Monday, April 23, 2007

Street Cred

Disturbia is tops at the cineplex for the second week in a row--taking many-including me--by surprise...

Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo;

In its second outing, 'Disturbia' remained on top, while new thrillers 'Fracture' and 'Vacancy' failed and comedy 'Hot Fuzz' packed a little heat...

Shia LaBeouf And Sarah Roemer Hold On To The Top Spot This Week

Ben Fritz of Variety writes:

In a weekend in which none of the new wide releases made much of a splash, "Disturbia" held on to the top spot at the box office with a second-weekend tally of $13.5 million.

New Line's "Fracture" had a decent $11.2 million bow in line with estimates, while Sony Screen Gems' thriller "Vacancy" disappointed with $7.6 million and Warner Bros.' "In the Land of Women" grossed a weak $4.9 million, in line with expectations.

Brit buddy cop parody "Hot Fuzz" had a good start as Focus' Rogue label rolled it out to 825 theaters and grossed $5.8 million, for a healthy per-engagement average of $7,062.

Par and DreamWorks' thriller "Disturbia" fell a relatively modest 39%. It averaged $4,464 at 3,015 locations and brought its cume to $40.7 million after 10 days.

It's the fourth weekend in a row that a Par/DreamWorks pic has been No. 1, following a similar two-week run for "Blades of Glory."

Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling starrer "Fracture" averaged $4,574 at 2,443 playdates. Despite Gosling's presence, pic primarily appealed to older legal thriller fans, with 75% of ticket buyers over the age of 25.

Screen Gems' "Vacancy" was expected to compete with "Fracture" and "Disturbia" for the top spot but ended up falling short. Per-play average was $2,979 at 2,551. Auds were two-thirds under 25.

Warner Bros. released "In the Land of Women," a romantic comedy that had been developed for Warner Independent, wide in hopes of maximizing B.O. before the summer.

Expectations were low for the Meg Ryan and Adam Brody starrer, which studio said cost under $10 million. Pic took an average of $2,281 at 2,155 theaters.

Focus took a decidedly slower approach with "Hot Fuzz," which had strong Internet buzz thanks to fans of "Shaun of the Dead," the first U.S. release from helmer Edgar Wright and writer/star Simon Pegg. After a healthy opening, studio plans to expand the pic to 1,100 or 1,200 theaters on Friday.

"The strategy was to play to the core 'Shaun' group to get the word out into the marketplace and then we can run in May when exhibitors need some movies to stick around with the tentpoles," said Focus distrib
[president] Jack Foley...

The article continues...

Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly says:

Mediocre performances by the week's new releases help the Shia LeBeouf thriller remain at No. 1 for a second week Read More...

Disturbia's impressive showing amid the threat of some star-powered new releases can only mean greater fourtunes for Mr. LaBeouf--as if if he needed them.

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