Weekend Wrap-Up

Glorious Inglourious Basterds for Tarantino, Universal and the Weinsteins

By John Hamann

August 23, 2009

Someone's overcompensating.

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Shorts, the new film from Quentin Tarantino's pal Robert Rodriguez, did the opposite of Inglourious Basterds this weekend and fell on its face. I thought this one looked fun, but obviously the target didn't, as Shorts earned only $6.6 million from 3,105 venues. Usually, Rodriguez has a lot of success with the kids stuff, but not this time. His other kid-friendly flicks include the Spy Kids series (opening grosses between $16.7 and $33.4 million) and Sharkboy and Lavagirl ($12.5 million opening) so Shorts has to be a disappointment for the folks at Warner Bros. Likely made for between $30 and $40 million, Warner Bros. is going to have to chalk this one up as a loss as a final gross of $20 million is unlikely.

G-Force finishes seventh this weekend as the guinea pigs are heading for the door (but not nearly fast enough). G-Force earned $4.2 million and actually had a pretty fair hold as it dropped 39%. This one cost $80 million plus and has a running total of $107.3 million. Whether we like it or not, this one's going to be a franchise (sorry if you were eating).

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince holds onto a top ten spot for another weekend as it finishes eighth. Mr. Potter earned $3.5 million and dropped 32% compared to last weekend. It looks like Half-Blood Prince will finish as the second biggest Potter film, as it will shortly pass Goblet of Fire ($290 million) and Order of the Phoenix ($292 million). Half-Blood Prince has a total now of $290.3 million, and has crossed the $575 million mark overseas.




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Ninth place goes to the Katherine Heigl flick The Ugly Truth. The crtically reviled rom-com earned $2.9 million this weekend and was off 36%. Sadly, the $40 million Sony production has now earned a solid $82.9 million.

New release Post Grad finishes tenth this weekend as Alexis Bledel couldn't lift this comedy off the ground (she should have worn her Sin City outfit). Post Grad earns only $2.8 million over its opening frame, and will be gone in a heartbeat. This one was only 9% fresh at RottenTomatoes.

Overall this weekend, the box office has something to celebrate thanks to those Inglourious Basterds. The top 12 films at the box office this weekend earned a powerful $113.1 million, well ahead of last year when the top 12 took in only $74 million. Next weekend is horror weekend, as two films vie to take the crown away from Quentin Tarantino. Opening movies are The Final Destination and Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, so hopefully audiences are in for a scare.


Top Weekend Box Office for 8/21/09-8/23/09 (Actuals)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Actual Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Inglourious Basterds The Weinstein Company $37,602,000 $38,054,676 New $38,070,437
2 District 9 Screen Gems $18,900,000 $18,213,546 - 51.2% $72,804,317
3 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Paramount Pictures $12,500,000 $12,204,927 - 45.3% $120,235,874
4 The Time Traveler's Wife New Line Cinema $10,025,000 $9,742,427 - 47.7% $37,165,676
5 Julie & Julia Sony/Columbia $9,000,000 $8,800,674 - 27.0% $59,088,965
6 Shorts Warner Bros. Pictures $6,600,000 $6,410,339 New $6,410,339
7 G-Force Walt Disney Pictures $4,205,000 $4,114,661 - 40.5% $107,224,616
8 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $3,515,000 $3,478,149 - 32.3% $290,238,524
9 The Ugly Truth Columbia Pictures (Sony) $2,850,000 $2,774,174 - 37.6% $82,811,624
10 The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard Paramount Vantage $2,650,000 $2,710,194 - 52.0% $11,247,625
11 Post Grad 20th Century Fox $2,800,000 $2,651,996 New $2,651,996
12 Ponyo Walt Disney Pictures $2,429,000 $2,425,644 - 32.4% $8,136,515
  Also Opening/Notables
  X Games 3d: the Movie WALT DISNEY N/A $837,216 New $837,216
  My One and Only $60,708 $58,692 New $58,692
  Baader Meinhof Complex Vitagraph $18,000 $17,348 New $17,348
  The World's Greatest Dad Magnolia N/A $4,675 New $4,675
  The Marc Pease Experience Paramount Vantage N/A $2,641 New $2,641
  (500) Days of Summer Fox Searchlight $2,375,000 $2,280,680 - 23.1% $22,077,070
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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