011 venues and it had a venue average of $1,760. Pluto Nash actually did worse and cost more than Meet Dave. Pluto, with its $100 million budget, opened to $2 million and finished with less than $5 million. Meet Dave, on the other hand, cost $80 million, and might (emphasis on might) earn $10 million. All I can say at this point is that The Love Guru is extremely pleased to Meet Dave.

Eighth goes to Kung Fu Panda, which just missed finishing ahead of Meet Dave. Panda, now in its sixth weekend, earned $4.3 million and was off 41%. The Paramount/DreamWorks production has now earned $202 million, and is our third release this summer to cross the $200 million mark.

Ninth goes to Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, as the Picturehouse release hangs on to a top ten spot for one more weekend. Kit earned $2.4 million in its second frame in wide release, and has now earned $11 million.

Finally in tenth we have Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which narrowly got ahead of The Incredible Hulk for the bottom spot this weekend. Indy pulled in another $2.2 million, bringing its total up to $310.5 million. It's still a few million shy of Iron Man, but could pull ahead in the weekends to come.

This is a tough weekend to compare to last year. Over the same weekend in 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opened to $77.1 million over three days and $140 million over its first five days. Last year, the top 12 films earned $172 million, a far cry from the $144.8 million this year's top 12 brought in. Now, all eyes are on next weekend as we all await the launch of The Dark Knight. How big will it be? How big can it be? $75 million opening? $100 million opening? More? Check back next weekend to find out.


Top Weekend Box Office for 7/11/08-7/13/08 (Actuals)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Actual Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Universal Pictures $35,884,800 $34,539,115 New $34,539,115
2 Hancock Sony/Columbia $33,000,000 $32,080,560 - 48.8% $164,115,004
3 Journey to the Center of the Earth Warner Bros. Pictures $20,580,000 $21,018,141 New $21,018,141
4 WALL•E Walt Disney Pictures $18,509,000 $18,793,588 - 42.2% $163,055,900
5 Wanted Universal $11,586,190 $11,996,175 - 40.2% $112,455,060
6 Get Smart Warner Bros. $7,105,000 $7,201,376 - 35.2% $111,564,176
7 Meet Dave Twentieth Century Fox $5,300,000 $5,251,918 New $5,251,918
8 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks $4,300,000 $4,411,412 - 39.7% $202,154,311
9 The Incredible Hulk Universal Pictures, Marvel Studios $2,233,895 $2,324,345 - 52.6% $129,905,435
10 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Picturehouse $2,356,720 $2,303,054 - 30.1% $10,992,641
11 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $2,250,000 $2,260,327 - 40.1% $310,487,614
12 Sex and the City New Line Cinema $1,725,000 $1,603,396 - 32.7% $148,105,143
  Also Opening/Notables
  Days And Clouds Film Movement N/A $16,707 New $16,707
  Garden Party Roadside Attractions N/A $10,876 New $10,876
  The Exiles Milestone N/A $8,448 New $8,448
  August First Look Studios $6,505 $8,092 New $8,092
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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