..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Critical response may have been cutting but the heat to see Kill Bill Vol. 1 was sufficient to elevate the splatter spectacle to an estimated $21.9 million and easily lead the weekend box office movie going frame. Mixed reviews damped the bow of Intolerable Cruelty but weren't an impediment for the family friendly Good Boy! and hosannas for Mystic River translated into boffo returns in its exclusive debut.
Overall weekend business approached $108 million for a modest 2% upturn from 2002 when the second weekend of Red Dragon led with $17.7 million and freshmen entries Brown Sugar and The Transporter ranked third and forth with $10.7 million and $9.1 million. Sales also shot up 18% from last weekend and, though it lacked a top 10 charter, Sony grossed just enough to push its 2003 box office past $1 billion.
The highly anticipated Kill Bill Vol. 1 arrived in theaters with roughly the commercial appeal that tracking studies had predicted. However, Saturday business declined 3% from opening day and that has to be worrisome in the long run - and specifically next weekend when the new, also highly anticipated, Texas Chainsaw Massacre opens. Much has been writ about the gamble of bisecting Bill and much more will be scribbled about the efficacy of that commercial strategy as its international performance is scrutinized and Vol. 2 is unleashed in February.
MGM's talking dog Good Boy was a wag ahead of Intolerable Cruelty with a sturdy $13.1 million. Studio reps were elated that an aggressive campaign was sustained despite poor tracking and anticipate buoyant results being one of the few kid pictures in the marketplace.
Cruelty, with an estimated $12.7 million, has a more troublesome future. Recent films by the Coen Brothers have been notable for sustained runs but their new outing's mixture of mainstream and quirky elements leans toward the former. That's likely to translate into a shorter commercial burst and ultimately a disappointing box office.
The weekend's other national launch was Artisan's pre-Halloween House of the Dead that charted sixth with a respectable but unremarkable $5.3 million.
Fueled by non pareil reviews, Clint Eastwood's grim social thriller Mystic River flowed to an exceptional $610,000 from a mere 13 locations. Already critically trumpeted at Cannes, the film bowed Wednesday and grossed $180,000 entering the weekend. Warner Bros. will add about 1,400 theaters this Wednesday and are confident they can make the movie commercial and a major Oscar contender.
The weekend's other niche entries had indifferent returns including a $13,500 box office for IFC's Girls Will Be Girls at two sites and French import The Flower of Evil from Palm generating $11,200 also at two venues. The Sundance Series' third offering, Dopamine, offered no respite to the programs lackluster performance with an opening salvo of $23,500 from 10 screens. Neither increased advertising nor thumbs up reviews has had significant impact for the Sundance effort and while it's committed to another quartet of movies in 2004, a serious overhaul will be mandatory.
Among holdover titles, there were tuneful returns for The School of Rock with a second place finish of $15.2 million and a not too corrosive 23% b.o. decline. Upbeat word-of-mouth has been a definite asset and should sustain the picture through the highly competitive weeks ahead.
Beautiful Screener … the endless debate
A comment noting that roughly 20% of the members of the Motion Picture Association of America live outside Los Angeles and New York City prompted several responses from studio reps.
Though the specifics of frequency could not be precisely gauged, most of the majors do screen their Oscar contenders in San Francisco, Chicago and London and some also do courtesy viewings in Miami, Paris and Sydney. Now it should be noted that the studios also have offices in those centers and in some instances also will show movies produced by their specialized divisions.
However, the non-aligned companies don't have the same resources and just scanning last year's best picture nominees reveals that the overseas rights owners of the final five were either independents or studio affiliates. Warner Bros. did distribute the second installment of The Lord of the Rings in many of the major international territories and Buena Vista handled both The Hours and Chicago in most foreign countries for Miramax. That leaves Studio Canal's The Pianist and Initial Entertainment's The Gangs of New York to ponder whether their Oscar nomination tally would have been quite so buoyant in a non-screener universe.
Weekend Finals - October 10 - 12, 2003
Title Kill Bill Vol. 1 22,089,322 - 3102 22,089,322 The School of Rock 15,487,832 -21% 2929 39,671,396 Good Boy 13,107,022 - 3225 13,107,022 Intolerable Cruelty 12,525,075 - 2564 12,525,075 Out of Time 8,590,001 -47% 3076 28,711,637 House of the Dead 5,683,280 - 1520 5,683,280 The Rundown 5,208,445 -46% 2823 40,268,790 Under the Tuscan Sun 4,911,328 -36% 1701 28,307,921 Secondhand Lions 3,297,211 -36% 2563 35,384,339 Lost in Translation 2,822,429 -32% 882 18,121,154 Underworld 2,288,092 -55% 1906 48,774,585 The Fighting Temptations 1,910,356 -44% 1168 27,228,139 Cold Creek Manor 1,078,319 -57% 1163 20,196,771 Once Upon a Time in Mexico 1,065,247 -59% 1131 55,010,855 Pirates of the Caribbean 1,022,122 -37% 801 299,468,874 Matchstick Men 881,410 -61% 1021 35,775,075 Mystic River 640,815 - 13 828,422 Duplex 637,765 -71% 961 9,189,143 Finding Nemo 626,484 -5% 540 337,367,455 Luther 566,331 -32% 311 3,047,714 Cabin Fever 367,834 -66% 437 20,531,572 Seabiscuit 314,985 -46% 375 118,742,235 Freaky Friday 291,502 -58% 486 108,201,161 Sur le seuil 249,522 -42% 61 879,232 Mambo Italiano 237,370 -31% 119 4,712,300 S.W.A.T. 229,622 25% 237 116,124,647 Jeepers Creepers 2 205,618 -49% 308 35,143,332 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over 197,302 43% 732 110,793,791 Baghban 168,058 -51% 48 591,180 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star 152,856 -84% 655 22,412,508 Open Range 146,445 -57% 260 57,744,571 Thirteen 145,168 -37% 133 4,305,654 Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life 123,665 337% 200 65,301,314 Bad Boys II 110,290 -18% 148 138,276,434 American Splendor 107,520 -46% 122 5,591,638 Whale Rider 105,332 -34% 160 20,480,971 American Wedding 103,525 -40% 174 104,217,695 Dirty Pretty Things 100,244 -37% 88 7,704,994 Freddy vs. Jason 95,956 -26% 161 81,939,702 Bubba Ho-Tep 92,289 3% 21 354,153 The Gospel of John 91,648 -10% 19 361,624 Step Into Liquid 84,919 -12% 67 3,420,054 Bruce Almighty 82,530 -33% 126 242,495,090 The Matrix Reloaded 78,125 -18% 49 281,311,105 Casa de los Babys 74,242 -28% 71 312,136 Uptown Girls 74,046 -39% 125 36,922,190 The Magdalene Sisters 68,795 -41% 89 4,670,724 The Italian Job 63,568 -63% 103 105,996,316 Ghosts of the Abyss 61,527 25% 18 14,829,621 Foolproof 58,358 -70% 177 343,250 The Station Agent 57,422 -1% 6 140,799 Winged Migration 56,663 -34% 70 9,399,860 Wonderland 53,097 -42% 12 181,417 Daddy Day Care 50,364 -2% 113 104,080,851 The Book of Mormon Movie 50,302 -10% 29 638,189 Space Station 44,906 -27% 18 43,975,865 The Medallion 43,400 -63% 100 22,070,731 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 36,720 -46% 94 150,317,213 My Life Without Me 36,699 32% 14 133,277 The Secret Lives of Dentists 34,837 -34% 51 3,535,385 Party Monster 33,252 6% 12 537,139 La Grande Seduction 31,491 -54% 29 6,505,282 Haunted Castle 30,555 22% 4 7,303,208 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 28,948 -54% 56 66,387,215 Gang of Roses 28,201 - 4 28,201 Civil Brand 25,307 - 35 243,347 To Be and To Have (Etre et avoir) 22,545 -16% 5 315,320 Dopamine 22,282 - 10 22,282 T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous 19,235 -28% 6 46,156,098 Swimming Pool 18,304 -34% 24 10,105,505 Anything Else 18,280 -84% 34 3,203,044 Le Divorce 17,369 -61% 25 9,039,295 The Legend of Johnny Lingo 16,969 -46% 22 466,796
Weekend Estimates - October 10 - 12, 2003
Title Theaters Cume Kill Bill Vol. 1 3102 21.9 The School of Rock 2929 39.4 Good Boy 3225 13.1 Intolerable Cruelty 2564 12.7 Out of Time 3076 28.6 House of the Dead 1520 5.3 The Rundown 2823 39.9 Under the Tuscan Sun