..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Estimates
Scary Movies 3: Mansion, Cat, Santa
It was definitely good to be a family film as Haunted Mansion, The Cat in the Hat and Elf dominated weekend movie going over the Thanksgiving holiday frame. Together the trio accounted for more than $100 million over the five-day period to corral roughly 46% of total ticket sales for the span.
Though shy of the record 2000 tally, the five days should generate roughly $230 million with close to $170 million coming from the Friday through Saturday portion. Overall that would represent an approximate 10% boost from 2002 when the top three were repped by sequels to Harry Potter, James Bond and The Santa Clause and the top freshman titles, Treasure Planet and 8 Crazy Nights bowed with $12.1 million and $9.4 million respectively.
The holiday was generally less kind to more adult fare, though the curmudgeonly Bad Santa definitely hit a commercial nerve. There were also strong first platform showings for a number of titles including In America, a sturdy regional debut of Nez Rouge in Quebec and the best Hindi bow of 2003 with Kal Ho Naa Ho.
The bow of Disney's theme park derived film Haunted Mansion definitely appeared to have a slight box office edge over Dr. Seuss's Cat and the season's surprise blockbuster Elf. All three films grossed between $22 million and $26 million during the conventional weekend with Elf's cume rising to $130 million following its weekend 16% sales increase.
Traditionally family films tend to top the holiday period but in the past there's also always been room for older appeal genre movies and that simply wasn't in evidence this year. Neither the critically ravaged sci-fi antics of Timeline nor positive reviews for the throwback oater The Missing - both debuting Wednesday - managed to gain an audience toe hold. The western corralled $11.6 million and the time travel yarn trailed with $8.4 million.
Both movies were bettered by the profane, mean spirited Bad Santa with a $12.4 million gross from more than 700 fewer theaters. The film is definitely shaping up as the alternative seasonal entry, generating the type of diffuse response that could be a real commercial asset.
Other adult oriented fare that was weathering the wave of new entries well included Master and Command that slipped a modest 18% and Love Actually with a slight 2% upturn in business.
The weekend also saw excellent response to sneak previews for both The Last Samurai and Cheaper by the Dozen. Samurai, opening next weekend, had a record capacity attendance of 95% for a Warner Bros. title and strong recommends in exit polls. Dozen also scored high in both areas.
Second weekend results for award contender 21 Grams were also positive with the addition of 65 venues and a $1 million box office and $13,660 engagement average.
Emerging from a generally fallow year, the Hindi circuit appeared to have a major winner in Kal Ho Naa Ho, a Manhattan-set musical drama centered on a family of mixed religious beliefs. It was eying close to $600,000 from 52 theaters. Nez Rouge's (Red Nose) $350,000 opener in Quebec is a strong candidate to be the fifth $1 million local grosser in the province - an unprecedented feat. The romantic comedy also has a Christmas theme.
Following a year long run on the festival circuit, Jim Sheridan's critically lauded In America bowed on 11 screens and had an impressive $190,000 weekend gross. Also dynamic was the adult animated Triplets of Belleville that was a surprise success at Cannes. It grossed $110,000 from six venues. Bowing to thumbs up reviews, The Cooler was a torrid contender with $130,000 from 11 screens and the Oscar short listed documentary My Flesh and Blood had fair response of $16,440 from five engagements.
Weekend Estimates - November 28-30, 2003
Title Haunted Mansion - 3122 34.9 The Cat in the Hat -36% 3467 76.1 Elf 16% 3202 130.2 Gothika -35% 2382 40.9 Master and Commander -18% 2703 67.1 Bad Santa - 2005 16.6 The Missing - 2756 16.4 Love Actually 2% 1714 43.8 Timeline - 2687 12.5 Matrix Revolutions -14% 2055 132.8 Brother Bear -4% 2034 77.9 Looney Toons: Back in Action -42% 2135 18.5 Radio -23% 1101 50 Mystic River -15% 775 51.1 Scary Movie 3 -66% 1324 108.5 21 Grams 264% 73 1.6 The Runaway Jury -45% 517 48.2 Lost in Translation 16% 177 29 Kal Ho Naa Ho - 52 0.58 The School of Rock -44% 565 78.7 The Human Stain -26% 355 4.7 Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) - % Change (Last Year) - % Change (Last Week) - Also Debuting/Expanding Nez Rouge - 93 0.35 In America - 11 0.25 The Cooler - 11 0.17 Triplettes of Belleville - 6 0.11 My Flesh and Blood - 5 0.02
Top Domestic Releases - January 1- November 27, 2003
Title Finding Nemo 339,700,624 Pirates of the Caribbean 394,298,199 The Matrix Reloaded 281,576,461 Bruce Almighty 242,802,175 X2: X-Men United 214,949,694 Chicago * 167,542,538 Terminator 3: Rise of Machines 150,304,621 Bad Boys II 138,608,444 Anger Management 135,645,823 Bringing Down the House 132,716,677 The Hulk 132,177,234 Matrix Revolutions 128,618,342 2 Fast 2 Furious 127,154,901 Lord of the Rings: Two Towers * 121,155,348 Seabiscuit 120,069,652 S.W.A.T. 116,899,421 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over 111,128,777 Freaky Friday 108,957,663 Elf 108,224,309 Scary Movie 3 107,502,638 * does not include 2002 box office
Domestic Market Share - January 1- November 27, 2003
Distributor (releases) Buena Vista (27) 17.90% Sony (25) 13.00% Warner Bros. (21) 12.70% Universal (15) 11.70% Fox (16) 8.20% New Line (15) 7.70% Miramax (29) 7.50% Paramount (19) 7.50% MGM (20) 4.50% DreamWorks (9) 3.30% Fox Searchlight (10) 1.40% Focus (9) 1.10% Lions Gate (18) 0.60% Other * (233) 2.90% * none greater than .5% 100.00%
Home | Movie City News | The Hot Button | Contact Us
Report broken links and other web problems to Webmaster
©2005. Movie City News, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Movie City Geek, Movie City Indie and MCG are trademarks of Movie City News.
.