..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Joy In Mudville
At last, Pirates that the Motion Picture Association can embrace! Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean sailed into port significantly ahead of the fleet with an estimated $45.3 million. There was also significant booty for the weekend’s other newcomer The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that grossed a better than anticipated $22.9 million.
The bad news was that the two freshmen accounted for 55% of the marketplace (the top 5 repped a staggering 77%), underlining the summer theme of big openings and unusually rapid declines. In this instance, despite the overall weekend plunder of roughly $146 million, business was up a slim 1% from 2002 and a racked up a modest 8% increase from last weekend. It was the first, albeit modest, boxoffice upturn in more than a month. However admissions continue to trail the record levels set one year ago.
Much has been made in the press of Pirate’s PG-13 rating as a possible stumbling block for its commercial embrace. There was simply no evidence that the tag kept anyone away from the period romp and, based on exit polls, considerable support that the film was playing young and old but tilted toward the former. That fact likely benefited the Extraordinary Gents (and Lady) despite the fact that it, like Pirates, was an adventure yarn set in a bygone historic era.
“All our research showed that League appealed to a slightly older audience,” said Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder. “The big problem was finding a summer date where the film wouldn’t get clobbered by the competition. Ultimately we decided that playing opposite Pirates would be benefit because of certain similarities the films share.”
Unsurprising for the season, Terminator 3 and Legally Blonde 2 had respective 55% and 45% second weekend drops. The combination of siege marketing campaigns and weekly event titles has resulted in the majority of high profile seasonal releases under-performing based on recent data and trends. It’s one aspect of the record book that does not get accorded self-congratulatory trade ads.
Meanwhile, Sony launched the first wave of Terminator 3 overseas in secondary territories (apart from Japan) in Asia and South America and racked up an impressive $20 million weekend that included an all-time record debut in Thailand. Last week it dominated movie going in Russia where Schwarzenegger is perhaps the most popular Hollywood star.
Disney’s Finding Nemo continued to be the summer movie least effected by competition including from its own in-house fare. The film ebbed just 25%, added $8.3 million to its tally and edged toward $300 million domestically. It should reach that plateau in about eight days.
In regional and specialized exploitation, Alliance’s quirky comedy La Grande Seduction had a wow debut in Quebec with close to $1 million (Canadian) from 79 theaters. It’s the third successful local production this summer, a feat that hasn’t occurred for close to three decades. The first expansion of Focus’s Swimming Pool was upbeat with a $10,000 plus screen average from 65 locations and Newmarket’s Whale Rider continued apace with a $1 million weekend and 60 new playdates.
The frame was also rife with niche premieres with Paramount Classics’ Northfolk most impressive with a roughly $62,000 gross from five locations. The company will have a more daunting challenge selling the arty drama as it expands to other centers. IDP’s tony British acquisition I Capture the Castle and the French import The Housekeeper via Palm had promising bows with $48,000 and $43,000 weekends from respectively eight and six engagements. However, Sony Classics’ launch of the acclaimed Russian fable The Cuckoo was a disappointment with $16,000 at six theaters.
Weekend Finals - July 11-13, 2003
Title Pirates of the Caribbean 46,630,690 - 3269 70,625,971 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 23,075,892 - 3002 23,075,892 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 19,477,207 -56% 3504 110,313,912 Legally Blonde 2 12,030,319 -46% 3375 62,897,554 Finding Nemo 8,465,110 -24% 2643 291,068,455 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 7,145,900 -49% 3202 81,533,742 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas 4,310,834 -37% 3086 18,804,444 28 Days Later 4,249,700 -29% 1396 28,448,989 The Hulk 3,670,035 -55% 2575 124,669,950 The Italian Job 2,736,905 -34% 1364 88,833,887 Bruce Almighty 2,379,285 -41% 1429 233,195,315 2 Fast 2 Furious 1,520,710 -42% 1031 122,454,585 The Matrix Reloaded 1,112,311 -29% 506 273,905,370 Whale Rider 1,089,334 -12% 271 5,800,911 Rugrats Go Wild 822,620 -44% 1172 36,801,254 La Grande Seduction 752,387 - 79 752,387 Swimming Pool 680,088 140% 65 1,194,576 Winged Migration 390,278 -11% 123 4,266,558 Bend It Like Beckham 384,784 -21% 195 25,335,497 Holes 318,471 -1% 331 66,261,015 Spellbound 298,758 -11% 117 3,631,068 Wrong Turn 265,109 179% 121 14,637,155 Daddy Day Care 241,392 -59% 273 100,037,289 X2: X-Men United 217,639 -81% 248 213,871,302 Capturing the Friedmans 209,748 -19% 74 1,852,164 Hollywood Homicide 201,872 -72% 260 29,743,738 Chicago 189,731 205% 262 169,799,940 Alex & Emma 173,485 -74% 255 13,805,285 Space Station 139,903 6% 21 40,564,995 Ghosts of the Abyss 134,471 -24% 42 12,717,766 Anger Management 134,177 -19% 148 135,039,693 Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon * 124,376 -62% 56 1,167,048 Dumb and Dumberer 123,292 -65% 183 25,493,066 L'Auberge Espagnole 110,916 -32% 71 3,280,944 The In-Laws 106,915 76% 184 20,271,953 The Man on the Train 105,485 -32% 79 2,099,387 Nowhere in Africa 102,694 -27% 68 6,084,394 Identity 101,793 441% 133 51,728,025 Bringing Down the House 101,684 -2% 125 132,177,535 Mambo Italiano 100,861 13% 49 1,857,110 T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous 70,700 -8% 10 44,614,178 Les Invasions barbares 66,760 33% 24 4,226,862 Northfork 61,481 - 5 61,481 I Capture the Castle 59,970 - 8 59,970 Owning Mahowny 55,324 7% 20 526,747 Together 54,804 -46% 43 1,088,398 Respiro 51,014 -56% 22 760,963 Jet Lag 50,711 -30% 22 339,557 The Legend of Suriothai 46,167 -11% 21 220,139 A Mighty Wind 45,285 -40% 50 17,418,375 The Housekeeper 42,083 - 6 43,083 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 35,424 -30% 71 339,628,782 Phone Booth 32,579 -46% 57 46,524,362 Raising Victor Vargas 31,731 -8% 21 1,965,981 Malibu's Most Wanted 30,715 -30% 41 34,370,863 Lizzie McGuire: The Movie 28,747 -26% 53 41,773,301 The Hard Word 28,454 -50% 30 302,650 Down with Love 25,934 -58% 51 20,247,699 Madame Sata 23,654 - 4 23,654 Haunted Castle 23,560 5% 3 6,535,592 Head of State 21,764 -14% 23 38,111,412 Russian Ark 21,069 -18% 14 2,706,445 The Holy Land 19,014 - 1 19,014 I Will Love Him Till the End of Time Weekend Estimates - July 11-13, 2003
Title % change Theaters Cume Pirates of the Caribbean - 3269 69.3 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - 3002 22.9 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines -54% 3504 110.9 Legally Blonde 2 -45% 3375 63.2 Finding Nemo -25% 2643 290.9 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle -47% 3202 81.8 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas -33% 3086 19.1 28 Days Later -29% 1396 28.5 The Hulk -55% 2575 124.7 The Italian Job -30% 1384 89 Bruce Almighty -38% 1429 233.3 2 Fast 2 Furious -42% 1031 122.5 The Matrix Reloaded -18% 506 274.1 Rugrats Go Wild -26% 1172 37.1 Whale Rider -19% 273 5.7 La Grande Seduction - 79 1 Swimming Pool 133% 65 1.2 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding Bend It Like Beckham -14% 195 25.4 Northfolk - 5 0.06 I Capture the Castle - 8 0.05 The Housekeeper - 6 0.04 The Cuckoo - 6 0.02 Top Limited Grosses - January 1- July 10, 2003
Title Gross Bend It Like Beckham 24,950,713