| February 16, 2004 |
| February 8, 2004 |
| February 1, 2004 |
| January 25, 2004 |
| January 19, 2004 |
| January 11, 2004 |
| January 4, 2004 |
| Dec 28, 2003 |
| Dec 21, 2003 |
| Dec 14, 2003 |
| Dec 7, 2003 |
..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Warning: Gross Out Leads to Box Office Indigestion
Weekend movie going dipped to its lowest level this year despite the arrival of a quartet of new movies and the sort of regional weather that historically gets people into cinemas. Apart from the continuing appeal of 50 First Dates, no film in theaters grossed more than $10 million. The Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore romantic-comedy doubled its closest competitor with an estimated $21.5 million.
In addition to four new entries, two films went out with sneak preview screenings on Friday and Saturday. While admittedly expectations overall leaned toward a soft frame, ticket sales were even more downbeat than had been predicted.
Best of the newcomers was Disney's young female targeted Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen that ranked second with an estimated $9.1 million. The film had a slight edge over the freshman class both because of the specificity of its audience and also as its appeal group tends to rush out on opening weekend.
Slotting fourth was DreamWorks' teen comedy Eurotrip with an expected $6.6 million bow. Coincidentally, DreamWorks bowed its similar appeal comedy Old School one year ago and challenged Daredevil's second weekend with a $17.5 million debut.
Overall weekend ticket sales should edge just past $90 million, representing a sizeable 27% drop from seven days earlier for the first three days of the Presidents Day holiday weekend. Business was also down by 20% from 2003 when Daredevil led with $18 million and four new movies bowed to results ranging from excellent to poor (MGM's Dark Blue grossing just $3.9 million).
The weakest performers among the bowing foursome also came as no surprise, though each was expected to perform better than their actuals. The political satire Welcome to Mooseport fell somewhere in the midst of the top 10 with roughly $6.2 million while Against the Ropes wasn't Rocky enough as its yarn of an upstart fight promoter and her boxer eked out about $2.8 million.
The sheer volume of product that's propped up movie going for the past three years has also meant that the marketplace tends to produce hits and misses and very few mid-range performers. A handful of films all grossed between $2.7 million and $3 million and will likely been rearranged when final figures are reported Monday. Regardless, the box office landscape for mainstream movies tends to bunch up with movies that gross in excess of $75 million and those that fall short of $50 million domestically.
Going out in previews Friday was Fox's offbeat comedy The Girl Next Door. The studio was upbeat about exit polling but had to admit that attendance was disappointing and that it will do additional sneaks Oscar weekend. Warner Bros. generated better sales Saturday for Starsky and Hutch, though some engagements were poorly attended. It's exit polls skewed toward males and to a slightly older than anticipated audience.
With Oscar seven days off, such films as Mystic River, The Return of the King and Monster continued to hold their own in the mainstream while Lost in Translation, In America and Girl with a Pearl Earring remained competitive in the niches. However, there was no sign of a last minute upturn and that's not a good sign for reversing the telecast's declining numbers and rating during the past decade.
Activity in regional and specialized arenas was extremely quiet with the most significant new indie opener - IFC's Norwegian import Kitchen Stories - bowing with an encouraging $41,000 at eight venues. There was also a very good 31-screen launch of the family friendly The Blue Butterfly in Quebec that grossed close to $140,000.
Weekend Finals - February 20-22, 2004
Title Weekend % Change Theaters Cume 50 First Dates 20,427,325 -49% 3612 71,738,493 Confessions of Teenage Drama Queen 9,350,572 2503 9,350,572 Miracle 7,803,352 -44% 2713 50,352,253 Welcome to Mooseport 6,775,132 2868 6,775,132 Eurotrip 6,711,384 2512 6,711,384 Barbershop 2: Back in Business 6,287,008 -57% 2229 53,223,440 Mystic River 3,094,569 -16% 1352 79,206,839 Against the Ropes 3,038,546 1601 3,038,546 The Butterfly Effect 2,975,882 -43% 1901 53,208,211 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 2,850,455 -32% 1407 361,118,934 You Got Served 2,713,752 -47% 1441 36,490,797 Monster 2,535,903 -22% 1087 23,802,022 Cold Mountain 2,264,111 -35% 1613 90,712,258 Along Came Polly 2,142,535 -56% 1714 84,955,980 Catch That Kid 1,774,617 -60% 1745 15,108,033 Something's Gotta Give 1,601,175 -36% 915 121,417,924 Big Fish 1,187,814 -53% 947 65,150,895 Lost in Translation 831,250 -44% 481 43,217,012 Cheaper by the Dozen 725,974 -70% 801 135,444,586 Girl with a Pearl Earring 724,269 -22% 319 8,536,275 In America 676,117 -15% 261 13,324,075 Master and Commander 575,589 -45% 382 92,076,135 Calendar Girls 494,981 -47% 519 29,591,087 The Triplets of Belleville 476,882 -38% 335 4,621,738 The Dreamers 410,355 -2% 115 1,241,064 The Haunted Mansion 393,069 -14% 373 74,320,416 The Last Samurai 391,141 -28% 220 110,068,738 21 Grams 381,452 -25% 189 15,311,855 Touching the Void 375,511 34% 64 1,280,397 City of God 336,790 -24% 151 6,475,140 The Cooler 281,421 -27% 163 7,574,897 House of Sand and Fog 253,915 -2% 176 12,242,407 The Blue Butterfly 228,509 73 228,509 The Young Black Stallion 220,039 -21% 51 5,281,304 Peter Pan 217,620 -18% 340 47,580,735 The Fog of War 209,030 -1% 55 1,867,838 My Architect 148,497 59% 36 1,122,954 Mona Lisa Smile 145,824 -34% 235 63,695,760 Osama 128,734 154% 17 285,640 Win a Date with Tad Hamilton 119,854 -80% 187 16,899,058 The Perfect Score 113,576 -88% 582 10,279,192 The Company 99,569 -26% 53 1,683,937 Gothika 95,182 -20% 169 59,453,918 The Gospel of John 94,721 -27% 65 3,862,285 Elf 93,614 -35% 173 173,305,906 Space Station 92,954 10% 23 47,395,088 The Best Two Years 92,436 22 92,436 The Barbarian Invasions 86,150 -23% 50 6,621,946 Brother Bear 85,130 -8% 165 84,874,178 Highwaymen 79,362 -59% 111 330,395 The Cat in the Hat 74,769 -17% 112 100,970,499 Chasing Liberty 74,611 459% 191 12,145,090 Torque 72,028 -52% 121 20,848,827 Love Don't Cost a Thing 63,980 -29% 111 21,803,258 Bugs! 57,705 1% 15 4,976,857 The Station Agent 57,142 -27% 39 5,801,558 Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey 51,973 11% 14 5,720,373 Monsieur Ibrahim 49,786 -6% 7 159,335 Kitchen Stories 48,103 8 48,103 Stuck on You 44,972 -26% 104 33,762,242 The Corporation 41,706 -3% 10 543,664 Jack Paradise 41,704 31 41,704 Love Actually 40,675 -57% 63 59,434,080 Effroyables jardins 38,155 12 38,155 The Battle of Algiers (reissue) 36,570 -7% 4 458,677 Latter Days 35,654 -1% 8 216,869 The Return 34,647 7% 9 116,995 Ghosts of the Abyss 34,555 -26% 12 15,508,125 Dans l'oeil du chat 34,529 -56% 27 155,714 Wooly Boys 34,524 -5% 7 239,330 Honey 33,114 -47% 54 30,272,254 La Grande Seduction 32,793 -43% 29 7,065,794 My Baby's Daddy 27,258 -66% 56 17,256,602 Disney's Teacher's Pet 26,346 -48% 110 6,353,479 T-Rex: Back to the Crataceous 25,287 179% 4 47,077,640 Paycheck 25,210 -46% 59 53,428,301 Matrix Revolutions 21,941 -41% 31 139,259,759 The Big Bounce 21,811 -88% 34 6,405,857 The School of Rock 21,188 -46% 35 81,238,864
Weekend Estimates - February 20-22, 2004
Title % change Theaters Cume 50 First Dates -46% 3612 72.9 Confessions of Teenage Drama Queen - 2503 8.3 Miracle -44% 2713 50.4 Eurotrip - 2512 6.6 Barbershop 2: Back in Business -57% 2229 53.2 Welcome to Mooseport - 2867 6.2 The Butterfly Effect -43% 1901 53.2 Mystic River -22% 1352 79 Against the Ropes - 1601 2.8 You Got Served -47% 1441 36.5