| Film | Weekend | Per Screen | Total | |
| 1 | Baby Mama | $18,271,000 | $7,184 | $18,271,000 |
| 2 | Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay | $14,570,000 | $5,804 | $14,570,000 |
| 3 | The Forbidden Kingdom | $11,230,000 (-47.5%) | $3,563 | $38,255,000 |
| 4 | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | $11,014,000 (-37.9%) | $3,934 | $35,077,000 |
| 5 | Nim’s Island | $4,525,000 (-20.4%) | $1,519 | $38,954,000 |
| 6 | Prom Night | $4,400,000 (-49.3%) | $1,559 | $38,115,000 |
| 7 | 21 | $4,000,000 (-27.5%) | $1,355 | $75,775,000 |
| 8 | 88 Minutes | $3,600,000 (-48.3%) | $1,660 | $12,632,000 |
| 9 | Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! | $2,410,000 (-31.4%) | $1,116 | $147,883,000 |
| 10 | Deception | $2,225,000 | $1,111 | $2,225,000 |
This just in: Film negatives. More on that as it develops.
Baby Mama was relatively inexpensive and was given a no-faith release, so the near-$20 Million it got to shows that 30 Rock fans are legion and they forgave – what amounts to – tepid word of mouth and lousy reviews. Depending on the drawing power of Patrick “Loverboy” Dempsey, the film may hang out for a while and get close to $50 or so. But if Harold and Kumar had a production budget of $12 Million, it’s the real winner here. It should get over $30, which will make it profitable before it hits DVD, where it should also clean up. New Line might be a stripped-down husk of what it once was, but it doesn’t take a genius to suspect this will likely become a trilogy. Expect the greenlight this week. Both films played stronger than expectations, which is good. People are ready for the summer movies.
What didn’t do anything was Deception, which looks like a DTV effort with name stars. If you have ever wanted to know what a film sacrificed to the movie gods looks like, it’s this. And it ain’t pretty. Then again, this was an act of fealty by Fox, and once the contract was honored, the end results were negligible. Hugh Jackman wanted to make a movie, he got it made. After that, who care?
Though Forgetting Sarah Marshall held better, The Forbidden Kingdom still outpaced it, and both are on track for near-$50 finishes. For Forbidden Kingdom, that should likely be good enough, considering the real windfall will come internationally. Sarah Marshall, on the other hand, will have no such benefits, but if it did cost $30, it’s already over that, so it’ll be considered a modest success, and not in the Walk Hard category of failure. Apatow may not have the sheen he had post-Superbad, but he’s still one of the most successful working producers/talents going today. If The Pineapple Express doesn’t get too swamped by comedies this summer, it should restore the record.
The rest of the list is a piffle. Horton should be able to cross the $150 marker, 21 will get to $80 Million. When you talk about the strange world of box office, 21 is one of those films where had it had a different release date, or had there been a slight tweak, it would never make that much money. But right place right time, Seth Rogen gets Katherine Heigl pregnant. Nim’s has a chance to get to $50, but a slim one.
That vacuum sound you hear is the box office getting ready for summer. Which starts next week with a man wearing an iron outfit. Should be fun.
11 comments
Wow, I thought Baby Mama would do maybe half of that. I'm happily surprised because I like the continued success of Tina Fey.
Chud articles are really starting to have even more typos out the ass. Really hard to read sometimes. Please proofread.
Ouch Deception! Shame on me for underestimating Fey! Here's hoping Sarah Marshall finds that DVD home market. (And Bell doesn't get labeled box-office poison) As you said, next week the fun begins. Let's go crazy!
You do realize that if a movie cost $30 million, it needs to gross at least $50-60 mil. to break even (the exhibitors take a large percentage of the grosses)… and that's without P&A costs… which could be from $12-15 mil. With DVD sales, FSM will likely turn a profit, but it isn't there yet!
Castor, I know what you're saying, but from here on out, with DVD sales, ancillaries, etc. it shouldn't have a problem eventually turning a profit.
$14 million opening weekend for a stoner comedy? Not bad at all. Heres to hoping Pineapple Express doubles that number (not likely, I know…but I am enjoying the current wave of stoner comedies, and anything that shows weed as not-a-bad thing, I'm all for). Oh, and just a side note: If you decide to keep the talkbacks, please fix the problems with the verification code.
Castor – I think you're grossly underestimating the P&A costs for "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" which are probably closer to $30-$35 million than $12-$15 due to the saturation TV blitz, but also the widespread outdoor campaigns. They really spent to open it. Then again, I also think Dellamorte, you may be underestimating "Sarah Marshall's" legs. I think it has a shot to hold onto a top 10 spot for two or three more weeks – even with stiff competition (particularly as people buy tickets to other movies when the one they arrived to see sold out) – and may, MAY make it a few bucks shy of $60 million before it's out of theaters. The only problem is, the May movies are going to eat screens, so even if "Sarah Marshall" could get the word-of-mouth vibe going, a lot of smaller theaters will have already given over to "Iron Man," "Caspian" and "Speed Racer." So, it's dicey.
Someone do the research for me, but with 'Basic Instinct' as the exception, do any of these SEXUAL THRILLERS perform at the box office? I'm kind of amazed that every now and then, you see a studio greenlight one of these things, and they always get horrible reviews and no one sees them. 'Deception' continues this trend.
Uhh do any of you realize just how little exhibitors really take from the box office?
Wow! This site really loves it some Aptow dick…..
Shame on CHUD for liking talented people! I wonder what "Nim's" cost? Quietly sneaking into a hit?
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