The Dudes Box Office Report 10-7-05

Posted by: The Dude

Dude here again. Another weekend, another box office derby/bonanza/whatever you would like to call it. I want to say that the audiences surprised me by making the number one movie in the country Serenity. Even if it's in it's second week. Or that audiences loved it so much, it made even more in it's second week, no matter what space it occupied. But no, I was once again proven wrong. I think I might be bad luck, because when I like something, it usually means the end of it. Movies I really like disappear after two weeks, TV shows I watch and love get cancelled, bands I dig always break up before I get to see them live, sports teams I root for always lose. Maybe I should go against my better judgment, and go the other way. Turn my back on these things so they'll succeed. My bad, sorry. Time to switch to de-caf.

This week, the big screen feature debut of two of my favorite characters of all time managed to surprise us all and take the number one spot. And there were also plenty of other surprises in the top ten, some I don't think anyone could have seen coming. And I Mean ANYONE. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. Numbers could change on Monday).

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DW) - $16.1, 3645 screens, week 1, $16.1 total
Flightplan (BV) - $10.8, 3323 screens, week 3, $60.9 total
In Her Shoes (Fox)- $10.0, 2808 screens, week 1, $10.0 total
Two For The Money (UNI) - $8.3, 2391 screens, week 1, $8.3 total
The Gospel (ScGems) - $8.0, 969 screens, week 1, $8.0 total
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (WB)- $6.5, 3004 screens, week 4, $42.1 total
Waiting (LG) - $5.7, 1652 screens, week 1, $5.7 total
A History of Violence (NL) - $5.1, 1340 screens, week 3, $16.697 total
Serenity (UNI) - $4.9, 2189 screens, week 2, $17.594 total
Into The Blue (MGM/Sony) - $4.8, 2789 screens, week 2, $13.873 total

Ok, those are the numbers, so what does this all mean? If you're Wallace and Gromit, you gotta be happy. opening at number one for something that's had a relatively cult following for over a decade is pretty impressive. It helps that it's gotten almost unanimous praise from critics all across the country. (I believe Rotten Tomatoes had it scored at 97% fresh last time I checked, although it could be 100%). And it helps that it's witty and painstakingly crafted, but you feel the love and the joy on screen. I'm just speculating actually. I haven't seen it yet, but I really want to. You gotta love these two characters. I'm all smiles when I watch The Wrong Trousers. (If you haven't seen their short films, rent them immediately). Regardless, the film opened to number one with an impressive $16 million, and will most likely hold strong over the next few weeks as there seems to be a lack of family films coming out. More power to it, because if it does well, that means we get more adventures of Wallace and Gromit.

If you're 'In Her Shoes' you must e pleased at your performance. Very respectable for a "chick flick" that's being labeled that incessantly in the reviews. The most frustrating part about that label, though, is it's dismissive. People think the film will be passable as fluff about girls doing girly things. (Quick aside, I recently read that Webster's dictionary included the term "chick flick" in their latest edition of their oh so popular dictionary. Weird, huh?) The film was directed by Curtis Hanson, who's brought us many a solid motion picture, and I don't think he would make this film hearts and unicorns and call it a chick flick. it did respectable business (better than Hanson's Wonder Boys did on opening, but significantly less than his last outing, 8 Mile) but time will tell if it's dismissed as a chick flick or it rises above that label and continues with some solid weeks. Time will tell.

If you're me, you're probably asking yourself "What the hell is The Gospel, and where the hell did it come from to take fifth?" Well, a quick internet search tells me the movie is "A story about a successful young R&B singer that has an unlikely homecoming when his father, the bishop, becomes ill." Sounds good, and heartfelt. most likely due to a grass roots marketing campaign targeting churches, this movie performed better than anyone could have even predicted. Almost making as much as Two For the Money, which had an obscene marketing budget. (I'll get to that in a moment). I wouldn't be surprised if it actually makes more money today than predicted as well, and takes the number four spot. I had no idea that such a movie was even opening up until I checked the box office this morning. Well kudos to the Gospel. Way to catch Hollywood off guard.

If you're "Waiting..." congrats on an impressive $5.7 million opening weekend. For such a small budget, the film has earned back what it cost, and should pull a tiny profit. I'm still convinced that this flick will become a cult favorite, so it may stick around and make a few drunken stoners laugh for a few more weeks.

If you're Universal pictures, it's time we have a talk. I'm not bitter about being left out of the Serenity screening last week, these things happen. I'm happy that you let me see Two For The Money, even if I found it marginally entertaining. But we have to talk about marketing. Sure, you'll go on and on about how you can't force the people to go see the movies, but lately it seems like you're not even trying. Let's take Two For The Money. All I've seen are a few TV spots, and some posters on the sides of construction sites. I never saw a trailer before a movie, or anything about this movie until about a week and a half before it opened. And now that it didn't perform well, I bet 20 to 1 you're gonna dump it and move on to Doom. (Which I HAVE seen plenty of ads for, for quite some time now). And don't get me started on Serenity, man. You guys kind of dropped the ball on that, thinking that a few ads are more than enough. You should have been promoting the hell out of this one on all of the big summer movies that passed. I didn't see a Serenity ad on Star Wars 3, War of the Worlds, The Island, Wedding Crashers, ANYTHING BIG AT ALL OVER THE SUMMER!! The only thing I did see it on was Land of the Dead, another poorly marketed, wait to the last minute, only the fans will see because they're the only ones who know. You're losing valuable money on these movies, and you're promoting the hell out of mediocre fare like Skeleton Key and Doom? Something's wrong here. Serenity fell to ninth place, and I saw NO boosts in advertising, except in my local paper, which replaced the images of the film, and replaced them with blurbs from critics. Granted, you're pointing out that critics are unified in their praise of the film, but that's not enough. It's up to you, really, but I thought you were in the business of making money. I guess I was wrong. I faithfully return my yearly pass to the studio theme park. Get some more rides, too.

The holdovers did adequate. Flightplan continues to roll in dough while confounding me as to it's popularity. It still makes money, but everyone I've spoken to who's seen it has told me they didn't like it all. I don't get it. Corpse Bride seems to be maintaining a nice steady average every week. A History of Violence is dropping a little bit, but still drawing in the crowd it wants to. Serenity, I've discussed, and it breaks my heart. And Into The Blue proves you can get them into the theater with the bikini, but you can get them to come back if you got her OUT of it as well. Better luck next time.

Below the radar, George Clooney's second film as a director, Good Night and Good Luck, which chronicles the 1950s battle between Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthey, opened on eleven screens and managed to make $420,000. Impressive, and it's also receiving good reviews, so it should increase in the next couple of weeks. Capote added twelve more screens and began to make some more this weekend too, as it almost has broken the $1 million mark. Mirrormask added 6 more screens and wound up with a total of $283,000 since it opened. And Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale opened on 4 screens to $148,000 dollars.

The Miramax dump of the week. There was none. It might be time to drop this part of the article.

There you have my wonderful break down. Next week, we have another opportunity for me to bitch and moan about how audiences need to stop feeding into the PG-13 horror trend AND the remake of movies that don't need to be remade... ALL WRAPPED INTO ONE MOVIE!!! (The Fog, in case you didn't guess). Plus, Tony Scott gets to make me a little more ADD, while Cameron Crowe will hopefully prove that I am a gigantic "emo" wuss. Man, I hate that l "emo" label. Thanks a lot, Cameron Crowe.

Until next weekend....