Daily Box Office Analysis for August 11, 2008
By David Mumpower
August 12, 2008
As The Dark Knight inches toward becoming the second biggest movie of all-time as well as the second film to $500 million domestically, I am running out of things to say about it. As Tim Briody eloquently opined in Monday Morning Quarterback, it's a good thing I wasn't writing this column when Titanic was dominating all comers. I might have wound up in a clock tower, adjusting for wind resistance. That leaves us with only one other topic for this week, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, a film whose porn take-offs should be much more exciting for members of my sex. After all, we completely ignored the film in theaters as 90% of all people in attendance were female. If they had wanted to make a lot more money, the producers of this one should have gone the Vicky Cristina Barcelona route if you know what I mean and I think you do. But I digress.
Finishing in fourth place yesterday with $1,895,365, the second Sisterhood has a running total of $21,515,493 after six days. There is good news and there is bad news in this. The good news is that it has already earned over half of the original film's $39,053,061 after less than a week in release. The even better news is that the film fell only 36.8% from Sunday's $3,001,124. These are signs of solid legs as discussed above. The bad news is that I am left with the pesky feeling that a lot of money was left on the table here. With recognizable faces such as Blake Lively and America Ferrera, this title should have been much more of a success. As things stand, it is probably going to creep past the original's take, but it doesn't appear likely to earn a lot more. That's disappointing from my perspective.
Given the title's $26.5 million budget, it will be a money maker for Warner Bros., but it won't be anything more than that. Had there been more of an attempt to either capitalize on the nascent popularity of Lively thanks to Gossip Girl or any attempt whatsoever to lure men into theaters (just call it Ladies Night, for God's sake…that alone would bring in a fair amount of dudes), this could have been bigger. The current total of $21,515,493 indicates that 26.6% of the movie's revenue to date came on its first day. For comparison, Pineapple Express is at 26.8% despite dealing in numbers almost twice as big. That's not a good sign. The good news is that it is down only 49.5% from Saturday's $3,751,045, but even with good legs, we are still only talking about a $50 million performer. And less than that wouldn't surprise me. Movies have a hard time making money if no dudes show up. What Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 demonstrates quite well is just how novel Sex and the City's box office was.
Combined box office for the top ten was a respectable $16,460,262. This is down 15.9% from last Monday's $19,568,620. As summer winds down, we are going to see lower and lower numbers. I've been meaning to compile a demonstration of this. I'll try do that later on this week or next week. Until then, enjoy the Olympics, everybody.
| 1 |
The Pineapple Express |
Sony/Columbia |
$3,848,972 |
New |
$45,167,708 |
| 2 |
The Dark Knight |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$3,742,198 |
- 40.5% |
$445,370,695 |
| 3 |
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor |
Universal |
$1,983,455 |
- 53.3% |
$73,032,375 |
| 4 |
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$1,895,365 |
New |
$21,515,493 |
| 5 |
Step Brothers |
Columbia Pictures (Sony) |
$1,440,553 |
- 48.6% |
$82,572,689 |
| 6 |
Mamma Mia! |
Universal |
$1,389,390 |
- 33.8% |
$105,533,895 |
| 7 |
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$746,302 |
- 25.9% |
$82,521,625 |
| 8 |
WALL•E |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$561,058 |
- 26.0% |
$210,767,640 |
| 9 |
Hancock |
Sony/Columbia |
$443,178 |
- 38.3% |
$222,169,969 |
| 10 |
Swing Vote |
Touchstone Pictures |
$409,791 |
- 43.6% |
$12,430,619 |
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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