The Dudes Box Office Report 10-16-23

Dude here again. Another week, another chance for me to dispense pearls of wisdom to you all. Knowledge that can only be acquired by countless years of pointlessly analyzing the box office results. I then take those years of knowledge, cook it in the old noggin for a while, and give to you, faithful readers, in depth and intelligent reports on the weekend's grosses, and what this could mean for potential forecasting for the industry. Oh who am I kidding, I wake up still drunk from last night and wing it. Hell, I'm not even sure if any of these movies are real half the time.

This week, faith is slightly restored as an R-Rated horror movie reclaims the top spot. There were also several newcomers to the table, all of varying genres, all wanting their slice of the great money pie. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. Numbers could change on Monday).

• Doom (UNI)- $15.4, 3044 screens, week 1, $15.4 total
• Dreamer (DW) - $9.3, 2007 screens, week 1, $9.3 total
• Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DW) - $8.7, 3472 screens, week 3, $44.0 total
• The Fog (Sony) - $7.3, 2972 screens, week 1, $21.5 total
• North Country (WB) - $6.47, 2555 screens, week 1, $6.47 total 
• Elizabethtown (PAR) - $5.7, 2517 screens, week 1, $18.953 total
• Flightplan (BV) - $4.7, 2513 screens, week 5, $77.28 total
• In Her Shoes (Fox)- $3.9, 2237 screens, week 3, $26.2 total
• A History of Violence (NL) - $2.7, 1308 screens, week 5, $26.3 total
• Two For The Money (UNI) - $2.4, 1693 screens, week 3, $20.689 total

Ok, those are the numbers, so what does this all mean? Well, it means that there is still room for the R-Rated horror movie filled with blood and gore. Not to mention there's still a fair amount of life in the video game adaptation market. (I just want a Pac Man movie, is that so much to ask for?). No doubt due to hard core fans of the game, The Rock, or the desire to see space demons get blasted with a BFG, Doom managed to take in more than last week's #1, PG-13 horror fare The Fog. Of course, this business being what it is, it will probably drop heavily next week and barely make half of it's budget back. (not including foreign grosses, however, where I have a feeling Doom will make a fair amount of cash). But it should play well through the Halloween season as it does provide some scares, lots of blood, and is an all around fun time.

If you're the polar opposite of a movie called Doom, which would be, say, a family drama about raising a racing horse starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning and is called Dreamer, then taking the number two spot is pretty sweet. DreamWorks released this charming family friendly movie to some solid numbers and pretty sparkling reviews. Don't be surprised if this is one those "sleeper" type hits that manages to hang around in the top ten for awhile, silently taking your money without you even realizing it. But Kurt Russell seems like a really nice guy, PLUS he was Snake Plisskin, so you know what? More power to him. (Although I have a feeling that it's likely Dakota Fanning's star power that brought a lot of people out. She's a creepy little girl that has somehow caught the attention of America, who hail her as all powerful and the greatest actress since sliced bread. Meaning that her plans of world domination have already begun. God help us all).

If you're Charlize Theron, you're big return after your Academy Award win, directed by the woman who gave us the rather fantastic Whale Rider, you should be pretty happy. The sexual harassment court room drama North Country opened up nicely for a movie that's a sexual harassment court room drama. (Let's face it, the kids aren't really lining up around the block for this one). But a strong adult audience came out, and if Warner plays this smart, they'll have the flick out for quite a while leading up to the wards time of year, where it's a pretty safe bet that some of the actors at least will take some nominations and get recognition. (Every review I've read praises the acting talents of the cast). The good reviews could push it to further grosses, but then again I thought the same thing about In Her Shoes, and that has kind of slid down since it opened, completely ignoring my prediction. (I told you I wing it).

And if you're Ewan McGregor, this just isn't your year if you're not a Jedi. Stay, Ewan's latest costarring Naomi Watts and directed by Marc Forrester (Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland), opened in 13th place to $2.1 million dollars. A lot of reviews praised it's style, but didn't care so much for it's substance. I have yet to see it, and wonder if I might even be able to catch it at all before the lucrative DVD word, where it might be able to find a second life. That's the glass half full attitude, which is rare for me, seeing as how I empty the glass first chance I get.

The holdovers are performing alright. Wallace and Gromit is sticking around rather well, and it looks like it's gross could surpass the other stop motion film of the year Corpse Bride. ($20 says that W&G takes the Best Animated Feature at this year's Academy Awards). The Fog dropped to fourth, but has made back it's tiny budget, and should provide a small profit. Elizabethtown, Flightplan, and In Her Shoes are dropping steadily in their numbers. And A History of Violence is enjoying a little perch at the bottom of the list, slowly pulling in some coin, again due to good reviews and exhibitors not giving up on it just yet.

Below the radar, two rather high profile movies opened up in limited release. The adaptation of the Steve Martin novella Shopgirl opened on 8 screens to $236,000. And Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Shane Black's directorial debut (Shane has brought us Last Boy Scout, the original Lethal Weapon, and The Long Kiss Goodnight, among others, as a screenwriter) also opened up on 8 screens, and made $174,000. Both films are receiving decent reviews, and should be expanding in the upcoming weeks.

In general, the box office is lower than usual (at least this time a year ago, when the Grudge surprised the hell out of everyone and opened to $40 million dollars) and this is due to a lot of things. October has never really been all that great a month for making money to begin with, but with studios releasing four or five movies every weekend, of varying degrees of quality, the money's going to be thin. And seeing as how rising gas prices coupled with the expensive movie prices are forcing people to take out loans just to go out on a date to the movies, people will be picky. I honestly would not expect an enormous weekend until Harry Potter comes out, despite some hopefuls in the upcoming weeks.

There you have my wonderful break down. Next week, we have the return of Zorro! I bet you all missed him, I know I sort of did. I like the first one, and if this second one is half as charming, it might be a good time. Also, we have the return of Jigsaw in Saw II. I can't praise that movie enough. Well, I can't praise it at all, because I'm not allowed to until it opens. Still, if one were to be so inclined as to see a disturbing creepy movie for Halloween, it could be very possible that Saw II would be just the movie they were looking for.

Until next weekend....