Weekend Wrap-Up
Dan Brown and Catholic Church Declare a Tie
By David Mumpower
May 16, 2009
Obsessed is an even stronger performer. The idea of hot catfight action between Ali Larter and Beyonce Knowles continues to draw in flocks of people. Another $4.6 million on the heels of $6.6 million last weekend means a modest drop of only 31% and a current domestic total of $62.6 million. It's not going to break $100 million and it probably won't quite beat The Pink Panther's $82.2 million. Even so, this is Beyonce's fourth $60+ million film in six attempts. She has quickly proven herself to be a solid box office factor, Cadillac Records notwithstanding.
The younger crowd is accounted for with the sixth and seventh place finishers this week. Sixth place goes to teen dream Zac Efron and his film, 17 Again. Another $3.4 million this weekend, a 20% depreciation, gives the film a running total of $58.4 million, Efron's first two major theatrical releases have earned over $150 million combined, giving him some hope that his fate is not inexorably linked to Disney Channel. Co-star Matthew Perry also receives some good news from this turn of events. 17 Again has surpassed The Whole Nine Yards to become Perry's most successful film role. Maybe he won't be stuck as Chandler Bing for the rest of his life after all. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course he will be. Meanwhile, Monsters vs. Aliens, the latest DreamWorks Animation blockbuster, continues to creep toward the magical $200 million mark. Another $3 million this week represents an exemplar drop of 8% from last weekend. This is good enough for seventh place at the box office and it's also across the $190 million threshold. By this time next week, it will have surpassed the original Madagascar film to become the second most successful non-Shrek film from the studio. Kung Fu Panda's final domestic take of $215.4 million is probably out of reach at this point, but stranger things have happened.
Rounding out the top ten this week are The Soloist in eighth place, Next Day Air in ninth place and Earth in tenth place. Another $2.4 million this weekend represents a solid holdover of 39% for The Soloist. Make no mistake on the point, though. The Soloist is a bomb. A running total of $27.5 million is not even half of the film's $60 million budget and even if we throw the box office discussion out the window, there is still no excuse for Jamie Foxx's hair. This one is a mistake all around. The news isn't much better for Next Day Air, a film that wanted to be another Pineapple Express but got derailed somewhere along the way. $2.3 million worth of box office this weekend negligibly bumps up its running total to $7.6 million. Let's just say that Donald Faison is probably relieved that Scrubs got renewed after all. Rounding out the top ten is a different type of film, earth, the first project from the new DisneyNature arm from the Mouse House. Audiences have been intrigued by this title, presumably after having their appetites whetted by the Planet Earth series. Since this is a joint operation with that project, including the re-usage of some of its footage, they have been largely satisfied with more of the same, apparently. Another $1.7 million this week gives the documentary a running tally of $29.1 million, making it one of the most successful nature productions of all time.
Box office for the top ten was up 5.4% from last year. With three of the six biggest titles of May already in release, we are now poised for a true box office showdown next weekend. Terminator Salvation and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian both make their debut, with the winner a strong possibility to become the biggest film of the month. Next week shapes up to be one of the biggest and most intriguing matchups of the decade. Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait.
| 1 |
Angels & Demons |
Sony/Columbia |
$48,000,000 |
$46,204,168 |
New |
$46,204,168 |
| 2 |
Star Trek |
Paramount |
$43,000,000 |
$43,034,547 |
- 42.8% |
$147,645,384 |
| 3 |
Wolverine |
Fox |
$14,800,000 |
$14,702,425 |
New |
$150,993,169 |
| 4 |
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past |
New Line Cinema |
$6,860,000 |
$6,653,384 |
- 35.1% |
$39,855,222 |
| 5 |
Obsessed |
Screen Gems |
$4,550,000 |
$4,588,973 |
- 30.0% |
$62,610,148 |
| 6 |
17 Again |
New Line Cinema |
$3,400,000 |
$3,368,189 |
- 20.4% |
$58,363,111 |
| 7 |
Monsters vs. Aliens |
DreamWorks |
$3,000,000 |
$3,182,085 |
- 2.4% |
$190,733,766 |
| 8 |
The Soloist |
DreamWorks Pictures |
$2,425,000 |
$2,402,801 |
- 39.2% |
$27,505,154 |
| 9 |
Next Day Air |
Summit Entertainment |
$2,281,000 |
$2,244,878 |
- 45.4% |
$7,613,221 |
| 10 |
Earth |
Disneynature |
$1,680,000 |
$1,697,956 |
New |
$29,088,771 |
| 11 |
Hannah Montana: The Movie |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$1,555,000 |
$1,613,180 |
- 26.4% |
$75,985,104 |
| 12 |
Fighting |
Rogue Pictures |
$1,061,060 |
$1,113,525 |
- 44.6% |
$22,203,795 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Management |
MGM |
$378,420 |
$375,916 |
New |
$375,916 |
| |
The Brothers Bloom |
Summit Entertainment |
$82,000 |
$90,400 |
New |
$90,400 |
| |
Not Forgotten |
|
N/A |
$18,468 |
New |
$33,576 |
| |
Big Man Japan |
Magnolia |
N/A |
$7,133 |
New |
$7,133 |
| |
State of Play |
Universal |
$958,360 |
$958,400 |
- 50.0% |
$35,568,970 |
|
Click here for all weekend data
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
