Monday, January 22, 2007

"Stomp" Wins By A Yard

The weekend results of the latest Cineplex Derby proved quite scary for the only new film on the block...

Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo kicks things off:

The Hitcher fell under the thumb [#4 $8.2 million] of Stomp The Yard [#1 with $13.3 million] and Night At The Museum, [#2 with $13 million] while Oscar hopefuls Pan's Labyrinth [# 7 with $4.7 million] and The Queen [#9 with $3.6 million] expanded significantly...

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Ben Fritz writes in Variety:

'Stomp the Yard' remained in the top spot.

"Stomp the Yard" and "Night at the Museum" stayed atop the box office on a crowded weekend that featured over half a dozen awards contenders expanding in between the Golden Globes and Tuesday's Oscar nominations.

More of the indie kudos contenders did solid, if unspectacular business. Picturehouse's "Pan's Labyrinth" proved particularly strong, while "Babel" didn't get much of a boost from its Golden Globes win.

Rogue's thriller "The Hitcher," only wide opener of the frame, grossed a soft $8.2 million.

Sony's college dancing pic "Stomp" declined 39% to stay atop the rankings with $13.3 million. Per theater average was a healthy $6,485.

"Museum," meanwhile, dropped just 24%, coming in close behind with $13 million. Fox's family juggernaut passed the $200 million mark domestically.

Par and Dreamworks' "Dreamgirls" added 307 theaters after its Globes victory for comedy/musical pic and saw a 4% boost in b.o. Tuner came in third with $8.7 million, bringing its cume to $78.1 million.

Losing the Golden Globe for best foreign language film didn't hurt "Pan's Labyrinth."


Picturehouse more than tripled the print count for Guilllermo Del Toro's fantasy tale to 609 and grossed an impressive $4.7 million. Per play average of $7,758 was the strongest of the expanding indie pics.

Cume is $10.2 million. Picturehouse topper Bob Berney predicted that it has a shot to become the highest grossing Spanish language film of all time. Current record holder is "Like Water for Chocolate" with $21.7 million.

"We opened well in markets like Knoxville and Columbia, South Carolina," he noted. "The film is connecting on a story level and the language isn't an issue."

Picturehouse will add about 200 more plays for "Labyrinth" next weekend.

Miramax's "The Queen" went wide for the first time on its 17th frame after Helen Mirren won the best actress Globe. Biopic took $3.7 million at 1,586, averaging $2,333 per play.


Domestic cume is now $35.8 million. Despite winning the top trophy at the Globes, "Babel" only grossed a so-so $2.3 million as Par Vantage expanded it from 173 to 889 plays. Per theater average was $2,569 and cume is now $23.9 million. Fox Searchlight's "The Last King of Scotland" went from four to 495 following Forrest Whitaker's best actor win at the Globes and grossed $1.8 million, or $3,545 per theater. Cume is $5.4 million.

Warner Bros. took "Letters from Iwo Jima," which won the foreign language kudos at the Globes, from 35 theaters up to 360 and grossed $1.5 million, or $4,211 per play. Total domestic take is now $2.6 million.

Studio plans to expand the Clint Eastwood-helmed Japanese language World War II drama to about 1300 plays on Friday.

"Notes on a Scandal" grossed $1.2 million, or $6,150 per play, at 200 engagements. Cume is $6 million. Fox Searchlight expands the British drama to 600 theaters Friday.

"Hitcher" is the second consecutive disappointing bow for a thriller, following Disney's "Primeval," which opened to $6 million last weekend and tumbled 70% this frame...


Article Continues...

In his weekend wrap-up Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly writes:

Dancing frat daddies take the No. 1 spot for the second weekend in a row; meanwhile, the new horror flick ''The Hitcher'' fails to match its gross predictions...

...Hey, did you know that the Chicago Bears are going up against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XL I on Sunday February 4th, 2007? It's been 21 years since the team made it this far!! Congratulations on a great game yesterday!!! NOW, IT'S ON TO THE SUNSHINE STATE...

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