Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
August 6, 2005
Bo, Luke and Daisy find themselves at the top spot of the box office Friday, but it's some penguins and wedding crashers that continue to make box office waves.
The Dukes of Hazzard
Those Duke boys rounded up $12.5 million Friday, an amazing opening figure in the wake of the disasters of the last few weeks. Given the material and the general train-wreck nature of the film (according to critics, who give it 18% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes), we'll figure a 2.6 multiplier, giving the Dukes of Hazzard a solid $32.5 million for the weekend.
March of the Penguins
The documentary adds over 1,000 screens in the wake of its word-of-mouth success in art houses and jumps 89% from last Friday with $2 million, placing it just under Bowling for Columbine as the second-highest grossing documentary in history. It will firmly hold that place come Sunday morning, as based on its limited performance, an above-average internal multiplier in the area of 3.6 could be in its future, good for a $7.2 million weekend.
Notable Holdovers
The insanity continues for The Wedding Crashers. After ascending to the top spot last week, it does slip back to second this weekend, but with a Friday-to-Friday drop of 14.9%. A fourth weekend tally of $17 million should be in the works as the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy continues to be the brightest spot of a bleak summer.
Last week's mega-flop Stealth falls 63.7% from last Friday, adding some salt to the wound. It should come in at $5.3 million in its second weekend.
Sky High and Must Love Dogs fare a little bit better than Steath, falling 40.9% and 46.7% respectively. Sky High, with its younger audience appeal, could get its decline as low as 30%, while Must Love Dogs will improve to under 40%.
|
Projected Estimates for the Top Ten (Three-Day)
|
Projected
Rank |
Film |
Estimated Gross |
|
1
|
The Dukes of Hazzard
|
32.5
|
|
2
|
The Wedding Crashers
|
17.0
|
|
3
|
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
|
10.8
|
|
4
|
Sky High
|
10.1
|
|
5
|
Must Love Dogs
|
8.0
|
|
6
|
March of the Penguins
|
7.2
|
|
7
|
Stealth
|
5.3
|
|
8
|
Fantastic Four
|
4.1
|
|
9
|
War of the Worlds
|
3.5
|
|
10
|
The Island
|
3.2
|
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