..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Hellelujah!
Justice - movie style - was served and served up as Hellboy unleashed its commercial wrath for an estimated $23.2 million and The Rock was Walking Tall at $15.2 million. The two freshmen entries provided a potent push for excellent weekend returns that were once again significantly ahead of 2003.
Comic book fugitive Hellboy was just waiting to explode thanks to a carefully orchestrated campaign that teased the uninitiated and obviously drew from a larger pond than its cult fan base. Ironically, commercial expectations for the film had been pegged more modestly entering the weekend and by Sunday the tune had changed to speculation of an even more bountiful debut had it not been competing with Walking Tall.
Though liberally based on the 1973 yarn of a real life Southerner that became the poster boy for vigilante justice, the new Walking Tall retains the original's essence. It was perceived as a distant also ran to the comic book hero-villain but, again, surprised the pundits with more box office potency than one normally gets from a big stick.
The disappointment of the frame was Disney's animated Home on the Range that bowed in fourth spot with about $14.1 million just behind the second weekend of Scooby-Doo 2. It's not the first time that Disney's illustrated franchise has gone into a declining cycle and critics have stated the division was in need of a toon-up. Of late Pixar has stolen its thunder and the Mouse House's current internal strife has put added pressure on the company to turn around its fortunes in that particular entertainment arena.
Weekend business should generate close to $130 million for a sizeable 9% boost from last weekend. It's also a significant 33% better than 2003 when the top three were all newcomers. Last year's trio were Phone Booth, What a Girl Wants and A Man Apart with respective grosses of $15 million, $11.4 million and $11 million.
Also bowing nationally was The Prince & Me that charted sixth with just shy of $10 million. Paramount, its distributor, has had a very bad recent case of the box office yips and this modern day romantic fairy tale isn't about to change its fortunes. Like so many of the studio's recent releases, it has the air of something safe and formulaic.
Among holdover titles, the second weekends of both The Ladykillers and Jersey Girl both took sizeable hits of more than 40%. However, the recent entry experiencing the worst downturns is Dawn of the Dead that, despite good reviews and exit polls, is bleeding at a weekly rate of 60% and initial expectations of an $80 million have now been scaled back to $65 million.
The approach of Easter appears to have resurrected the vitality of The Passion of The Christ with the current frame just 15% down and next weekend expected to be even stronger. The film bowed in both Spain and France over the weekend with the former expected to gross a strong $2 million from about 400 theaters to rank first and a tighter race anticipated in France where opening day figures were lower than anticipated.
Specialized bows included Paramount's Sundance entry The United States of Leland with a passable $48,000 gross from 14 venues. There was also good response to a pair of Asian acquisitions including Miramax's oft-delayed opening of Shaolin Soccer with an estimated $35,000 from six screens and Sony Classics' Korean Oscar submission Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring … slightly more potent with $40,000 also from six locations.
Weekend Finals - April 2-4, 2004
Title Hellboy 23,172,440 3028 23,172,440 Walking Tall 15,501,114 2836 15,501,114 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed 14,788,422 -50% 3312 49,746,466 Home on the Range 13,880,771 3047 13,880,771 The Passion of the Christ 10,605,106 -16% 3112 330,856,971 The Prince & Me 9,406,378 2682 9,406,378 The Ladykillers 7,090,016 -44% 1587 23,482,792 Jersey Girl 5,124,554 -38% 1821 15,826,301 Dawn of the Dead 4,584,365 -57% 2357 51,759,940 Taking Lives 3,495,271 -47% 2010 27,473,161 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 3,443,878 -34% 1120 21,919,041 Starsky & Hutch 3,222,256 -48% 2103 81,909,421 Hidalgo 2,580,498 -52% 1603 60,680,776 Secret Window 2,355,834 -56% 1698 44,361,036 Never Die Alone 1,040,249 -66% 1153 4,919,429 Nascar: The Imax Experience 858,970 -20% 71 6,203,854 50 First Dates 772,113 -68% 781 118,206,131 Agent Cody Banks: Destination London 469,461 -83% 1099 22,398,866 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 373,903 -47% 348 375,204,550 Good Bye, Lenin! 289,247 4% 78 1,397,080 Cheaper by the Dozen 244,607 -13% 279 137,881,750 Barbershop 2: Back in Business 223,461 -3% 426 62,862,076 Miracle 195,693 -32% 368 63,943,494 Monsieur Ibrahim 185,299 1% 76 1,462,914 Touching the Void 163,808 -20% 120 3,574,189 You Got Served 126,197 102% 156 39,924,273 Bugs! 124,311 -14% 24 6,222,097 Intermission 119,589 64% 45 281,591 The Triplets of Belleville 113,731 -25% 82 6,778,969 Le Dernier Tunnel 113,122 -20% 55 1,057,599 Monster 111,963 -59% 351 34,187,787 Dogville 109,387 23% 14 237,836 Girl with a Pearl Earring 106,566 -24% 94 11,262,360 Master and Commander 102,396 -13% 163 93,705,590 Along Came Polly 100,860 -29% 164 87,751,215 The Butterfly Effect 98,889 -2% 157 57,528,908 Mystic River 96,088 -61% 120 88,955,308 My Architect 83,174 -10% 38 2,120,639 Confessions of Teenage Drama Queen 82,219 -82% 161 28,695,607 Twisted 80,777 -87% 348 24,902,636 The Barbarian Invasions 75,337 -24% 90 8,391,817 Tais-toi 73,765 -20% 32 205,358 The Fog of War 72,036 -29% 63 3,905,848 The Haunted Mansion 66,914 -36% 131 75,759,571 Calendar Girls 63,829 -39% 122 30,937,521 Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey 63,458 5% 12 6,066,821 Latter Days 63,055 85% 19 553,570 Spartan 59,905 -71% 62 4,291,858 The Blue Butterfly 55,239 -11% 43 1,610,194 Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights 53,516 -71% 81 14,007,836 Bon Voyage 53,262 -10% 7 175,989 Osama 52,938 -8% 27 1,057,514 The Company 49,238 -12% 39 2,164,659 The United States of Leland 48,384 14 48,384 Something's Gotta Give 47,505 -60% 89 124,685,242 La Grande seduction 46,536 416% 12 7,327,199 Space Station 43,997 -50% 16 48,750,953 In America 43,908 -45% 58 15,399,490 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring … 42,561 6 42,561 Cold Mountain 40,640 -48% 95 95,278,095 Shaolin Soccer 39,167 6 39,167 The Reckoning 34,018 79% 32 165,812 Catch That Kid 31,473 -9% 94 16,625,394 The Last Samurai 29,918 -54% 102 111,110,575 Torque 29,865 -54% 61 21,176,322 The Dreamers 26,263 -36% 22 2,429,596 Welcome to Mooseport 26,205 -45% 87 14,384,019 T-Rex: Back to the Cretacious 25,461 -11% 4 47,612,500 City of God 23,230 -15% 15 7,401,949 Ghosts of the Abyss 21,954 19% 8 15,724,306 Broken Wings 20,392 58% 11 103,139 The Haunted Castle 19,674 16% 5 8,216,690 The Young Black Stallion 19,592 -41% 24 6,201,958 Mayor of the Sunset Strip 19,521 -10% 7 51,455 The Corporation 18,760 -47% 6 886,149 Big Fish 18,684 -16% 20 66,432,867
Estimates - April 2-4, 2004
Title Hellboy = 3028 Walking Tall = 2836 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed -49% 3312 Home on the Range = 3047 The Passion of the Christ -15% 3408 The Prince & Me = 2682 The Ladykillers -44% 1587 Jersey Girl -40% 1821 Dawn of the Dead -58% 2357 Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind -29% 1120 Taking Lives -45% 2010 Starsky & Hutch -46% 2103