..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Wing! Wing! Someone Answer The Phone
"There's got to be a lot of disappointment at Sony, don't you think?" Those words were like a mantra early Sunday as box office trackers concluded the studio's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle would handily take top spot for the weekend but be shy of a $40 million debut gross. Sony indeed opted to report a conservative $38 million while MCN is projecting $39.2 million for the weekend.
Judged on the sheer force of marketing, the film did appear to underperform. There was no lack of ink spilled on the sequel, its titular stars, the return of Demi Moore or the glittery premiere. Toss in a summer season of retreads that opened to bigger numbers than the originals and a media frenzy about $50 million plus weekend chart toppers and one can see a scenario developing for dashed expectations.
On the other hand, a $38 million or $39 million box office for a movie with not much story and a paucity of originality is more than anyone ought to expect on a value- weighted scale. And while Full Throttle was down slightly from the first outing's $40.1 million bow, early overseas response - including a $6 million debut in Japan - has the new chapter displaying 30% to 50% greater potency out of the gate.
With the July 4th holiday looming, the current frame turned out to be a half hearted and premature jump start to Wednesdays firepower of Terminator 3, Legally Blonde 2 and the animated Sinbad. Overall business should inch to roughly $120 million, a 22% slide from seven days earlier and a 17% drop from 2002 when Sony's $37.2 million bow of Mr. Deeds was considered very potent.
The Angels may have been in a lower orbit, but not so the zombie madness of 28 Days Later. The low-budget Brit scare fare bowed to $9.3 million - almost double the gross anticipated entering the weekend. And Bollywood's latest, the sentimental I Will Love Him Till the End of Time, launched on 60 screens to a better than respectable $230,000. Otherwise, it was three days of movies soldiering on to what's envisioned as a sizzling mid-summer holiday period.
The old adage about the bigger they are, the harder they fall only proved to be somewhat true. The Hulk saw its box office tumble 71% in its second weekend in theaters. The rush to judgment is that the film was not what comic book fans wanted to see in their green skinned, misunderstood mutant and that a hipper, older crowd that would better appreciate the film's drama and psychological complexity could not be convinced to buy a ticket for the event picture.
Still, the unreality of From Justin to Kelley, a commercial non-starter, saw an even steeper sophomore decline of 74%. And last weekend's premiere of Alex & Emma experienced a 60% plunge. The combined commercial erosion simply could not be filled by the incoming fare.
The short, not necessarily happy, commercial lives of summer movies appear to be getting even briefer post-Solstace. In its third weekend, Hollywood Homicide is already ceding its matinees to a Daddy Day Care that's pushing toward a very expensive $100 million gross. Attaining that vaunted box office figure has less to do with success or failure than some psychological belief of crossing a border from ignominy. Studios will spend more to push across that $100 million barrier than they can ever hope to regain financially. And the end result it winds up costing even more money because many talent deals include bonus clauses once a film goes into 7-figures.
Whale Rider experienced another expansion wave and continued to maintain a healthy theater average. However, the indie world's insistence on using My Big Fat Greek Wedding as a commercial yardstick is becoming quite tiresome. It could be a decade or more (or never) before a film comes along to equal the potency of last year's jaw dropping success.
Weekend Finals - June 27 - 29, 2003
Title Weekend Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 37,634,221 - 3459 37,634,221 The Hulk 18,847,620 -70% 3674 100,593,300 Finding Nemo 13,968,116 -34% 3331 253,991,677 28 Days Later 10,061,858 - 1260 10,061,858 2 Fast 2 Furious 6,225,570 -44% 2817 113,996,055 Bruce Almighty 6,190,085 -37% 2651 221,329,795 The Italian Job 5,462,902 -24% 2021 76,758,011 Rugrats Go Wild 3,639,293 -48% 3008 30,979,792 Hollywood Homicide 3,061,550 -48% 2425 27,315,347 Alex & Emma 2,622,483 -57% 2310 11,539,947 The Matrix Reloaded 2,575,427 -35% 1488 268,979,763 Daddy Day Care 2,302,668 117% 1540 97,823,238 Dumb and Dumberer 1,665,283 -62% 2102 24,158,991 Whale Rider 977,791 62% 163 2,303,543 X2: X-Men United 932,196 -31% 1150 211,317,905 Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon * 672,891 - 60 672,891 From Justin to Kelley 625,469 -77% 1969 4,584,577 Bend It Like Beckham 566,929 -24% 303 23,878,254 Holes 419,413 81% 400 64,886,550 Winged Migration 348,597 8% 79 3,033,222 Spellbound 329,688 -1% 117 2,620,095 Capturing the Friedmans 251,602 14% 60 1,111,503 Wrong Turn 232,782 -54% 252 14,134,191 Anger Management 219,758 215% 183 134,245,859 L'Auberge Espagnole 193,632 -20% 95 2,816,313 Ghosts of the Abyss 170,720 -13% 49 12,095,128 The Man on the Train 139,833 -25% 77 1,704,988 Bringing Down the House 139,619 -23% 181 131,774,908 Nowhere in Africa 130,463 -24% 76 5,697,212 Space Station 128,633 -5% 26 39,834,179 Mambo Italiano 114,542 2% 73 1,412,514 Together 108,025 -15% 55 825,146 A Mighty Wind 104,743 -52% 111 17,204,276 Phone Booth 86,705 -26% 137 46,347,216 Down with Love 84,309 -33% 139 20,082,722 Jet Lag 78,062 292% 18 149,522 The Hard Word 76,571 89% 38 145,438 Les Invasions barbares 76,072 15% 66 3,983,946 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 73,395 23% 86 339,457,993 Lizzie McGuire: The Movie 68,793 -44% 139 41,589,962 Chicago 63,836 -24% 115 169,478,994 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 63,291 -32% 105 105,659,621 Chalte Chalte 62,445 -59% 61 802,632 Respiro 61,491 -23% 27 534,139 T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous 57,941 -16% 10 44,239,925 Owning Mahowny 57,402 42% 18 362,591 The In-Laws 57,289 -66% 118 20,058,847 Malibu's Most Wanted 50,203 -37% 109 34,232,821 The Eye 35,879 -44% 23 286,747 Identity 35,798 -63% 58 51,547,827 The Legend of Suriothai 34,202 -26% 10 97,509 Russian Ark 33,921 -13% 18 2,630,929 The Dancer Upstairs 29,650 -29% 37 2,282,798 Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure 27,412 -16% 9 14,853,085 House of 1000 Corpses 26,071 -49% 55 12,583,510 On _ Line 25,658 - 6 25,658 Man Without a Past 23,408 21% 23 744,538 A Man Apart 23,278 -28% 37 26,615,479 Head of State 23,138 -35% 43 38,004,542 What a Girl Wants 22,180 -27% 63 36,093,584 Rivers and Tides 21,813 -14% 11 1,792,094 City of God 20,671 -29% 9 4,410,540 Raising Victor Vargas 20,653 -53% 19 1,861,851 Haunted Castle 19,394 26% 3 6,446,676 The Core 18,438 -67% 49 31,093,059 I Will Love Him Till the End of Time
Weekend Estimates - June 27 - 29, 2003
Title Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle - 3459 39.2 The Hulk -71% 3674 99.8 Finding Nemo -34% 3331 253.9 28 Days Later - 1260 9.3 Bruce Almighty -42% 2651 220.8 2 Fast 2 Furious -51% 2817 113.2 The Italian Job -27% 2021 76.5 Rugrats Go Wild -49% 3008 30.9 Hollywood Homicide -51% 2425 27.2 The Matrix Reloaded -32% 1488 269.1 Alex & Emma -60% 2310 11.4 Daddy Day Care 91% 1540 97.5 Dumb and Dumberer -64% 2102 24.1 Whale Rider 55% 163 2.2 From Justin to Kelley -77% 1969 4.6 Bend It Like Beckham -27% 301 23.9 - Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - - Also Debuting/Expanding Spellbound -3% 95 2.6 Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon * 60 0.23 Capturing the Friedmans 0% 51 1.1 Legend of Suriyothai -36% 9 0.09 *I Will Love Him Till the End of Time Top Global Grosses - January 1- June 26, 2003
Title The Matrix Reloaded 648,499,927