..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
It Takes a Village!
Following a string of disappointments, Disney ascended to the top of the charts with its spookfest The Village that grossed an estimated $51.1 million. There was also positive response for the debut of The Manchurian Candidate; a disappointing bow for the stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and a decided lack of interest for the family adventure Thunderbirds.
The quartet was in the vanguard for a weekend tally of approximately $150 million that was on par with the immediate prior weekend business. It also spurred box office upward by 6% from 2003 when the launch of American Wedding led the field with $33.3 million and the $3.8 million debut of Gigli generated endless humorous jabs and the seeds of the end of Ben & Jen.
Though largely deemed an artistic disappointment or worse by reviewers, The Village was both a tonic for the beleaguered Mouse House and a sizeable audience magnet. The film was wisely marketed to the past successes of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan though some hold out hope the pic will reinvigorate the career of William Hurt a la Jon Voight's segue from lead to character roles. Opening day receipts mirrored those of both I, Robot and The Bourne Supremacy but rather than receiving a small sales bump Saturday, declined by about 15%. Nonetheless, it's headed toward a $100 million plus performance.
The Bourne sequel edged out The Manchurian Candidate for second spot and its 55% sophomore decline was deemed good news in a summer where 60% erosion has been the norm. And while the Candidate's $19.6 million initial foray was in line with expectations, industry consensus questioned the wisdom of opening the film between Bourne and next weekend's Collateral. With the possible exception of Shrek 2, the political thriller has corralled the best critical response of the season.
With a significant number of schools in the South and Mid-west poised to reopen in two weeks, the past weekend was the last major beachhead for youth appeal movies. Despite one of the summer's most clever campaigns, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle failed to attract a significant young, hip crowd and ranked seventh with $5.2 million and a disappointing $2,400 theater average. However, while the film still has potential as a niche performer, Thunderbirds was grounded by disinterest from pre-teens and tweens. Its $2.8 million gross and 12th spot in the lineup force a rethink of the campaign and a redub to Thunderbirds Are Went!
The frame also saw significant activity in the specialized arena as it gears up for its traditionally buoyant fall season. The social drama Maria Full of Grace expanded from seven to 65 theaters and maintained a potent $8,260 theater average. There were also modest expansion for such films as Before Sunset, De-Lovely and Napoleon Dynamite that maintained each film's strength and profile.
Most impressive of the weekend bows was Searchlight's Garden State that rang up a $21,000 average from nine locations. The Sundance preemed comedy-drama got a jump start on the weekend with a Wednesday launch and an excellent pre-frame gross of $81,000.
Also strong was the launch of French import Intimate Strangers with five U.S. theaters and four more in Quebec that rang up $76,000. In a rare reversal, American engagements proved more potent accounting for about 70% of the total. The Quebec debut of the French action comedy RRRrrr! Was also soft with a $61,500 gross from 23 playdates.
Spike Lee's latest, She Hate Me failed to translate controversy into viewers and its 11-theater run generated no better than a fair $56,000 return. And adding a whistle stop in Los Angeles, the rock doc Festival Express was decidedly tuneful with $76,000 from L.A. and San Francisco exclusives.
Weekend Finals - Ending August 1, 2004
Title The Village 50,746,142 3730 50,746,142 The Bourne Supremacy 24,167,895 -54% 3180 98,830,075 The Manchurian Candidate 20,018,620 2867 20,018,620 I, Robot 10,355,190 -52% 3204 115,039,036 Spider-Man 2 8,613,693 -43% 3001 344,440,594 Catwoman 6,445,488 -62% 3117 29,776,003 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle 5,480,378 2135 5,480,378 A Cinderella Story 4,868,485 -38% 2350 40,322,944 Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy 3,132,946 -55% 2032 78,167,043 Fahrenheit 9/11 3,109,038 -35% 1217 109,442,647 Thunderbirds 2,766,810 2057 2,766,810 The Notebook 2,688,124 -37% 1506 68,257,495 King Arthur 1,447,745 -52% 1134 48,539,266 Napoleon Dynamite 1,402,563 -13% 423 9,315,870 Shrek 2 1,317,270 -43% 1019 432,493,392 De-Lovely 1,182,329 -28% 385 6,946,903 Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban 989,449 -41% 605 243,910,542 White Chicks 605,273 -63% 561 68,272,150 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story 589,791 -71% 555 111,093,939 The Terminal 559,570 -66% 580 75,918,719 Maria Full of Grace 525,706 284% 65 971,570 Before Sunset 459,263 -12% 203 3,226,863 Garfield 382,034 -44% 481 72,825,953 The Door in the Floor 363,277 -37% 128 1,995,955 The Day After Tomorrow 294,469 -37% 296 184,674,202 Nascar: The Imax Experience 256,562 -8% 53 16,618,925 Metallica: Some Kind of Monster 236,158 119% 147 702,563 Bugs! 202,467 -22% 26 11,542,250 Garden State 201,115 9 283,069 The Chronicles of Riddick 200,005 -35% 226 57,185,815 Mujhse Shaadi Karogi 199,958 31 199,958 Camping Sauvage 187,820 -11% 64 2,870,283 The Clearing 170,404 -74% 155 5,409,653 Two Brothers 168,345 -50% 261 18,473,970 Mean Girls 135,624 -26% 196 85,521,965 Raising Helen 131,352 -21% 213 37,065,066 Riding Giants 133,505 -24% 44 976,155 Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk 130,666 16% 17 7,398,948 Space Station 123,229 -4% 10 53,188,986 A Home at the End of the World 118,668 83% 26 216,411 Troy 115,467 -33% 292 132,946,242 The Stepford Wives 96,084 -51% 136 58,521,965 13 Going on 30 94,178 -27% 127 56,919,629 Festival Express 93,874 677% 17 112,182 The Corporation 93,562 -29% 25 2,572,225 Intimate Strangers 85,826 11 85,826 Van Helsing 79,425 -44% 126 120,025,245 Around the World in 80 Days 75,226 -2% 76 22,941,725 Super Size Me 66,210 -44% 90 11,014,972 Control Room 63,799 -44% 49 2,014,566 The Story of the Weeping Camel 63,286 -39% 38 1,173,411 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed 62,783 -21% 121 84,045,006 Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey 59,481 29% 10 7,117,357 What the #$*! Do We Know 58,617 3% 15 1,545,857 Zatoichi 55,080 -16% 10 400,212 She Hate Me 55,016 11 81,367 RRRrrrr!!! 54,361 23 54,361 Sleepover 53,128 -56% 83 9,304,298 Touch of Pink 52,243 -15% 20 273,973 Man on Fire 48,007 -30% 76 77,776,328 T-Rex: Back to the Cretacious 36,963 2% 4 48,846,455 Donnie Darko (Director's Cut) 27,619 -48% 6 213,529 Seducing Dr. Lewis 26,019 -30% 11 179,084 Facing Windows 25,697 -40% 19 416,845 The Hunting of the President 24,639 -28% 13 210,901 Home on the Range 23,778 -26% 57 49,945,112 Coffee and Cigarettes 23,267 -26% 21 2,074,506 Ghosts of the Abyss 19,171 78% 5 16,396,352 Saved! 18,808 -43% 29 8,886,160 Ju-on: The Grudge 17,032 -33% 5 58,606
Estimates - July 30 - August 1, 2004
Title The Village The Bourne Supremecy -55% 3180 98.1 The Manchurian Candidate - 2867 19.6 I, Robot -55% 3204 114.5 Spider-Man 2 -42% 3001 344.6 Catwoman -64% 3117 29.4 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - 2135