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Box Office Breakdown: Cloverfield Attacks the Charts

Cloverfield

Final numbers for the three-day weekend revealed what many had suspected: toppled New York and the competition.  The strong numbers were a result of smart marketing.  In addition to the eerie trailers, the film debuted in January - usually a fairly quiet month for decent films.  Cloverfield’s $46 million take has already covered the movie’s budget (estimated at around $25 million).  That dollar amount also earned the flick the title for best MLK and January opener ever.

Although raked in $20 million less than the horror flick, had nothing to cry about.  Thanks to more strategic marketing - this time by - the film was able to take advantage of those looking for something less dark.  Dresses was originally scheduled to debut last week but was repositioned so it could open during the busy weekend.

Unfortunately, female focus on the romantic comedy didn’t help the female-filled .  The movie - co-starring , and - cashed out in 8th place.  This makes two disappointing debuts in a row for the Clan (the first being Tom’s ).  Let us not forget that Katie opted to do this film instead of the for her post-Tom movie return.  Come to think of it, maybe it was for the best.  I could just hear Tom telling us now that if he had known Heath was doing drugs, he would have cured Ledger himself.

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Box Office Breakdown: The Bucket List Rises to the Top

Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson

After placing 23rd last week, - starring and -  soared 22 spots to take the #1 spot this past weekend.  It seems a simple case of addition was all that was needed to accomplish this feat.  Up until now, the movie had only been playing in 16 theaters total; it expanded to nearly 3000 on Friday.  Bucket’s impressive finish was not only a win for 70-year-olds everywhere, it was a win for director .  His biggest opener had been 1992’s .  (That film grossed $15.5 million.)  Maybe Reiner should write Jack into all his films.

Debuting at #2 was the latest comedy.  , co-starring (30 Rock), earned an impressive $8000 per screen average.  That was the best median performance for any movie in this week’s Top Ten.  (, this week’s #17, averaged $14,421 over the past three days.)

Will this yesterday’s Golden Globes have any effect on financial future?  After only 4 weeks in release, the dark feature dropped off the chart and landed at #12.  Assuming theatergoers are still interested in watching potential nominees, I’m guessing the win for Best Comedy/Musical will give the movie a nice boost next weekend.

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In Theaters This Weekend: January 11, 2008

First Sunday

If you are looking for movies with long titles, this is your weekend.  Two of them are opening this Friday:

**now in wide release


Box Office Breakdown:  Viewers Get Caught Up In A Sticky Web

Spider-Man 3

Let’s see if it’s possible for me to say something terribly surprising…

Spider-Man 3 scored the largest domestic debut for a movie ever ($59.8 million on Friday).  Two days later, it broke the box office record for the highest grossing weekend ever ($151 million).  Both records were previously set by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

With no strong competitors next week, Spidey is bound to stay on top.  But all things could change in just a matter of weeks when Shrek rolls into town (May 18th).  And let’s not forget about that Captain Jack Sparrow.  May 25th could be the day that the third Pirates installment sails in to reclaim the box office booty.


1. Spider-Man 3, Sony, $151,116,516
2. Disturbia, Paramount, $5,844,363
3. Fracture, New Line, $3,696,060
4. The Invisible, Disney, $3,261,374
5. Next, Paramount, $2,892,335
6. Lucky You, Warner Bros., $2,710,445
7. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $2,619,654
8. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $2,409,106
9. Hot Fuzz, Focus, $2,219,346
10. Are We Done Yet?, Sony, $1,744,619


Box Office Breakdown:  Four More Days ‘Til Spidey…

Disturbia

With no big movie premieres last weekend (and yes, I am ignoring the fact that Next exists), I’m really not surprised to see that Disturbia once again took the top spot.  But we shouldn’t expect that film to be sitting pretty much longer.  With Spider-Man 3 about to spin its web at the end of the week, all bets are off.  But we still gotta hand it to young Shia—three times at #1 is an incredible feat for any movie these days.


1. Disturbia, Paramount, $9,023,835
2. The Invisible, Disney, $7,717,309
3. Next, Paramount, $7,133,049
4. Fracture, New Line, $6,814,714
5. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $5,164,364
6. Hot Fuzz, Focus, $4,876,867
7. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $4,840,972
8. Vacancy, Sony Screen Gems, $4,112,502
9. The Condemned, Lionsgate, $3,807,595
10. Are We Done Yet?, Sony, $3,450,922


Box Office Breakdown: Bring On The Fuzz

Description

This weekend’s Top Ten saw the introduction of several new movies:  Fracture, Vacancy and In the Land of Women.  But no star-wattage combination (Gosling/Hopkins, Wilson/Beckinsale) could bring down the LeBeouf.

But that’s not to say Indy’s newest sidekick shouldn’t be worried.  Hot Fuzz, the latest movie from the makers of Shaun of the Dead, had an impressive debut—bringing in an average of $7000 per theater.  With Grindhouse already off the map, here’s how the rest of the contenders fared:


1. Disturbia, DreamWorks-Paramount, $13,010,778
2. Fracture, New Line, $11,014,657
3. Blades of Glory, DreamWorks-Paramount, $7,677,569
4. Vacancy, Sony Screen Gems, $7,603,376
5. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $6,967,089
6. Hot Fuzz, Focus, $5,848,464, 825 locations
7. Are We Done Yet?, Sony, $5,181,426
8. In the Land of Women, Warner Bros., $4,712,341
9. Perfect Stranger, Sony, $4,104,808
10. Wild Hogs, Disney, $2,820,440


Box Office Breakdown:  Oscar Winners Fail to Prevail

Perfect Stranger

DISTURBIA [di-stur’-bee-uh), noun:
A rare state that occurs when three previous Oscar winners (e.g. Berry, Swank, Tarantino) struggle to remain in the Top Ten.  This anomaly often coincides with the meteoric rise of a 20-year-old star (e.g. Lebeouf).


1. Disturbia, Paramount, $22,224,982
2. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $13,826,386
3. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $12,467,155
4. Perfect Stranger, Sony, $11,206,163
5. Are We Done Yet?, Sony, $8,952,686
6. Pathfinder, Fox, $5,001,214
7. Wild Hogs, Disney, $4,676,734
8. The Reaping, Warner Bros., $4,567,478
9. 300, Warner Bros., $4,454,355
10. Grindhouse, Weinstein Co., $4,331,372


Box Office Breakdown:  Metal Blades Take Down Machine Gun Leg

Grindhouse

Not even the combined directing muscle of Team Tarantino/Rodriguez could take away the gold medal from Team Ferrell/Heder.  Despite the publicity onslaught, Grindhouse didn’t even score a silver.  Heck, it didn’t even make the medal platform.  But I guess it could have been worse.  Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank not only placed fifth—but she too was beat out by a family friendly Ice Cube.  I think it’s now safe to say that the plagues have officially commenced..


1. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $22,522,330
2. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $16,715,437
3. Are We Done Yet?, Sony, $14,262,724
4. Grindhouse, Weinstein Co., $11,596,613
5. The Reaping, Warner Bros., $10,025,203
6. 300, Warner Bros., $8,368,382
7. Wild Hogs, Disney, $6,644,971
8. Shooter, Paramount, $5,856,494
9. TMNT, Warner Bros., $4,825,445
10. Firehouse Dog, Fox, $3,838,916


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