..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
ReBourne or CATastrophe
The claws were out but the pause that refreshed this weekend was the debut of The Borne Supremacy with an estimated $53.5 million. Lapping up poor thirds (almost literally) was the launch of Catwoman with $16.7 million.
Overall business was clocking in at slightly better than $155 million for a modest 1% boost from the prior frame. It was also close to status quo with 97% of 2003 business when Spy Kids 3-D was top ranked with $33.4 million and the debuts of Lara Croft: the Cradle of Life and Seabiscuit listing fourth and fifth with $21.8 million and $20.8 million respectively.
The spy thriller sequel to The Bourne Identity got out to a decidedly faster start than its inspiration, that bowed to $27.1 million two years ago. There's no question familiarity did not breed contempt and advance word was largely positive on the CIA shenanigans that inform the picture. Still, few were expecting the picture to perform on a comparable level to last weekend's I, Robot; let alone gross a silly little millimeter more. The difference would appear to have come from women that eschewed the more blatant distaff appeal of Catwoman.
Certainly the feline crimefighter had obvious commercial hooks (or claws). It had star appeal, name recognition and title recognition. However, the advance word was close to dire and then the reviews kicked in things had obviously not worked out purrfectly. The mega production performed considerably below a calculated franchise level and that's bound to have echoes in both the upcoming revivals of Warner's beleaguered Batman and Superman series.
Taking a hard 58% plunge in its second weekend, I, Robot ranked second in the lineup with just shy of $22 million. However, most continuing titles were experiencing 40% hits with the rare exceptions providing some of the season's biggest surprises.
Fahrenheit 9/11 added $4.9 million to its larder and passed a $100 million level on Saturday. Only two other non-fiction films have ever reached such heights and the Michael Moore political Bushwhack may well benefit from current political awareness to finish at the top of that rarefied list.
The other quasi-surprise is The Notebook that's managed to sustain better than any other summer 2004 release on a week-to-week basis. One of the few mainstream releases targeted at adults, it's played at 80% to 85% levels as it's progressed and underlines both the strength of an older audience and the paucity of choice they confront during the summer months. It should top out at about $75 million.
To a more limited extent one can see a similar potency in De-Lovely that has rolled out gradually and crept to $5 million with now slightly more than 300 playdates. Regardless of its final tally, it's doubtful the picture would have done as well in the more adult-competitive spring of autumn periods.
The frame also saw potent launches of a number of alternative titles including Warner Independent's family drama Home at the End of the World that scored a $12,500 average from five engagements. The second weekend of the Sundance social drama Maria Full of Grace was rock solid and the film expands next weekend.
Also impressive were a pair of Asian genre films. Japan's samurai saga Zatoichi entered American cinemas (it opened last month in Canada) and its four U.S. screens generated a screen average close to $15,000. The Hong Kong horror outing Ju-on (The Grudge) was a notch down with roughly a $9,000 average from three locations.
Finally, the record of the 1970 musical marathon Festival Express pulled into a single station in San Francisco and fired up $11,400 on tuneful echoes of Joplin, The Band and The Grateful Dead.
Weekend Finals - July 23-25, 2004
Title The Bourne Supremacy 3165 52,521,865 I, Robot -58% 3494 95,123,749 Catwoman 3117 16,728,411 Spider-Man 2 -39% 3753 328,468,763 A Cinderella Story -43% 2625 29,608,773 Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy -50% 2936 71,060,084 Fahrenheit 9/11 -34% 1855 103,115,645 The Notebook -24% 2003 62,318,684 King Arthur -58% 2104 45,169,967 Shrek 2 -28% 1559 429,441,294 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story -47% 1373 109,335,049 Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban -39% 1008 241,770,359 The Terminal -48% 1254 74,491,946 De-Lovely 9% 333 4,952,195 White Chicks -53% 1152 66,811,304 Napoleon Dynamite 114% 389 6,517,812 Garfield -35% 680 71,926,472 The Clearing -50% 429 4,933,892 The Door in the Floor 25% 119 1,363,123 Before Sunset -10% 140 2,527,918 The Day After Tomorrow -25% 374 184,110,900 Two Brothers -39% 377 18,024,760 The Chronicles of Riddick 7% 240 56,816,620 Nascar: The Imax Experience 1% 52 16,119,985 Bugs! 43% 30 11,158,439 Camping Sauvage -54% 81 2,428,881 The Stepford Wives -55% 256 58,295,045 Mean Girls -29% 236 85,222,509 Riding Giants -10% 41 726,645 Troy 32% 301 132,703,006 Raising Helen 159% 241 36,781,917 Van Helsing -15% 179 119,857,215 Maria Full of Grace -2% 7 365,456 The Corporation 18% 31 2,401,459 Space Station 9% 11 52,906,320 13 Going on 30 -24% 139 56,725,409 Sleepover -90% 300 9,134,665 Super Size Me -19% 118 10,861,901 Control Room -19% 63 1,885,396 Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk 10% 17 7,268,282 Metallica: Some Kind of Monster -20% 42 387,803 The Story of the Weeping Camel -13% 55 1,055,919 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed -34% 160 83,916,289 Around the World in 80 Days -42% 105 22,804,073 Man on Fire -37% 117 77,693,892 Zatoichi 381% 7 300,179 A Home at the End of the World 5 64,728 Touch of Pink -21% 21 183,711 What the #$*! Do We Know 5% 14 1,409,575 Donnie Darko (Director's Cut) 6 150,130 Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey -11% 9 7,057,876 Facing Windows -16% 18 373,955 Seducing Dr. Lewis 19% 15 142,106 T-Rex: Back to the Cretacious -1% 4 48,757,550 Flavors -36% 12 93,370 The Hunting of the President 38% 16 171,457 Saved! -25% 30 8,846,873 Home on the Range -43% 78 49,887,802 Coffee and Cigarettes -18% 31 2,030,210 Kill Bill Vol. 2 -51% 72 66,145,221 Breakin' All the Rules -40% 35 12,232,382 Ju-on: The Grudge 3 25,447 Zhou Yu's Train 0% 11 57,101 I'll Sleep When I'm Dead -37% 14 250,043 The Mother -30% 21 794,603 Asambhav 15 19,504 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -21% 19 34,366,518 Johnson Family Vacation -28% 32 31,113,310
Estimates - July 23-25, 2004
Title The Bourne Supremecy - 3165 53.5 I, Robot -58% 3494 95.1 Catwoman - 3117 16.7 Spider-Man 2 -39% 3753 328.7 A Cinderella Story -43% 2625 29.5 Anchorman -48% 2936 71.3 Fahrenheit 9/11 -32% 1855 103.2 The Notebook -20% 2003 62.5 King Arthur -56% 2104 45.3 Shrek 2 -19% 1559 429.7 The Terminal -41% 1254 74.7 Dodgeball: A True Underdog's Story -52% 1373 109.2 White Chicks -50% 1152 66.9 Napoleon Dynamite 128% 389 6.6 Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban -41% 1008 241.7 De-Lovely 5%<