Top Grossing Movies This Weekend - Updated October 10th

[David Meek]

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

[Gordon Moore]

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




"A RONSTER!"

[David Meek]

Gordon, I really think the interrupted story-line put off a lot of people, plus this isn't the ground-breaking new techno-movie the original was. It'll be interesting to see how the concluding episode does - and consequently the DVD(s).




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Robbie]

. Boy, The Hulk kicked some behind!

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

[David Meek]

I've updated the box office totals for this last weekend.

[David Meek]

I've updated the box office totals for this last weekend, too.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

I've updated the box office totals for this last weekend - July 11-13th. Don't look for League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen to be around long - what a stinker.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Totals updated for July 18-20th.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Totals updated for August 1-3. Turns out Gigli REALLY is a "turkey". Gobble, gobble. :toilet:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Totals updated for August 8-10th.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Totals updated for August 15th-17th.

Open Range is an amazing movie! For a Western, it started off quite well (as it should have). But, Jason vs. Freddie in first? Puh-lease.
:crazy:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Wow, Pirates Of The Caribbean is still in the Top 10 at the box office. That's 10 weeks if you are counting, plus a gross of $288 million. 8O




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Gordon Moore]

Pirates Of The Caribbean is still in the Top 10 at the box office.

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 uker:




"A RONSTER!"

[David Meek]

The short version on Underworld? GO SEE THIS MOVIE! It's an excellent vampires vs. werewolves romp with fine visuals, a great surround audio presentation, slick special effects and good performances from the actors. WOW! See full review (later today) for details.
:banana: :banana: :banana:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

After 11 straight weeks in the Top 10 Pirates Of The Carribean finally fell out. What a run. . . .




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

School Of Rock is the number one film for the weekend? Oh, give me strength. . . :

Underworld is still doing well - total gross for 3 weeks is almost $45 million.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

Oh, give me strength. . .

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

[David Meek]

No it's not. This is a similar reaction to the one you'd get if Dumb & Dumberer had been the No. 1 movie for a weekend. Saints preserve us (in best Scottish accent).




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Oh no. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the number 1 movie??? To paraphrase Ripley: "I guess IQ's did drop sharply while I was away."
:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

TCM is still the #2 box office draw - woe is me. :crazy:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

The Matrix: Revolutions is off to a roaring start - $50+ million.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

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/ssistory...inment/2227653 ).

Burke

[David Meek]

Thanks Burke! :T




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

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/ssistory...inment/2245197

Burke

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

[Burke Strickland]

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

[Burke Strickland]

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

Burke

[Burke Strickland]

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

[Burke Strickland]

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/Movi....ap/index.html

[Burke Strickland]

"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

[David Meek]

Thanks for taking this one more week, Burke. :T

$51.2 million dollars in one weekend. That would be a successful run in its entirety for many movies. Wow. 8O




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Wow! 8O Return Of The King has made $292 million since its release 3 weeks ago!




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

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

[David Meek]

Wow, looks like Tim Burton has a winner in Big Fish as it knocked The Return Of The King out of the number one slot.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

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":

Something smelled fishy at the North American box office this weekend.

In a claim disputed by several studios, director Tim Burton's family fable "Big Fish" reeled in the No. 1 spot in its first weekend of wide release by selling $14.5 million worth of tickets, according to estimates issued Sunday by its distributor, Columbia Pictures.

But that sounded like a whopper to others in Hollywood, particularly New Line Cinema, which said its reigning champ, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," earned more. The studio reported a $14.1 million tally for its hobbit tale, and calculated that "Big Fish" earned about $13.7 million.

"They seem a little high," New Line distribution President David Tuckerman said of Columbia's estimate.

Executives from two other studios, who declined to be identified, agreed with New Line's assessment, with one saying Columbia was "a little too aggressive."

Columbia's distribution president, Rory Bruer, defended his numbers for "Big Fish," calling them "reasonable estimates."

...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/box.office.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

[Burke Strickland]

'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.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won a photo finish with Big Fish for the top spot at the box office, taking in $14.2 million to remain the No. 1 movie for the fourth straight weekend.

Studio estimates a day earlier had put Sony's Big Fish a few hundred thousand dollars ahead of New Line's Return of the King. But final numbers Monday from Sony put Big Fish in second place with $13.8 million, $700,000 less than the studio had projected Sunday.

The weekend marked the wide-release debut for Big Fish after four weeks in limited release. Jeff Blake, Sony vice chairman, said Big Fish drew smaller audiences on Sunday than the studio had anticipated based on how the film performed in its limited run during the previous Sundays.

"It certainly was not maliciously intended," Blake said. "It was just a situation where we thought we had the right to anticipate a better Sunday than we got."

It's rare that the top two films that the No. 1 and 2 movies flip-flop from Sunday to Monday, though rankings of other flicks lower in the top 10 often change once final numbers come out.

Studios sometimes grouse that competitors inflate their Sunday estimates to make films look more successful in box-office charts, which are eagerly tracked by movie fans.

Box-office analysts said in the case of Big Fish, it appeared Sony had made an honest mistake in overestimating the movie's Sunday grosses.

"Big Fish" actually out-grossed Return of the King by nearly $1 million on Friday, and based on those figures, Sony apparently was overly optimistic on the Sunday figures, said Brandon Gray, president of Boxofficemojo.com, which tracks movie-ticket sales.

Some rival studios Sunday had tracked Return of the King as the No. 1 movie while others tracked Big Fish as the top film.

"If all the other studios had had it one way, then it would really be a case for looking hard at those numbers and saying how could that be?" said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "In this case, it was a split. Some had it higher, some had it lower. The bottom line is, that's why they're called estimates."

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

[Burke Strickland]

Interestingly, while there is no question that "Along Came Polly" took first place at the box office this past weekend, the New York Times shows "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" as taking second place:

http://movies.nytimes.com/pages/movies/boxoffice/weekend_us/index.html

Weekend of Jan. 16, 2004 - Jan. 19, 2004 (estimated) | All-Time U.S. and Canada Box Office


1 ALONG CAME POLLY $32,764,000
2 LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN KING $12,725,000
3 BIG FISH $12,300,000
4 TORQUE $11,755,000
5 CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN $10,650,000 $113,852,133
6 COLD MOUNTAIN $8,512,000
5 SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE $6,600,000
8 MY BABY'S DADDY $4,590,000
9 CALENDAR GIRLS $3,815,000
10 THE LAST SAMURAI $3,735,000

Also interestingly, it looks like there were maybe two hits on this thread this week that can't be attributed to David's revisions and my post. Glad we are expanding our audience. :>)

Burke

[David Meek]

Heh. Yeah Burke, I've been thinking about removing the sticky tag and letting this one go for a few weeks. Gotta ponder a bit more, though. . . . What do you think?




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Burke Strickland]

Thanks for posting the box office data, David. It'll be interesting to watch the "hit" count to see if anyone besides us catches up with this week's numbers. :>)

The original "Barbershop" was hilarious. I'm glad to see the sequel doing so well. (I plan to go see it this coming week, so my ticket $ didn't help its opening weekend gross.) Especially considering how relatively inexpensively it was made. at #8, "Monster" has started making some serious money now that it has Oscar attention -- and is playing in a lot more theaters. Although "Lost in Translation" wasn't in the top ten this past weekend, it is in the unusual position of still being shown in commercial theaters (and not just the "dollar dives") even though it was just released on DVD and VHS last week.

Burke

[David Meek]

It's not much of a surprise that The Passion Of The Christ started out at number 1, but at $76+ million?!?!?!?! Wow. And; number 2 was only good for $12+ million - thats a jump of $64 million. . . . I guess Jim Caviezel doesn't have to worry about his paycheck bouncing, eh?




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

The Passion Of The Christ is still the leader. My 17-year-old daughter saw it yesterday and said simply "it's a profound, life-changing film". Wow.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Trevor Schell]

David! This is a great idea in updating the weekly Box Office grossings.
Since I don't visit the theaters, I never really paid much attention to these ratings.
I will be checking this out weekly now.

Anyways,,What is The Passion of the Christ at since its release date for total earnings?




Trevor
My HomeTheater S.E.
Sonically Enhanced
C5

[Burke Strickland]

Anyways,,What is The Passion of the Christ at since its release date for total earnings?

LOS ANGELES - “The Passion of the Christ” was the top film for a third straight weekend, taking in $31.7 million and pushing its total beyond a quarter of a billion dollars.

Mel Gibson’s dramatization of Christ’s final hours climbed to $264 million in the United States and Canada after 19 days in theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4526969/

[David Meek]

Trev, speaking for Burke also (as he is active in updating this too), thanks. It's nice to see someone is viewing this thread. Action was getting pretty slow.

The Passion Of The Christ is STILL number one. . .




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Sonnie Parker]

Have any experts made any predictions/estimates on The Passion of The Christ future totals?

I caught the tail end of someone speaking on TV about this movie versus Titantic. But that's all I caught and I'm not sure if they were saying it would never catch it or if it had a chance or was destined to.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[David Meek]

Not that I've seen, Sonnie. :nonod:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker