Top Grossing Movies This Weekend - Updated October 10th
 

Here are the top 10 box office draws (estimated ticket sales) for the weekend of October 8th-9th at North American theaters:

1. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, $16.1 million.
2. Flightplan, $10.8 million.
3. In Her Shoes, $10 million.
4. Two for the Money, $8.4 million.
5. The Gospel, $8 million.
6. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, $6.5 million.
7. Waiting, $5.7 million.
8. A History of Violence, $5.1 million.
9. Serenity, $4.9 million.
10. Into the Blue, $4.8 million.

That compares with last week’s standings (October 1st-2nd):

n/a

Source: The Houston Chronicle

Wow! the love affair with the matrix may really be over.




"A RONSTER!"

My guess is it won't be next weekend. Everyone who I know that saw it hated it. The extended excerpts I saw weren't very flattering. I look for this one to fade fast.

Robbie

Deservedly so. Pirates was very well done. It offered a little something for the ladies and a little something for the gents.... Hence broader appeal.... bigger box-office. How come Hollywood still has a hard time figuring that out some of the time?

Nice to see Cabin Fever didn't fall flat on it's face. For horror fans this is apparently the revival movie, although from what I hear, this is bordering more on gore than horror :puker:




"A RONSTER!"

Is that a line from the movie? :>) The reviews I've read for The School of Rock have been uniformly positive. Of course, I'll reserve judgement until I've seen it, whenever that might be (maybe in a double feature with Underworld). :>)

Burke

I updated this week's list at David's request. Note that The Matrix Revolutions took a 66 % nosedive in its weekend take, dropping to third place in this week's box office standings, while Christmas comedy Elf with Will Farrell jumped to number one and the highly anticipated Russell Crowe swashbuckler, Master and Commander, came in second.

Overall box office receipts fell with the top 12 movies grossing $124.2 million, down 23 percent from the same weekend last year, when Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets opened with $88.4 million. While Matrix Revolutions was only third in US ticket receipts this past weekend, it has already raked in $310 million worldwide in its first two weeks, according to Warner Bros (as reported in the Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistor...ainment/2227653 ).

Burke

Depsite generally negative reviews, "The Cat In The Hat" managed to rack up an impressive $40+ million in its debut weekend. "Elf" slid to number three, although it managed to rake in about 72% of last week's take. "The Matrix Revolutions" continued its precipitous drop -- another 59% decline from last week. Looks like domestically, "Revolutions" will probably only take in about half the $282 million that "Reloaded" did six months ago in the North American market. Details from the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistor...ainment/2245197

Burke

PS -- Once again, I posted the box office results at David's request.

Despite a 38% drop in ticket sales for "The Cat In The Hat", it still held on to the number one spot this past weekend. "Elf" stayed at number three, but actually took in more than it did last week. "The Matrix Revolutions" slid to 11th place with $4.6 million, and thus off our list, with a total take so far in the North American market of just over $133 million. ("Elf" has raked in about $130 million during the same time.)

Burke

For the rest of the story, check out what the Associated Press reported: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistor...ainment/2278079

Burke

David --

Next week, I'll email you the movie box office list -- there wasn't a single hit on this thread from Dec 8 through Dec 14, so obviously noone else really pays any attention to this stuff.

Burke

Well, David, I couldn't email the list to you (since your ISP keeps bouncing them back), so I posted it here one more time. Looks like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is off to a running start -- largest-ever opening week box office world wide. More of the story at: http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Mov...e.ap/index.html

"Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" continues to reign at the box office. (And "No One" continues to hit this thread.) :>) Read all about the record-setting Christmas-week at the movies: Box Office Information Then make a comment if you see something of interest in the data, and/or give us your opinions, either here or in threads about the specific films, if you've seen the movies.

Burke

That $292 Million is just from North America! Worldwide, it's more like $677 million. By itself, its receipts in North America almost cover the $300 million cost to produce all three films (of course, that was already taken care of with the first two in the trilogy having taken in $1.8 billion). Looks like "Return of the King" is on its way to becoming the second individual movie to ever top $1 billion worldwide in commercial theaters (the first being "Titanic").

Interesting how the movie box office numbers play against expectations. "Calendar Girls" is considered to be coming on strong with $4.6 million in receipts. It jumped 16 places to No. 9 after expanding to 745 theaters in its third weekend. OTOH, "Peter Pan" is considered to be "tanking" after an opening at about $11 million and its second week at $8.5 million. Of course, "Peter Pan" cost over $100 million and the chances looks slim that it will ever recoup that, while "Calendar Girls" was filmed on a relative shoe string and may continue to increase its weekly take if it expands to more theaters.

Burke

Or those results may just be a big "fish story". The estimates made late Sunday are being questioned by other studios, suggesting maybe the "Big Fish" studio, Columbia, is playing games to make it look like "Big Fish is the "winner":


http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Mov...reut/index.html

Of course, I can see why Columbia execs are anxious to push "Big Fish" from 12th place to 1st -- even with its estimated $14,500,000, after 5 weeks it has only raked in $24,075,584. It is now in 2406 theaters, so it is currently getting more ticket sales per theater than LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN KING, whose $14,125,000 in 3532 theaters brought its domestic total to $312,236,838 after 4 weeks.

It will be interesting to see what the "final" numbers are for the past weekend.

Burke

'Rings' wins again in reversal of top box-office spot

The official numbers are in, and "Lord of the Rings" squeeked by "Fish Story" to retain its number one spot at the box office:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $14.2 million.
2. Big Fish, $13.8 million.
3. Cheaper By the Dozen, $12 million.
4. Cold Mountain, $7.8 million.
5. Something's Gotta Give, $7.7 million.
6. My Baby's Daddy, $7.8 million.
7. Chasing Liberty, $6 million.
8. Paycheck, $5.2 million.
9. The Last Samurai, $4.53 million.
10. Mona Lisa Smile, $4.5 million.



Full Story

While Columbia officials claim it was an honest mistake, they must also be very aware that the "big news" that everyone sees is the initial coverage of Sunday's estimates, and they really wanted "Big Fish" to make it big. (Note that "Return of the King" actually came in with a litlle bit higher total than New Line had originally estimated.) They must be very aware that few news sources report the final adjusted Monday figures after first reporting the Sunday estimates and fewer go back to revise their headlines to reflect what actually happened when there is a change in the standings.

Of course, it is also very rare for the number one and two movies to flip flop positions like this. But that should make it even bigger news to those who follow this kind of thing. Also note that "Cold Mountan" and "Something's Gotta Give" switched spots at numbers 4 and 5. But as the story says, films at the lower level spots often change position in the rankings when the final numbers are in.

Burke