2009 at the Box Office - Page 8

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

The studio very much believed that F13 would end up crossing the $100 million plateau based on its stronger-than-expected opening. An 81% second-weekend collapse has completely erased that option. Historically, only 17 films from the horror/thriller genre have topped the century mark, only two of those qualify as a "slasher" flick (the two "Scream" movies).

$100 million-plus earning horror/thriller films...
"The Sixth Sense" $293.5 million
"Jaws" $260 million
"The Exorcist" $232.7 million
"Signs" $228.0 million
"Hannibal" $165.1 million
"Fatal Attraction" $156.6 million
"What Lies Beneath" $155.5 million
"The Blair Witch Project" $140.5 million
"The Silence of the Lambs" $130.7 million
"The Ring" $129.1 million
"The Village" $114.2 million
"The Grudge" $110.4 million
"Interview with the Vampire" $105.3 million
"Scream" $103.0 million
"Scream 2" $101.4 million
"Sleepy Hollow" $101.1 million
"Seven" $100.1 million

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Friday Estimates

#1 "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" $4.8 million
#2 "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" $4.6 million ($53.0 million) 69% Friday-to-Friday drop
#3 "Slumdog Millionaire" $3.2 million ($106.2 million) 53% Friday-to-Friday increase
#4 "Taken" $2.9 million ($100.8 million) 18% Friday-to-Friday drop
#5 "He's Just Not That Into You" $1.9 million ($74.6 million) 35% Friday-to-Friday drop
#6 "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" $1.7 million
#7 "Confessions of a Shopaholic" $1.44 million ($30.6 million) 38% Friday-to-Friday drop
#8 "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" $1.42 million ($123.9 million) 24% Friday-to-Friday drop
#9 "Fired Up" $1.36 million ($7.7 million) 40% Friday-to-Friday drop
#10 "Coraline" $1.2 million ($57.0 million) 56% Friday-to-Friday drop
#11 "Friday the 13th" $1.15 million ($58.2 million) 59% Friday-to-Friday drop
#12 "The International" $780K ($19.3 million) 42% Friday-to-Friday drop

The Jonas Brothers movie didn't get off to same sort of start that the 'Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus' concert flick did a year ago, but it will still end up topping the box office this weekend despite a stern challenge from last weekend's champ "Madea Goes to Jail", despite its 69% Friday-to-Friday fall.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Weekend Estimates

#1 "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" $16.5 million ($64.9 million) -60%
#2 "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" $12.7 million
#3 "Slumdog Millionaire" $12.2 million ($115.1 million) +45%
#4 "Taken" $10.0 million ($107.9 million) -12%
#5 "He's Just Not That Into You" $5.9 million ($78.5 million) -31%
#6 "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" $5.6 million ($128.1 million) -18%
#7 "Coraline" $5.3 million ($61.1 million) -54%
#8 "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" $4.7 million
#9 "Confessions of a Shopaholic" $4.5 million ($33.7 million) -33%
#10 "Fired Up" $3.8 million ($10.1 million) -31%
#11 "Friday the 13th" $3.7 million ($60.7 million) -53%
#12 "Gran Torino" $3.0 million ($138.6 million) -19%

For the first time this year, the industry had a down weekend compared to year-to-go levels. This weekend also ends 2009's historic streak of eight consecutive weekends where the top 12 finished with more than $100 million. Despite all of this, February '09 finished with a record-shattering mark of $766.2 million. The haul represents the biggest February tally in history on top of marking the first time in five years that the month sold more than 100 million theater admissions.

2009's mammoth year-to-date tally now stands at $1.809 billion, representing a 15% bump over last year ($1.580 billion), up 32% over '07 ($1.375 billion), 28% stronger than '06 ($1,409 billion), and a 30% improvement over '05 ($1.393 billion). Next weekend is expected to vault the year past the $2 billion plateau in record time.

In a shocking turn of events, Lionsgate's "Madea Goes to Jail" retained the #1 spot this weekend, despite taking a 60% hit in business. The comedy has so far tallied just under $65 million and could be end its run by squeaking past the century mark, giving writer/director/producer Tyler Perry the first such hit of his career. Even if it falls short of that high-water mark, it will still end up being the biggest hit that Perry has had thus far.

Disney's "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" ended up earning less than half of what the 'Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus' concert flick did last year. Disney execs were hoping for at least a haul of $20 million, but the film's strongest day in theaters was Friday, which isn't a good sign for a movie that was supposed to pull in big matinee numbers with families on Saturday and Sunday. The film earned a very strong average of $9,992 from its 1,271 theaters. While it won't be the massive hit that the 'Hannah Montana' film was last year, Disney should still see a decent return on their investment in spite of its somewhat disappointing start.

Fresh off of winning eight Oscars last weekend, Fox Searchlight/WB's "Slumdog Millionaire" expanded to nearly 700 more theaters this weekend and saw an incredible 45% increase in business. The film, which took top honors in the Best Picture and Best Director categories, has now tallied just over $115 million. Not too shabby for a film that cost only $15 million to make. Fox is speculating that the movie could end up earning a final domestic haul in area of $150 million.

Fox also enjoyed stellar results with their surprise smash "Taken". The action flick was off by only 12% and became the second '09 release to top the $100 million mark. The movie is currently sitting on a domestic haul of just under $108 million.

New Line/WB's "He's Just Not That Into You" also had a solid hold as it was off by 31% this weekend. The movie has so far tallied $78.5 million. Sony's comedy hit "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" continues its stellar run as it took only an 18% hit this week. The comedy has now pulled in a little over $128 million. Focus Features' "Coraline" is sitting on a domestic mark of $61.1 million.

Fox's "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" drew lukewarm interest this weekend as it debuted with only $4.7 million, earning a so-so per-theater average of $4,093 from its 1,136 locations.

Disney's "Confessions of a Shopaholic" has so far tallied $33.7 million. Sony's "Fired Up" is sitting on a domestic mark of just over $10 million. New Line/WB's "Friday the 13th" has now earned close to $61 million. WB's big hit "Gran Torino" rounds out the top 12 and has taken in a phenomenal haul of $138.6 million.

While this marks the first down weekend of '09, the "slump" should be very short lived as next week sees "Watchmen" invade nearly 4,000 theaters. The latest from "300" director Zack Snyder is expected to open with at least $50 million. Some are predicting a debut haul matching the nearly $71 million performance of "300" two years ago. With a budget well north of the $100 million mark, as well as an additional $50 million-plus spent on marketing, WB execs are banking on "Watchmen" being a giant smash. The industry is hoping it gets March off to a monstrous start. We'll see what happens.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

"Taken" was a really well done movie and I'm glad that it turned into such a big hit, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an unrated version released on DVD sometime this summer.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

"Watchmen" is the only wide release next weekend.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

The studio didn't release any specific breakdown of where the reissue coin came from, but overall TDK pulled in close to $50 million during its entire IMAX run.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

'Watchmen' has already broken a record

'Watchmen' has already broken a record
Debuting in the most theaters for an R-rated film
By Carl DiOrio

March 4, 2009, 03:51 PM ET
However high "Watchmen" grosses can climb, the superhero actioner sure will be playing wide: Its 3,611 playdates will be the most ever for an R-rated film.

Further aiding its much-watched bow, the Zack Snyder-helmed comic book adaptation will play in an impressive 1,600 locations starting at midnight Thursday. That's substantially more than the 656 midnight shows that helped Snyder's ancient Greece actioner "300" fetch an incredible $28 million in only the first day of its $71 million opening weekend in March 2007.

The first-day haul for "300" was the second-highest ever for an R-rated pic, after the $42.5 million tally that Warners registered with 2003's "The Matrix Reloaded," according to Nielsen EDI. The previous widest release for an R-rated pic was the distributor's 3,603-theater bow for "Reloaded."

Warners distribution president Dan Fellman said "Watchmen" wasn't a tough sell with theater owners.

"The reaction at our exhibitor screenings was terrific, and after the success of '300,' there wasn't an exhibitor in the country who didn't want to play Zack Snyder's next movie," Fellman said.

The "Watchmen" playdates include 124 engagements in Imax giant-screen auditoriums.

"All will have midnight shows, and that's a function of demand," Imax Filmed Entertainment president Greg Foster said. "If there weren't midnight shows, there would be a riot. The demand is very, very strong."

Imax's Web site crashed four times this week because of traffic surges by "Watchmen" fans looking for ticket information, Foster said.

Online ticketer Fandango said Wednesday that "Watchmen" purchases represented 90% of its advance ticket sales for this weekend. No other wide opener is set for the frame.

"Watchmen" was co-produced by Warners and Legendary Pictures. Fox also will get a taste of profits under terms of a settlement of a dispute over distribution rights.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Friday Estimates

#1 "Watchmen" $25.1 million
#2 "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" $2.6 million ($70.3 million) 46% Friday-to-Friday drop
#3 "Taken" $2.3 million ($112.9 million) 20% Friday-to-Friday drop
#4 "Slumdog Millionaire" $2.0 million ($120.5 million) 40% Friday-to-Friday drop
#5 "He's Just Not That Into You" $1.4 million ($82.0 million) 30% Friday-to-Friday drop
#6 "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" $1.1 million ($130.6 million) 20% Friday-to-Friday drop
#7 "Confessions of a Shopaholic" $1.0 million ($36.3 million) 30% Friday-to-Friday drop
#8 "Fired Up" $920K ($11.7 million) 33% Friday-to-Friday drop
#9 "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" $850K ($14.9 million) 83% Friday-to-Friday drop (Ouch!)
#10 "Coraline" $805K ($63.2 million) 34% Friday-to-Friday drop
#11 "Gran Torino" $555K ($140.1 million) 26% Friday-to-Friday drop
#12 "The Reader" $525K ($28.5 million) 32% Friday-to-Friday drop

"Watchmen" easily took the top spot yesterday as it pulled in a very impressive first-day haul of just over $25 million. This one is expected to be a bit more front-loaded than "300" ($28 million opening day followed by a full weekend gross of close to $71 million) was, so expect a debut weekend tally in the neighborhood of $60 million. With such a strong launch, this is exactly the type of start the industry wanted for March as the overall box office continues its torrid pace.

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

WB/Paramount's "Watchmen" got off to a great start as it tallied the strongest opening of the year thus far ($55.7 mil), but did come in under what studio execs were hoping for ($60 million-plus). The movie did mark the third best March opening ever behind "300" ($70.9 million) and "Ice Age: The Meltdown" ($68.0 million), on top of becoming the sixth best start for any film carrying an R rating. "Watchmen" is only the third flick to open with more than $50 million ever for the month of March. Its also only the eighth R rated movie in history to tally an opening gross north of the $50 million plateau. For the weekend, the film earned a stellar average of $15,413 from its 3,611 theaters.

What was troubling was that was that "Watchmen" took a 24% Friday-to-Saturday drop in business and earned an average rating of B from the exit polling. This indicates that word-of-mouth may not be that strong for the film in coming weeks and it could end up having relatively short legs. Still, the movie will end up earning well north of the century mark for WB and should pull in solid numbers overseas for Paramount. Speaking of which, the flick did pull in $28 million from 45 territories this weekend. Fox will receive about 8.5% of the domestic gross.

Lionsgate's "Madea Goes to Jail" had a moderate decline of 46% this weekend and has so far tallied $76.5 million. Fox's "Taken" had another great hold (the best of the top 12) as it was off by about 25%. The action flick has now earned just over $118 million. Oscar-winner "Slumdog Millionaire" took a 42% hit in business as its total passed the $125 million mark. Sony's "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" continues its fantastic run as it also enjoyed a 25% dip and has so far earned $133.6 million.

New Line/WB's "He's Just Not That Into You" has now earned $84.6 million. Focus Features' "Coraline" is sitting on a domestic haul of close to $66 million. Disney's "Confessions of a Shopaholic" has pulled in more than $38 million since its release. Disney's "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" completely collapsed this weekend as it was hit with a disastrous 78% decline. This one is fading fast. Sony's "Fired Up" has so far tallied more than $13 million. WB's "Gran Torino" is nearing the $142 million mark, while Oscar-winner "The Reader" rounds out the top 12 as it crossed the $30 million plateau.

Overall, the top 12 earned $103.1 million, marking only the fourth time in history that the top 12 movies earned more than $100 million during the first weekend of March. This was the type of beginning that the studios were hoping for as 2009 continues its torrid pace at the box office.

The year has so far tallied a massive $1.957 billion and will pass the $2 billion plateau in record time. This year is 14% stronger than this point in '08 ($1.711 billion), up 28% over '07 ($1.532 billion), a 27% bump over '06 ($1.538 billion), and a near 27% improvement compared to '05 ($1.548 billion).

Next weekend will see three new releases enter the marketplace. Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain", Universal's "The Last House on the Left", and Fox's "Miss March" will all challenge for the top spot. "Race to Witch Mountain" is currently expected to top the box office heap next week with little difficulty, while many are expecting a 50%-plus decline for "Watchmen". We'll see what happens.