..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Horror High: The Other American Wedding
You can't keep two bad men down. New Line's resurrected Freddy vs. Jason enlivened weekend movie going as it scared up a pleasingly potent estimated $36.3 million. Its performance was all the more surprising as competition from new releases was fierce and resulted in generally disappointing bows for three other freshman movies. NLC's specialty arm Fine Line also got a shot of good news with a dynamic opening round for its Sundance prized American Splendor in limited exclusives.
Overall weekend business was buoyant despite fears that the aftermath of power outages in such centers as New York, Toronto, Detroit and Cleveland would have significant impact on weekend viewing. The frame should generate about $145 million in ticket sales for a 4% boost from last weekend and a 37% rise from one year ago. In 2002, the second weekend of xXx continued in top spot with the launch of Blue Crush ranking third with $14.2 million.
The anecdotal data pertaining to attendance in black out areas indicates noticeable drops on Friday but upturns as the weekend progressed - akin to the cabin fever syndrome. Toronto and Detroit experienced the worst of it and, based on flash analysis, national business appears to have taken a modest 5% hit due to the juice out.
The pairing of venerable horror heavies from Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th began as a gag but its opening clout left its creators laughing … all the way to the bank. Though roundly trounced as a cynical, sub-standard fright fest by critics, it is a gimmick that worked commercially even with likely steep box office drops in the coming weeks. Monday studio meetings will be rife with ideas for future pairings that are likely to range from Jaws vs. Cujo to Spy Kids vs. Cody Banks and other very scary stuff.
The launch of Open Range received considerable scrutiny entering the weekend with pundits wondering chiefly if a western could bolster actor-director Kevin Costner's career profile. Its near $14 million third place slotting provides a mixed message. The figure is low considering the media blitz accorded the picture but one senses the film could linger in the marketplace long enough to earn a respectable gross. And the sheer volume of attention has to be an affirmation of interest in Costner.
The tub-thumping for the cute comedy Uptown Girls resulted in no better than fair results of $11.3 million while the teencentric Grind was on the fast track to its second window video life with $2.6 million.
The $25,000 screen average from six venues for the critically lauded American Splendor, a true film eccentric that mixes fact and fiction on Crumb crony Harvey Pekar, bodes well for the niche pic. However, with the announcement of Warner Independent Pictures and a paucity of activity at Fine Line (it has Cannes winner Elephant set for the fall but passed on its first position option on Dogville) one wonders whether the label will be allowed to gear up its activities to a competitive level with other major specialized players.
The frame's other limited bow, IDP's Passionada, failed to translate thumbs up response to B.O. appeal. The quirky romantic comedy grossed about $110,000 from 76 locations. Specialized expansions of Le Divorce, Dirty Pretty Things, The Secret Lives of Dentists and the non-fiction Step Into Liquid maintained commercial stamina but the offbeat teen musical Camp was experiencing signs of slowing.
Holdover titles were generally keeping their ground with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean advancing to third place among the year's top box office performers. It will have a considerable challenge to close the $30 million edge second place Matrix Reloaded presently enjoys.
When $100 Million is Not Enough!
Creating an amazing degree of buzz among distributors and exhibitors are current and upcoming efforts to push Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and The Italian Job to domestic tallies of more than $100 million. Even reps of the studios involved have admitted (off the record) that the effort to generate $5 million or less at this late stage of theatrical exploitation is cost inefficient.
However, the psychological drive to attain that figure is Pavlovian and irresistible even if it's also bad business. And putting aside questionable accounting and suspicions of phantom engagements, many efforts - including the current Daddy Day Care - in reality fall short of hitting 9-figures despite official studio reporting.
In truth, films today have to gross between $105 million and $107 million to reach a vaunted $100 million box office. No, it's not binary mathematics. Somewhere between 7% and 11% of most domestic releases gross comes from Canadian engagements but that part of the revenue is reported at par with U.S. currency rather than converted to its actual value. Of course, when it comes to profit participation, Canuck bucks get their true due.
Weekend Finals - August 15-17, 2003
Title Freddy vs. Jason 36,428,066 - 3014 36,428,066 S.W.A.T. 18,122,486 -51% 3220 69,672,843 Open Range 14,047,781 - 2075 14,047,781 Freaky Friday 13,434,285 -40% 2979 58,416,557 Uptown Girls 11,277,367 2495 11,277,367 Pirates of the Caribbean 9,167,599 -30% 2710 248,720,985 American Wedding 8,402,760 -47% 2985 80,856,345 Seabiscuit 8,087,670 -32% 2462 83,012,545 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over 5,288,540 -46% 3003 96,893,935 Bad Boys II 3,143,914 -48% 1785 128,856,716 Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life 2,786,977 -47% 1926 59,070,023 Grind 2,511,403 - 2253 2,511,403 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 1,980,432 255% 816 97,740,542 Finding Nemo 1,358,901 -46% 1037 327,793,194 Le Divorce 942,594 82% 180 1,688,798 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 816,420 -50% 633 147,611,218 Whale Rider 717,744 -23% 348 14,049,733 Legally Blonde 2 648,151 -25% 1007 88,002,442 Swimming Pool 596,938 -29% 257 7,520,148 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 593,487 -62% 584 63,554,390 Dirty Pretty Things 580,937 36% 142 1,986,903 28 Days Later 456,133 -50% 336 43,025,325 The Secret Lives of Dentists 331,952 74% 63 824,502 Bruce Almighty 325,715 -21% 329 239,855,525 Johnny English 318,985 -70% 343 26,925,075 Bend It Like Beckham 316,601 -65% 277 30,942,939 The Matrix Reloaded 295,347 -19% 104 278,285,565 Winged Migration 260,332 -15% 144 7,016,171 Daddy Day Care 223,286 -35% 287 102,379,618 The Hulk 212,080 -26% 241 131,164,155 Rugrats Go Wild 204,846 212% 263 38,802,248 Step Into Liquid 201,387 48% 16 418,856 Camp 192,828 -14% 60 696,280 The Italian Job 187,348 -52% 118 96,603,732 The Magdalene Sisters 185,193 64% 27 791,860 La Grande Seduction 183,209 -40% 69 4,570,767 2 Fast 2 Furious 177,310 -39% 238 126,236,060 American Splendor 159,705 6 159,705 Space Station 137,432 -13% 22 42,621,384 Passionada 123,568 74 123,568 Koi … Mil Gaya 118,873 -57% 55 452,267 Northfork 97,705 -39% 71 982,372 Ghosts of the Abyss 96,879 -17% 32 13,913,455 Spellbound 76,051 -38% 51 5,122,868 T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous 70,530 -18% 9 45,616,088 And Now Ladies & Gentlemen 61,648 -21% 32 244,550 Capturing the Friedmans 61,339 -37% 53 2,794,120 I Capture the Castle 60,270 -52% 35 884,437 Hollywood Homicide 58,929 704% 96 30,119,990 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas 42,320 -35% 129 25,935,826 X2: X-Men United 41,388 -43% 81 214,813,155 Buffalo Soldiers 40,745 -33% 24 213,664 Chicago 33,582 -39% 76 170,617,614 The Holy Land 32,643 -28% 15 301,387 Haunted Castle 30,976 3% 3 6,886,150 Wrong Turn 27,323 -28% 51 15,312,960 Masked and Anonymous 26,387 -45% 12 248,340 Nowhere in Africa 25,257 -40% 30 6,577,758 Owning Mahowny 21,834 3% 24 804,011 Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure 21,699 -5% 8 15,133,058 Holes 20,741 -61% 55 67,383,924 A Mighty Wind 20,195 175% 44 17,548,613 Gigli 18,702 -97% 73 6,068,735 L'Auberge Espagnole 17,610 -33% 20 3,665,943 Weekend Estimates - August 15-17, 2003
Title Freddy vs. Jason - 3014 36.3 S.W.A.T. -51% 3220 78.6 Open Range 2075 13.8 Freaky Friday -40% 2979 58.2 Uptown Girls - 2495 11.3 Pirates of the Caribbean -33% 2710 248.2 Seabiscuit -32% 2462 83.1 American Wedding -49% 2985 80.3 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over -48% 3003 96.7 Bad Boys II -45% 1785 129 Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life -44% 1926 59.2 Grind - 2253 2.6 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 182% 816 97.3 Finding Nemo -53% 1037 327.6 Le Divorce 70% 180 1.6 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines -48% 633 147.6 Whale Rider -21% 344 14.1 Swimming Pool -24% 257 7.6 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen -60% 584 63.6 Dirty Pretty Things 39% 142 1.9 Legally Blonde 2 -41% 1007 87.9 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding The Secret Lives of Dentists 37% 49 0.75 Camp -16% 59 0.53 Step Into Liquid 30% 16 0.39 American Splendor - 6 0.15 Passionada - 76 0.11