2009 at the Box Office

Census numbers sometimes don't reflect the actual size of the city.  Metro Atlanta is something like 16 counties, and the number on the census does not do it justice.  Maybe Boston is the same way.

Here's a list of the metro area pops:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas

 

Boston Metro is around 4.5m.

thank you LynxFX!! =)

No matter how unlikely it may be, I would love to see Paranormal Activity crush Saw VI at the box office this weekend. At the very least it should take away some of it's business.

I wouldn't think it's that unlikely (though probably not "crush").  PA is a phenomenon and will more than double its theaters this week. Saw is a franchise starting to decline. I expect a tight race for the top spot, with both settling somewhere in the $24 - $28 million range.

Next year's Saw VII will be filmed in 3D to try and reinvigorate the franchise.

^ I would certainly like it to win out, but most of the prediction sites have Saw VI taking the weekend. Regardless of what happens, I can take solace in the fact that PA will have the better overall gross when everything is said and done.

I have to admit that I'm already tired of this recent 3D trend.

X-Men and Transformers are the good ones of this year

Going solely off my local theater again, it looks to me like Paranormal Activity will beat out Saw VI this weekend. That being said, Saw VI cost about $10 million so Lion's Gate will still be making plenty of dough (just not as much as they have in previous years).

Friday Estimates

#1 "Paranormal Activity" $7.6 million ($48.1 million) 12% Friday-to-Friday increase (now in 1,945 theaters nationwide)
#2 "Saw VI" $7.0 million
#3 "Where the Wild Things Are" $4.4 million ($43.9 million) 64% Friday-to-Friday drop (Ouch!)
#4 "Law Abiding Citizen" $4.1 million ($31.7 million) 47% Friday-to-Friday drop
#5 "Couples Retreat" $3.7 million ($70.8 million) 37% Friday-to-Friday drop
#6 "The Stepfather" $2.2 million ($16.1 million) 50% Friday-to-Friday drop
#7 "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" $2.2 million
#8 "Astro Boy" $1.8 million
#9 "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" $1.4 million ($111.0 million) 33% Friday-to-Friday drop
#10 "Zombieland" $1.3 million ($64.3 million) 45% Friday-to-Friday drop
#11 "Amelia" $1.3 million

Quote:

I was thinking, after reading that the majority of the audience for this "family" film was single 20- and 30-somethings, that the studio was being a little premature in expecting this film to clear $100 million.  I think this will be another film that opens big, but then fails to reach the triple digits.

Weekend Estimates

#1 "Paranormal Activity" $22.0 million ($62.5 million) +12%
#2 "Saw VI" $14.8 million
#3 "Where the Wild Things Are" $14.4 million ($54.0 million) -56%
#4 "Law Abiding Citizen" $12.7 million ($40.3 million) -40%
#5 "Couples Retreat" $11.1 million ($78.2 million) -36%
#6 "Astro Boy" $7.1 million
#7 "The Stepfather" $6.5 million ($20.4 million) -44%
#8 "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" $6.3 million
#9 "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" $5.6 million ($115.2 million) -30%
#10 "Zombieland" $4.3 million ($67.3 million) -44%
#11 "Amelia" $4.0 million
#12 "A Serious Man" $1.1 million ($3.2 million) +34%

Moviegoers shelled out $109.9 million on the top 12 films in the land this weekend, but business was off 10% compared to last year, while being 29% stronger than this frame in '07.  2009's domestic year-to-date gross now stands at a towering $8.429 billion, maintaining a 7% increase over last year ($7.856 billion), up 8% over '07 ($7.794 billion), 15% stronger than '06 ($7.364 billion), and a 21% bump over '05 ($6.976 billion).

Continuing its phenomenal run, Paramount's "Paranormal Activity" ascended to the top spot this weekend with a $22 million haul, giving it a domestic total of more than $62 million.  The movie cost only $15K to make, Paramount then bought the distribution rights for only $300K and spent about $10 million on prints and advertising.  Once again the movie easily had the strongest per-theater marks with a $11,311 average from its still modest 1,945 locations.  The film will be going ultra-wide next weekend (Halloween) as it will be playing in more than 3,000 theaters.  Paramount execs are now expecting a final domestic tally well north of the century mark, making 'Activity' one of the most profitable movies in Hollywood history.

Lionsgate's 'Saw' franchise may finally be running out of steam as this weekend witnessed "Saw VI" debut with the worst opening of the series.  "Saw VI" opened with $14.8 million, giving it a decent average of $4,875 from its 3,036 theaters.  Following the $18.3 million opening of the original film of the franchise, the last four 'Saw' flicks all debuted with more than $30 million.  Given this weekend's much lower than expected performance, Lionsgate may be ready to put this series to bed.

WB execs are none too pleased today as their $100 million-plus family flick, "Where the Wild Things Are", took a much steeper than expected 56% hit in business.  With about $54 million taken in so far, the movie looks headed for a final haul in the neighborhood of $85 million, about $40 million short of the studio's "bottom number" for the movie.  WB will look to recoup their losses from the overseas markets as well as the DVD release.

Overture's "Law Abiding Citizen" looks to be holding up well and could find its way to a final mark in the area of $70-$80 million.  Universal's "Couples Retreat" still looks to be on course to top out with more than $100 million.  Summit Entertainment's "Astro Boy" barely drew interest from movie patrons this weekend.  The same can also be said for Universal's "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" and Fox Searchlight's Oscar hopeful "Amelia".  Focus Features' Oscar hopeful, "A Serious Man", continues to earn solid marks in limited release as it rounds out the top 12.  The latest flick from the Oscar-winning Coen brothers earned $1.1 million from only 176 theaters, giving it a solid average of $6,415, which was the second best of the top 12.

Next weekend will see the release Sony's "Michael Jackson's This It It", which opens on Wednesday.  Tickets are selling very well and the studio is expecting a very solid opening for this one.  Will it have enough juice to top "Paranormal Activity"?  We'll see.

I didn't think there was much chance for Saw VI to top the juggernaut that is PA. You have the sixth film in six years in an aging horror franchise vs. the new kid on the block with lots of buzzworthy word of mouth. Without PA, I think Saw VI probably would have been near the usual $30 million (give or take).  It'll be interesting to see if the second weekend of Saw VI's sees a smaller drop than usual, if some of those that went to see PA this weekend go to see Saw VI next weekend. Though with Halloween on Saturday, that'll eat into the grosses of all films.

Horror grossed nearly $54 million this weekend (if you also toss in The Stepfather, Zombieland, and even The Vampire's Assistant). Everyone just got a smaller piece of the pie.

I was thinking the same thing. If I was Lion's Gate, I'd take the chance on Saw VII (unless the 3-D is staggeringly expensive) but I'd wrap the series up there. Just the selling points of the end of the series and the 3-D would probably be a pretty big boost to the grosses.

They reportedly have a script for Saw VIII, as well. These films are so cheap that they could go direct to video and likely still make a profit.

Looks like you got your wish.

There's some pretty good movies out this year...

I can't believe the only big release his weekend is a MJ movie.

I think with Halloween being on Saturday, they know that they'd be losing a day to Halloween festivities so they're only putting out a cash-in (that's masquerading as a concert movie) and some small movies.

I noticed HALLOWEEN II is also being re-released this weekend.  Apparently the website is running some contest that if you go see it you can send in your ticket stub and could win some sort of prize.

what sucks is boondock saints 2 is opening this weekend only only like 50 screens or so. none near here.

My question is: Why is there even a sequel to a movie hardly anyone ever saw?  It seems more like this should have been a direct to dvd release.

The Boondock Saints domestic total gross: $30,471

It must have done well enough on DVD, building up a cult status, that the powers that be must have decided a sequel might do well in a theatrical release. On the other hand, maybe they have just gone insane, since they actually green-lighted a sequel to a movie that made no more money than the cost of a good compact car.

I admit, when I heard Boondock Saints II, I was thinking it was a video game..

I saw the complete list of 65 theaters, and it was only in 7 different states.  There's a Troy Duffy interview where he states he asked for a "platform release", but that could just be his putting a spin on the fact that's all the film was getting. 

And I certainly think "BS II" is deserving of a theatrical release after getting such a huge cult following on DVD, further enhanced by the film "Overnight" about Duffy.  I have fingers crossed that "BS II" goes wider in the upcoming weeks -- we've waited so long for this and the trailer looks great.

Because it's going to be huge. Virtually every college student in America has seen the original on DVD at some point. Mind you, the budget for the sequel is only $8 million. If the film only makes $16 million through its entire run, that will be a huge profit for its indie distributor.

Weekend Estimates

#1 "Michael Jackson's This Is It" $21.3 million ($32.5 million)
#2 "Paranormal Activity" $16.5 million ($84.8 million) -22%
#3 "Law Abiding Citizen" $7.3 million ($51.4 million) -41%
#4 "Couples Retreat" $6.1 million ($86.7 million) -43%
#5 "Saw VI" $5.6 million ($22.8 million) -61%
#6 "Where the Wild Things Are" $5.1 million ($61.8 million) -64%
#7 "The Stepfather" $3.4 million ($24.7 million) -45%
#8 "Astro Boy" $3.04 million ($10.9 million) -55%
#9 "Amelia" $3.00 million ($8.3 million) -23%
#10 "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" $2.8 million ($10.5 million) -55%
#11 "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" $2.7 million ($118.6 million) -49%
#12 "Zombieland" $2.6 million ($71.2 million) -38%

The top 12 films pulled in just over $79 million, closing out the biggest October session (non-adjusted for inflation) in history.  This weekend's top 12 total was 7% stronger than last year, but down 37% compared to this frame in '07.  2009's year-to-date domestic haul now stands at a towering $8.554 billion, representing a 7% bump over last year ($7.979 billion), up 8% compared to '07 ($7.928 billion), 14% stronger than '06 ($7.502 billion), and a 20% improvement over '05 ($7.109 billion).

Sony's 'This Is It' topped the charts this weekend with a five-day mark of more than $32 million.  Globally, the film earned just over $100 million.  While many forecasters were saying the film would crack the $200 million mark in worldwide earnings this weekend, a $100 million haul is nothing to sneeze at.  Sony paid $60 million for the film rights and will end up seeing a pretty nice profit on this one.  The film is comprised of rehearsal footage for the late Michael Jackson's final tour.  Sony is already planning to add footage to the film's DVD/Blu-ray release next spring.

Next weekend will see the (hoped for) busy holiday season begin with the releases of Disney's "A Christmas Carol", WB's "The Box", Universal's "The Fourth Kind", and Overture Films' "The Men Who Stare at Goats".  It'll be a major shock if "A Christmas Carol" doesn't easily dominate business next weekend.

It likely will, based on the Disney and Jim Carrey names alone.  But every trailer I see turns me off more and more.

My money is on Whip It making a big come back and beating out A Christmas Carol next weekend.

i'd never heard of boondock saints until i saw the trailer for the 2nd one a few weeks ago and decided to netflix it. Ended up being a very enjoyable movie, enough so im gonna buy it on blu ray now. So that alone got me excited to see the sequel to only be denied.

From Indiewire:
www.indiewire.com/article/box_office_devil_saints_and_broncos_in_halloween_opener_battle1/

Excerpt:

The third release from Apparition (after “Bright Star” and “Black Dynamite”), “Saints” opened on 68 screens this weekend and took in a decent $461,614.  That gave it a $6,788 average, which considering the competition of both Hallowe’en events, the World Series and films like “This Is It” and “Paranormal Activity,” is not at all a bad start.

“Eight years after the first film achieved cult status and extraordinary results on DVD, the sequel delivered the fans to theatres this weekend even with World Series and Halloween competition,” Apparition head Bob Berney told indieWIRE. “A viral campaign has fans ‘demanding’ the film in other cities and we’ll expand in more markets on November 13th.”