Dudes Box Office Report : Just Like Heaven Cleans Up

Dude here again. Whole lotta movies came out this weekend, all vying for that coveted number one position, so that they can brag in print ads and TV spots that "The Number 1 Movie in America is"... Of course, that doesn't stop the marketers from being crafty if the movie ISN'T the #1 movie. They'll do fun little tricks like "The #1 Comedy in the country is" when the movie actually opened in fourth place. But since #1-3 aren't comedies, it's technically correct. I can't wait to make a movie that doesn't do well, and opens at #17, but I can proudly claim it's the #1 movie with robots, ninjas, AND pirates.

This week, as I mentioned, we had about five wide releases, and several more smaller ones. And not one, but TWO in the Miramax dump! (To be fair, one is Dimension, but still, it's the same thing). Nothing really jumped out and took anybody by surprise like last week's Emily Rose. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. Numbers could change on Monday).

1. Just Like Heaven - $16.5, 3508 screens, week 1, $16.5 total
2. The Exorcism of Emily Rose - $15.3, 2983 screens, week 2, $52.0 total
3. Lord of War - $9.2, 2814 screens, week 1, $9.2 total
4. The 40 Year Old Virgin - $5.8, 3006 screens, week 5, $90.6 total
5. 5. Cry Wolf - $4.6, 1790 screens, week 1, $4.6 total
6. Transporter 2 - $4.0, 2805 screens, week 3, $36.5 total
7. The Constant Gardner - $3.7, 1387 screens, week 3, $24.4 total
8. Red Eye - $2.9, 2455 screens, week 5, $55.2 total
9. March of the Penguins - $2.55, 1876 screens, week 13, $70.4 total
10. Wedding Crashers - $2.52, 1807 screens, week 10, $203.6 total

Ok, those are the numbers, so what does this all mean? Well, I think Dreamworks was counting on the opening spot for the weekend, but I think they were hoping for a little bit more then sixteen million dollars. Allow me to put some perspective to this: Movie companies are disappointed when their movies "ONLY" make $16 million dollars and open to #1. Most of us will never see anything close to $16 million dollars in our lifetime, so when a two hour products makes that, and studios get upset because they're not making more, you gotta wonder if our values are mixed up, or at least the studios'. Regardless, I'm here to report, so nevermind. Anyway, Just Like Heaven performed alright for a mid September release, but not nearly as big as Reese Witherspoon's Sweet Home Alabama, which I believe broke a record in September three years ago. Anyway, this came nowhere near that.

If you're Emily Rose, or at least the makers of the film because Emily Rose has been gone for 26 years now, you gotta be pleased your film is still making some nice coin. Granted, a fifty percent drop isn't great, but since the movie was so cheap to make, it's all profit. Plus, there's a small chance that, since these are estimates, it could wind up making more today on Sunday and take the number 1 spot. (At least it can make the claim it's the number 1 thriller in the country, which it probably will).

The Lord of War made a nice amount for a movie about an arms dealer. It could do better in the coming weeks as word of mouth spreads. (It has been getting some great reviews, one even from myself, but I doubt you'll be seeing MY name on any print ads).

Cry Wolf opened in fifth, meaning that another PG-13 horror movie attracted enough bored teens and horror fans to keep more PG-13 horror movies coming our way. Damn you all. Of course, the R-rated horror film that opened up this weekend, Venom, opened at 20th with barely a half million dollars, the PG-13 horror movie theory makes some modicum of sense. And that makes me cry. Not cry wolf, mind you. Just plain tears because the R rated horror movie days might be coming to an end. (They have to release Hostel soon, so we can reclaim horror!)

The holdovers continue to drop, but Virgin is holding strong, and should be the next film to reach $100 million, once a milestone that used to mean something, but now it's pretty par for the course. Transporter is still kicking a tiny bit of arse. The Constant Gardner is still raking in some money (I can't believe it took me three weeks to come up with that one). Red Eye, with my beloved Rachel, managed to do nicely. And The Penguins and The Crashers might wind up swapping places once the final grosses are tallied. (That actually happened a few weeks ago, where two flicks switched places. These things happen, that's why I remind you they are estimates. I could update the articles, but I'm too lazy and don;t care enough to do so).

Below the radar, a few films opened in limited release. The latest from Tim Burton, his stop motion Corpse Bride, opened in 5 theaters to the tune of $411,000, earning about $80,000 per screen. Pretty good. I guess since Nightmare Before Christmas has stayed alive and found new audiences amongst teens who were barely born when it first came out (I see the shirts at Hot Topic, no self respecting movie dork like myself goes in there, so I can only assume it's goth teens who latch onto the film) that the demand to see Corpse Bride has only increased. ($20 says it opens next week at #1).

And now we have my new paragraph in the column: The Miramax dump of the week. As negative in connotation as it sounds, I refer merely to the sheer amount of product that Miramax is letting into theaters before the Weinsteins leave. Every week for almost two months now, Miramax has released at least one movie in theaters, most not very good, and very few to good reviews. However, the dumped film this week (or films, I should say) are Proof and Venom. I've already discussed Venom and it's performance. But Proof, a drama with Anthony Hopkins, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Donnie Darko, and directed by the man who brought us Shakespeare in Love, opened on 8 screens to really great reviews and the tune of $201,000. Also, An Unfinished Life, last week's dump, made another $2 million in 11th place, also to some good reviews. Not bad. Again, word of mouth should carry both of these movies well, and earn some decent money. (Even though I think Unfinished Life is a waste of celluloid).

There you have my wonderful break down. Next week, we have Tim Burton's Corpse Bride opening wider and at a theater near you, Flightplan (another movie I panned), A History of Violence (looking forward to very much), and Roll Bounce, a movie that asks us to remember a simpler time, when people used to roller skate for fun. Remember those days kids? You will!!! Until next weekend....