Monday, April 02, 2007

The Cutting Edge

Despite my hopes for an upset at the Cineplex--Blades of Glory came away the big winner over the weekend...

Jon Heder And Will Ferrell Prove A Winning Team



Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:

Blades of Glory broke the ice with a strong estimated $33 million, while Meet the Robinsons beamed in a solid estimated $25.1 million...

Get more Mojo here...

Ian Mohr of Variety:

Paramount laffer "Blades of Glory," starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, iced first place over the weekend at the domestic B.O. with $33 million in its debut.

Pic about a same-sex figure-skating pair played 3,372 theaters and easily took the gold over the frame, with a nearly $10,000 per-location average.

Disney's CG toon "Meet the Robinsons," the weekend's only other really wide rollout, settled for second with $25.1 million.

Among holdovers, Warner Bros. battle epic "300" dropped 44% in its fourth frame to land in third. Cume is $179.5 million, well on its way to $200 million domestically, and the pic is still holding screens in more than 3,000 theaters.

Like "300," Disney's "Wild Hogs" continues to spin turnstiles. In its fifth weekend, the ensemble comedy added $8.4 million to gun its cume to $135.4 million to hit No. 5.

Some holdovers, however, saw sharp declines in ticket sales of 60% or more, proving a drag on the frame.

Warners' No. 1 from last weekend, "TMNT," the latest in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise, skidded sharply by 62% to land in fourth. Pic, which the Weinstein Co. is distributing, has seen auds shell out $38.4 million in two weekends....


Overall, weekend B.O. was off 10% from the same frame a year ago, when Fox's "Ice Age: The Meltdown" bowed to a boffo $68 million. But Hollywood was still smiling, anyway: This year's totals are running 6% ahead of last year, according to Nielsen EDI stats.

Bow of the PG-13-rated "Blades" could not match the opening of Ferrell's last pic, "Talladega Nights"; that sports sendup bowed to $47 million last summer for Sony. But "Blades," which came to Par via DreamWorks, MTV Films and banner Red Hour Films, still drew the second highest opening for Ferrell on a pic he has toplined after "Talladega."

College basketball games running in primetime may have dulled the B.O. impact of "Blades" as the movie tried to woo a young male fan base.

Opening of Disney Animation's "Robinsons," about a gadget-obsessed kid who travels to the future, wasn't able to match the $40 million bow of the label's "Chicken Little" in 2005.

"Robinsons" was released on 3,413 screens, including nearly 600 equipped with the Real D digital 3-D system. Mouse House didn't know Sunday to what extent the 3-D screens contributed to the pic's perf.

B.O. watchers felt that "Robinsons" had a shot at the No. 1 spot over the frame, though "Blades" was tracking more highly heading into the weekend...


Complete analysis from the big V can be found right here

Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly posting his latest weekend wrap-up:

As expected, ''Blades of Glory'' gets top honors at the weekend box office, with ''Robinsons'' settling for silver...

"Blades" success proves, once again, just how little the opinions of the professional critics can sway the general public.

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