..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
Not With A Bang ...
The closing weekend of CineSummer crawled to the finish line with a trio of afterthought releases that did little to enhance a season that looked better in print that on spreadsheets. The best of the new bunch was the reality-challenged Paparazzi with $7.6 million to rank fourth overall.
The long delayed Hero from China again led the field with an estimated $11.3 million but saw its initial momentum halved. The four-day holiday frame should generate about $108 in ticket sales for a 19% drop from the comparable 2003 Labor Day period. However, a year ago the holiday was celebrated a week earlier on the calendar.
Among the other freshmen entries, the romantic thriller Wicker Park grossed $6.6 million and the African-American comedy The Cookout tallied $6 million. Respectively they placed 6th and 8th in the lineup.
Slightly more potent was the screen adaptation of Vanity Fair that entered the weekend with a two-day advance of a little better than $1.1 million and added $5.9 million for a $5,600 theater average. Critical response to the film was mixed and it remains to be seen whether it can sustain commercial power as an early prestige/award entry.
Initial estimates pegged the seasonal box office at $3.73 billion for a modest gain of 7% but no better than a 2% boost in actual admissions. However, the number of both wide and limited releases also increased along with production and marketing costs for a net industry loss that was only softened by theatrical upturns overseas and presumed hearty DVD sales for the event titles later in the year and into 2005.
The tides of fortune were all too apparent among the market share leaders. Both DreamWorks and Fox - ranked first and second - experienced huge boosts following very disappointing performances in 2003. Conversely, Buena Vista and Universal that held those positions one year ago had box office drops of roughly 60% as a result of releases that proved tepid once they hit the big screen.
That noted there were no abject commercial catastrophes with the domestic slack of such films as Troy and King Arthur offset by international exposure that performed with more than twice as much potency. However, improved overseas exhibition won't stave off significant losses for the likes of Catwoman or Thunderbirds.
Simultaneously, there were very few runaway successes as most saw a considerable portion of profits consumed by talent. The major releases that could well achieve the best cost-to-return ratios were not franchises but such films as Fahrenheit 9/11 and Dodgeball: A True Underdog's Story. Additionally, the summer proved to be a bonanza for a handful of Sundance acquisitions including Napoleon Dynamite, Open Water and Maria Full of Grace.
The weekend also featured a handful of limited or exclusive debuts though few generated impressive returns. The major exception was a $10,000 plus per engagement average for Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood, Korea's all-time box office champ. The Korean war saga opened in 29 venues and was largely propelled by ethnic crowds.
On the heels of Hero, China's Warriors of Heaven and Earth had a lukewarm $18,000 from four screens while the American indie Remember Me, My Love scored $20,000 from two locations. Single screen outings for the Dutch musical comedy Yes Nurse! No Nurse! grossed a little more than $7,000 and $6,000 for another U.S. independent Virgin.
Weekend Finals - September 3-6, 2004
Title Hero 11,514,779 -51% 2092 35,237,282 Without a Paddle 9,014,918 -18% 2756 39,854,910 Anacondas 8,008,188 -50% 2905 23,860,466 Paparazzi 7,855,111 2115 7,855,111 Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement 7,537,330 -31% 3139 85,500,804 Wicker Park 6,803,510 2598 6,803,510 Collateral 6,480,801 -23% 2348 87,427,974 Vanity Fair 6,268,925 1051 7,406,660 The Cookout 6,219,794 1303 6,219,794 The Bourne Supremacy 5,314,115 -12% 1717 164,769,215 Exorcist: The Beginning 4,511,507 -49% 2452 38,046,687 Garden State 3,756,822 4% 813 15,878,904 Napoleon Dynamite 3,742,949 35% 886 27,199,631 Alien vs. Predator 3,178,806 -49% 1944 77,030,348 Open Water 3,146,443 -48% 1929 28,224,140 The Manchurian Candidate 2,591,543 -29% 1085 62,449,110 Suspect Zero 2,521,808 -44% 1501 7,227,348 Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 2,521,192 -45% 1276 6,803,510 Spider-Man 2 1,520,116 -26% 807 369,888,512 The Village 1,064,344 -56% 751 112,179,413 I, Robot 920,571 -43% 551 141,886,658 Shrek 2 855,054 4% 436 438,477,864 The Notebook 826,716 11% 562 78,480,132 Yu-Gi-Oh! 740,352 -64% 1103 19,307,392 Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban 562,326 -15% 391 248,344,516 De-Lovely 531,683 -23% 320 12,362,893 We Don't Live Here Anymore 483,429 6% 190 1,418,069 Maria Full of Grace 471,103 -6% 119 4,553,869 Benji Off the Leash! 429,145 -57% 406 3,430,446 Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War 363,439 29 363,439 Fahrenheit 9/11 358,748 -15% 245 118,002,561 Before Sunset 335,670 98% 197 5,174,384 Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy 312,579 72% 258 84,789,585 White Chicks 309,999 14% 181 69,897,980 What the #$*! Do We Know 296,586 10% 43 2,902,740 Intimate Strangers 276,330 -9% 94 1,672,625 Elles etaient cinq 281,606 210% 45 408,966 Little Black Book 281,015 -63% 309 20,307,508 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story 279,677 20% 238 113,726,099 Nascar: The Imax Experience 236,960 13% 58 18,417,840 Garfield 232,881 22% 209 75,004,555 A Cinderella Story 203,085 21% 208 50,813,294 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle 190,293 -16% 129 18,125,011 King Arthur 174,289 -26% 186 51,607,161 Bugs! 146,396 15% 31 12,723,279 Mean Creek 130,544 14% 41 295,919 Nicotina 129,313 -55% 55 992,065 Festival Express 129,086 38% 43 817,725 The Day After Tomorrow 124,196 -9% 129 186,369,548 The Door in the Floor 120,205 -24% 76 3,542,785 Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk 114,578 -13% 17 7,978,318 Rosenstrasse 102,436 1% 24 277,843 Donnie Darko - Director's Cut 93,875 45% 19 538,574 Catwoman 91,528 -38% 121 39,520,912 Riding Giants 88,311 -23% 59 1,992,893 A Day Without a Mexican 84,475 -44% 36 3,482,905 The Brown Bunny 82,339 41% 10 156,497 Dhoom 76,634 -39% 29 203,748 Going the Distance 75,839 -71% 56 1,053,024 Saints and Soldiers 71,753 -11% 25 582,485 Red Lights 71,208 4 79,210 Space Station 69,649 -16% 8 54,273,151 The Corporation 69,563 15% 23 3,136,524 The Stepford Wives 63,612 -41% 63 59,448,703 The Story of the Weeping Camel 61,399 -9% 34 1,604,739 Bright Young Things 57,090 10% 15 177,582 Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey 56,892 1% 8 7,352,426 The Terminal 51,042 -23% 49 77,196,021 Zatoichi 49,979 -11% 53 1,000,330 Two Brothers 47,278 16% 52 19,175,579 Les Rivieres pourpres 2 46,376 -48% 47 152,148 Around the World in 80 Days 43,620 -49% 63 23,976,128 Danny Deckchair 42,795 -18% 29 121,205 A Home at the End of the World 35,720 -57% 34 951,887 Uncovered: The War on Iraq 33,212 -46% 20 145,606 Phir Milenge 32,767 -33% 22 81,137 Outfoxed: War on Journalism 32,271 -5% 18 343,288 The Hunting of the President 31,798 48% 20 328,725 Super Size Me 30,981 2% 31 11,395,563 Haunted Castle 18,560 4% 1 8,903,210 End of the Century: The Ramones 28,357 6% 4 95,069 Camping Sauvage 24,196 -57% 21 3,809,665