2006 at the Box Office (1 Viewer)

[JediFonger]

first of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR HTF folx! it was a fine year to spend w/ya'll HT-freaks =D.

secondly, thanks terryl for creating these reports. it's good to see where the industry stands. you have done a great job at keeping abreast of the box office situation. i think you said u used to write this for a publication or somn. well you're doing a fine job. i'm glad it's also a hobby4u =D. thanks again4 contuining to write.

 

[TerryRL]

Thank you Jedi.

Happy New Year to you as well as everyone else on the HTF boards.

Let's hope that 2007 turns out to not only be a great year at the box office, but a great year for the movies.

Be safe everyone.

 

[Adam_S]

Great thread Terry! There aren't many other non Star Wars/LOTR threads I can think of that average over 6 posts a day for an entire year.

 

[TerryRL]

Thanks Adam.

And to think, this thread managed to survive with very little of the SW vs. LOTR nonsense.

Here's hoping the 2007 thread will be as lucky.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Thanks for the insight Terry. I simply hope that 2007 can match the quality and diversity we saw in 2006. I thoroughly enjoy the BO threads, from a pop culture analysis standpoint These threads are a great place to keep the BO discussion energized and separate from the actual film discussions.

Also, good news about Casino Royale. The gross validates the approach, so we should expect a high quality follow-up!

 

[TerryRL]

We can actually thank "Batman Begins" for how CR turned out. The "real world" approach that Christopher Nolan took with the Dark Knight gave the makers of CR the confidence that their new take on 007 was the right one. As long as Craig is playing the role of Bond (he's contracted for four appearances I believe) than expect the films to be very much in the same vein as CR (he's said in various interviews that he wanted to keep the character grounded in some sort of reality).

Chuck, looking at the lineup for '07, I think this could be a great year overall for film. Not just from a box office perspective, but from an entertainment one. A film I'm really looking forward to is "Sweeney Todd". When it was announced that Johnny Depp would be playing the lead in the movie, many have already penciled his name in as a Best Actor nominee for the Oscars.

Other than the obvious choices (i.e. "300", "Spider-Man 3", "Shrek the Third", Pirates 3, and "The Simpsons"), I'm also looking forward to seeing "American Gangster", "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry", "3:10 to Yuma", "Reign Over Me", "The Number 23", "Norbit", "Charlie Wilson's War", "Reno 911: Miami", "Zodiac", "The Kingdom", "Grindhouse", "Beowulf", "Next", "Fred Claus", and "The Mist". The studios have a legit shot at producing one of the best years ever at the movies. At least, that what I'm hoping.

 

[TerryRL]

4-Day Holiday Estimates

#1 "Night at the Museum" $46.7 million ($125.7 million) +10%
#2 "The Pursuit of Happyness" $24.7 million ($103.7 million) +9%
#3 "Dreamgirls" $18.7 million ($41.6 million) +108%
#4 "Charlotte's Web" $15.0 million ($55.9 million) +57%
#5 "The Good Shepard" $14.6 million ($38.3 million) +1%
#6 "Rocky Balboa" $13.6 million ($51.1 million) -20%
#7 "Eragon" $10.5 million ($58.8 million) +13%
#8 "We Are Marshall" $10.2 million ($27.2 million) +19%
#9 "Happy Feet" $9.7 million ($178.0 million) +48%
#10 "The Holiday" $8.5 million ($51.8 million) +24%

 

[Tim Glover]

Great stuff again Terry, and like others have said....you add so much to the HTF. I love reading the BO threads. You give the facts without spin and I love that. Thanks...and have a GREAT 2007.

 

[TerryRL]

Thanks Tim. You rock chief.

2007 is here and let's hope Tinseltown gives us a great year at the movies.

 

[BrettGallman]

Yeah, Happy New Year to everyone. Looking forward to participating the 2007 edition of this thread.

 

[JediFonger]

ditto tim's comment. terryl rwoks!

 

[TerryRL]

Thanks Jedi.

Along with the $9.2 billion 2006 earned at the domestic box office in '06, the year did break the international record of $8.5 billion, which had been held by 2004. 2006 brought in an overseas mark of $8.6 billion, giving the year a massive worldwide total of $17.8 billion ($1.06 billion of that was earned by Pirates 2), which falls just short of 2004's record of $17.9 billion. Fox led the way with a worldwide haul of more than $3.56 billion, which is a new industry record.

The industry is banking on '07 to post numbers just as gaudy, if not better. It should be a very interesting year at the movies.

 

[Arjan S]

I was surprised this year beat last year. Last year had the final Star wars, two Spielberg movies Peter Jackson's King Kong. a Harry Potter film and some big surprises such as Wedding Crashers and Hitch. It seemed the only big names this year were going to be Superman, Pirates, Da Vinci code and X-men. It seemed it was going to be another year in the slumps.

I was trying to find out how this year beat last year. It seems they replaced the women hero films Electra, Aeon flux, Domino with more animated films. And what I find interesting was that box office mojo has listed 600 pictures released this year, an increase of 10 percent over last year and 30 percent over 2002 when 467 were released but had the most tickets sold.

Does any body know how many wide releases (1000 theaters) there were this year vs last year.

This year has fewer bombs as well I think. Last year there was XXX 2, Zathura, Stealth, The Island. The only big bomb I can think of for this year is is Basic Instinct 2

 

[Chris Atkins]

For me, 2006 was a year of peaks and valleys...there were a lot of GREAT films (indeed, I have five 10/10s already) but there were a LOT of stinkers too (particularly among the big tentpoles).

2005 had much better quality across the board, IMHO. But 2006 had more films achieve greatness.

 

[Mike.P]

Great to see 2006 do so well at the box office, even if my two highest ranked films (The Fountain and Superman Returns) were box office disappointments.

And thanks TerryRL for all your hard work. You make keeping up a whole lot easier!

 

[TerryRL]

Thanks Mike.

I don't have the exact figures, but I believe 2006 had the most wide releases (1,000-plus theaters) in industry history. That will probably be eclipsed this year and next.