By David Parker
May 16, 2003
The red pill has been force-fed to studios and box office analysts everywhere. The reality now is that an R-rated blockbuster
doesn't have barriers on how much it can make opening weekend. The Matrix Reloaded made an estimated $42.5 million on Thursday. Depending on what source you believe, that includes an estimated $5 to $9.3 million on Wednesday night. The combined total is the biggest opening day in history, eclisping Spider-Man's take of $39.04 million. The more amazing thing is that the record was broken on a Thursday. The estimate is 41.2% higher than Attack of the Clones' record-breaking Thursday gross. When Star Wars fan boys closed their eyes and dreamed of how much The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones would make on opening day, this is what they saw. $42.5 million. Just huge.
Here's a list of records broken by The Matrix Reloaded along with some fun facts:
Biggest single day opening ever
Biggest Thursday ever
Second biggest single day ever
Biggest R-rated day ever
Just this day alone makes it the 4th biggest R-rated opening ever.
Just this day alone ($42.5 million) would be a bigger weekend than Shrek, Scary Movie, Anger Management or Big Daddy
The R-rating might have slightly aided this record-smashing debut. While it may have kept away the kids for the early showings, the night-time sell-outs benefitted from the adult prices. Think of it this way:
Which would you rather have as a studio?
1) to have a film showing?
2) to have a successful film showing?
3) to have a virtual capacity sellout film showing?
4) to have a virtual capacity sellout film showing with maximized ticket pricing?
It's simple economics that choice 4) would bring the most money. Really, the best way ensure that is by having an R-rating. A G, PG or PG-13 film is much more likely to have a younger audience on average, which would mean many more discounted prices. Also, G, PG, and PG-13 films are more likely to sell-out during matinee times while R-rated films are notorious for being only late-night sellers. All of these facts lead to Matrix Reloaded selling out at the best possible time for the best possible price.
So, where does it go from here? Attack of the Clones had a $30.1 million Thursday and an $80 million weekend. That means Thursday accounted for 27.3% of the four-day take. If Matrix were to follow that same pattern it would make $113 million Friday-to-Sunday and a $155.5 million since Thursday. I think the more adult makeup of The Matrix Reloaded's demographic coupled with more Wednesday night screenings than Attack of the Clones will skew that number slightly lower. Still, a $107.5 million weekend and a $150 million take would be enormous. Not only would that shatter every R-rated record (Beating Hannibal by almost $50 million), but it would also break the current four-day record take. Matrix Reloaded would also be the fastest film to $150 million ever ...and it's rated R. Still want that blue pill?
