..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
He's Big and He's Green ...
… but you knew that already.
Shrek 2 stomped into the marketplace with almost unprecedented force that translated into an estimated $105.1 million and a five-day tally of $126 million. The monster mashed the competition as it took home about 63% of weekend ticket sales and propelled weekend business to record levels.
In the big picture, the animated marvel was second only to Spider-Man in opening strength and if its Saturday box office estimate of $44 million holds would be the single biggest grossing day for a movie ever. It was a fairy tale come true and a potent sequel to an original that bowed to $42.3 million a little more than three years ago.
The grossing power of Shrek 2 was expected to be considerable and better than the recent debuts of Van Helsing and Troy. However, industry trackers considerably underplayed its opening with estimates ranging between $60 million and $75 million. Its $11 million gross on Wednesday should have tipped pundits to the potential of a $100 million weekend but it wasn't until Friday's estimates of $27 million that the bar was raised to more than $90 million.
Overseas figures for Shrek 2 were not available at press time. But, unlike the very recent blockbusters, the green machine was not steeping out in force internationally with toe testing only in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
Weekend business should climb to roughly $166 million overall for a sizeable boost of 51% from seven days earlier. It's also a 4% improvement from 2003 that coincided with the Memorial weekend when Bruce Almighty brought in $67.9 for three days and The Matrix Reloaded fell 60% to $36.9 million.
The second weekend of Troy saw the Trojan warriors fall by 48% to $24.2 million. However, its foreign legions were considerable, with continuing runs and market debuts in Italy, Japan, Russia, Taiwan and the U.K. accounting for an estimated worldwide $93.8 million and a 10-day run of more than $230 million. British box office was eyeing $7 million while Italy was sitting at $6.3 million and Japan added $5.1 million. Second weekend drops in major territories ranged from 11% in France to 38% in Australia and bode well for the sort of domestic/international split that saw The Last Samurai more than double its North American performance level.
Van Helsing's third weekend also took a 50% hit and crept to a $100 million total in its 17th day of release. There were no other national debuts positioned as counter-programming to Shrek 2 and on-going titles generally experienced drops of about one-third.
Regional and niche bows were also spare both in number and commercial response. IDP's bow of the American indie Stateside was all but blotted out by a large, green shadow grossing roughly $110,000 from 156 engagements. The Hindi-language Yuva fared slightly better with a $94,000 bow from 35 Bollywood outposts.
The documentary Control Room on the El Jazira network had an impressive $24,000 gross on a single Manhattan screen while Love Me If You Dare did comparably from three playdates and $40,000 with second weekend returns from Quebec.
Among hold over titles, Super Size Me continued to expand slowly and maintained a $7,000 plus theater average and $830,000 weekend. The hot button A Day Without a Mexican dipped just 18% to $510,000 and Coffee and Cigarettes added 12 engagements for an 85% box office boost to $183,000.
Weekend Finals - May 21-23, 2004
Title Weekend % Chang Theaters Cume Shrek 2 108,037,878 4163 128,983,060 Troy 23,925,330 -49% 3411 85,960,779 Van Helsing 10,561,655 -49% 3418 100,526,335 Mean Girls 6,907,627 -32% 3054 64,706,896 Man on Fire 3,680,522 -28% 2104 69,461,524 Breakin' All the Rules 2,845,368 -44% 1318 9,053,501 13 Going on 30 2,512,234 -39% 2028 52,080,216 New York Minute 1,302,152 -66% 2360 12,622,044 Kill Bill Vol. 2 1,078,811 -34% 854 62,711,658 Super Size Me 973,644 28% 148 2,941,709 Laws of Attraction 924,734 -54% 1010 16,849,742 Envy 604,606 -42% 521 12,786,090 A Day Without a Mexican 557,313 -12% 103 1,403,320 Walking Tall 459,111 -21% 689 45,138,529 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 342,428 -17% 231 32,944,436 Nascar: The Imax Experience 338,406 -14% 72 11,602,237 Godsend 316,135 -69% 419 13,994,861 Johnson Family Vacation 303,175 -51% 394 30,056,597 The Passion of the Christ 271,424 -46% 715 369,336,919 50 First Dates 231,731 334% 237 119,861,977 Yuva 211,000 30 211,000 Ella Enchanted 200,968 -61% 469 21,838,719 Barbershop 2: Back in Business 197,576 -35% 448 64,955,956 Coffee and Cigarettes 196,492 98% 17 359,594 Bon Voyage 195,179 23% 94 1,553,271 Home on the Range 159,258 -78% 456 48,591,944 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed 156,469 -76% 404 82,106,653 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring … 137,362 -2% 57 1,113,128 Hidalgo 135,196 -20% 161 65,964,410 The Punisher 134,157 -64% 206 33,263,532 Bugs! 123,716 -10% 24 8,266,610 The Ladykillers 122,599 -30% 182 38,984,012 I'm Not Scared 119,157 -5% 57 1,006,049 Stateside 113,620 156 113,620 Good Bye, Lenin! 112,275 -21% 92 3,448,189 Dawn of the Dead 106,665 -44% 168 58,747,560 Main Hoon Na 88,711 -41% 53 1,654,260 The Saddest Music in the World 86,852 30% 24 334,744 The Boston Red Sox Movie 84,855 62% 54 265,334 Starsky & Hutch 78,814 7% 92 87,320,620 The Life of Brian (reissue) 72,969 78% 24 228,842 Hellboy 72,928 -52% 121 59,035,104 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 72,176 -22% 135 276,958,965 Monica la mitraille 71,467 -44% 44 1,182,372 Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey 69,759 -8% 14 6,561,032 Connie and Carla 68,325 -47% 112 7,976,065 Strayed 64,111 228% 14 94,301 Secret Window 61,473 -41% 113 47,885,177 Space Station 60,098 -13% 17 50,419,621 The Whole Ten Yards 58,822 49% 52 16,159,854 The Prince & Me 58,493 -32% 103 27,588,647 Monsieur Ibrahim 55,899 -22% 47 2,583,673 Young Adam 55,058 4% 41 473,884 Taking Lives 52,360 -23% 124 32,634,479 Asa Nu Maan Watan Da 52,077 -2% 5 118,758 Dogville 49,008 -4% 52 1,373,362 Touching the Void 47,439 5% 56 4,478,319 The Girl Next Door 47,338 -45% 116 14,427,742 Valentin 43,736 205% 14 84,802 Since Otar Left 38,161 24% 14 124,452 The Twilight Samurai 36,760 27% 12 154,440 My Architect 36,489 -2% 32 2,645,696 Cheaper by the Dozen 36,123 127% 37 138,604,245 The Alamo 35,438 -69% 99 22,110,057 Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius 34,520 -73% 54 2,624,744 Clifford's Really Big Movie 32,580 -49% 40 2,831,130 The Corporation 30,230 -15% 12 1,362,462 Ghosts of the Abyss 28,808 8% 10 16,046,097 La Grande seduction 28,072 2% 13 7,762,987 Shaolin Soccer 27,833 -30% 18 433,055 Love Me If You Dare/Jeux d'enfants 27,324 107% 18 46,420 Control Room 27,125 1 27,125 The Delicate Art of Parking 26,812 -1% 8 156,697 Dans une galaxie pres de chez vous 26,175 -55% 33 2,164,047 Godzilla (1954) 25,151 -48% 5 178,502 Carandiru 21,267 18% 9 50,418 Mystic River 20,008 -39% 45 90,135,191 Broken Wings 19,478 -37% 17 365,974 Agent Cody Banks: Destination London 50,585 14% 126 23,514,247
Estimates - May 21-23, 2004
Title Shrek 2 - 4163 126 Troy -48% 3411 86.2 Van Helsing -50% 3418 100.4 Mean Girls -33% 3054 64.7 Man on Fire -33% 2104 69.2 Breakin' All the Rules -48% 1318 8.9 13 Going on 30