..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Holy Sacred Cow!
He’s back with a vengeance. Jim Carrey thundered back in antic fashion as Bruce Almighty vanquished the competition with an estimated $85.9 million over the four-day Memorial holiday weekend. The fantasy-comedy was not only a return to commercial form; it was exactly the sort of role that catapulted the actor to stardom.
“We’re all blown away by the response,” said Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco. “There was no question that this would be a popular film but no one thought it would open as strong as it did.”
Traditionally, the Memorial weekend has been dominated by action fare and Bruce Almighty’s dominance not only rewrote the record books, it’s given distributors a new appreciation of audience taste. The picture is second only to The Lost World for openers on this date and second to last year’s Austin Powers’ sequel in terms of comedy debuts. It is also Carrey’s biggest grossing opener.
To say that the film exceeded expectations is putting it mildly. Just a week ago, the folks at Universal were projecting a $45 million debut and, anticipating they would be duking it out with The Matrix Reloaded. However, the anticipated 50% second weekend drop for The Matrix, Part 2 proved conservative. And when the dust settled opening day, Bruce Almighty had virtually doubled the day’s business of its closest competitor.
Because the frame was shy of a new tentpole title, industry consensus predicted business would be softer than usual. However, with revenues likely to exceed $200 million, it will in fact be a record setter, up 1% from 2002 and 3% better than last weekend for the three-day period.
The Matrix Reloaded experienced a 57% decline and finished the four-day span with roughly $48.3 million. The film crashed past $200 million on its 11th day in release, two days behind Spider-Man. Internationally, the studio is projecting a $150 million weekend tally that would easily eclipse the prior $93 million gross of the second installment of The Lord of the Rings.
The holiday’s sour note was a lackluster $8.9 million bow for the remake of The In-Laws. Indifferently to poorly reviewed retread ranked fifth overall and failed to bring out an older viewing crowd.
Still, there was plenty of action for mature audiences as such films as Bend It Like Beckham and The Man on the Train maintain or expand on their niche appeal status. In Quebec, Denys Arcand’s just Cannes-prized Les Invasions barbares jumped 50% and is expected to close a deal for U.S. distribution (rumored to be Sony Classics).
The sole specialized bow was the Italian Respiro via Sony Classics with just shy of $90,000 from seven venues. Lions Gate’s Sweet Sixteen added six locations and should finish with a sturdy $49,000 gross from nine theaters.
Weekend Estimates - May 24-27, 2003
Title Bruce Almighty - 3482 85.9 The Matrix Reloaded -57% 3603 212.1 Daddy Day Care -27% 3472 73.2 X2: X-Men United -43% 3067 191.9 The In-Laws - 2652 8.9 Down with Love -41% 2118 14.6 Lizzie McGuire -32% 2118 37.5 Holes -25% 1762 60.2 Identity -44% 1590 49.2 Anger Management -47% 1809 131.7 Bend It Like Beckham 26% 523 17.6 A Mighty Wind -19% 588 14.4 Les Invasions barbares 51% 96 2.1 Chicago -23% 340 168.2 - Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding The Dancer Upstairs 50% 154 1.4 L'Homme du Train 117% 46 0.41 Respiro 7 0.09 Sweet Sixteen 49% 9 0.08 ** Percentage change reflects 3-day to 3-day box office
Top Grossers - January 1- May 24, 2003
Title Gross X2: X-Men United 178,960,445 Chicago * 164,538,023 The Matrix Reloaded 163,869,725 Anger Management 129,445,624 Bringing Down the House 132,628,844 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers * 129,235,485 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 104,308,585 Catch Me If You Can * 102,042,590 Daredevil 101,950,968 Old School 75,078,708 Kangaroo Jack 66,679,316 About Schmidt * 62,004,553 Shanghai Knights 60,316,569 Holes 57,008,185 Just Married 56,127,162 Daddy Day Care 55,140,861 The Recruit 52,802,140 The Jungle Book 2 47,855,359 Agent Cody Banks 47,457,955 Final Destination 2 46,906,859 * does not include 2002 box office
Domestic Market Share - January 1- May 24, 2003
Distributor (releases) Market Share Buena Vista (17) 14.70% Warner Bros. (12) 14.60% Sony (13) 13.40% Fox (9) 13.30% Miramax (17) 8.60% New Line (7) 8.50% Paramount (9) 7.80% DreamWorks (6) 7.60% MGM (13) 3.90% Focus (4) 1.60% Fox Searchlight (5) 1.20% Universal (5) 0.90% Lions Gate (10) 0.90% Others * (105) 3.00% 100.00% * none greater than .5%
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