Pages

Monday, June 04, 2007

The Plunders Plunge

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End finds more box office treasure--as it holds on to the top spot for the second weekend in a row... But...



Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End tumbled in its second weekend to an estimated $43.2 million, while Knocked Up nabbed a nice opening...

Ben Ftitz of Variety:

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" easily sailed to No. 1 again but took a big plunge in its second outing, while "Knocked Up" was glowing after a healthy $29.3 million bow for the low-budget comedy.

Third installment of Disney's hugely successful franchise grossed $43.2 million. Pic declined 62% from its boffo opening vs. 54% last summer for the soph session of the second "Pirates" pic, though this year's comparison was tougher since "World's End" opened on a holiday weekend.

Drop was identical to that of "Spider-Man 3" and lower than the 67% decline for "X-Men: The Last Stand" after Memorial Day weekend last year.

"That's the nature of what our business is nowadays," said Disney [distribution president] Chuck Viane. "With so many seats and show times on opening weekend, nothing can happen for a blockbuster but this kind of fall."

After 10 days, "World's End" has cumed $216.5 million. Though very impressive, total is well behind that of last year's "Dead Man's Chest," which still holds the 10-day record of $258.4 million. "Spider-Man 3" grossed $240.2 million in its first 10 days.

Universal's "Knocked Up" had a very healthy perf given a studio-pegged budget of $30 million. Its $29.3 million bow is significantly higher than the opening for the last Judd Apatow-helmed pic, 2005's "40 Year-Old Virgin," which debuted with $21.4 million and went on to cume $109 million.

Moviegoers were 57% female and two-thirds couples, showing that the romantic themes clicked with auds. U was particularly pleased at the 18% jump in grosses from Friday to Saturday, a sign pic may have staying power like "Virgin."

"Every indication is that this will have legs," said U domestic distribution president Nikki Rocco.

Comedy averaged $10,200 per screen at 2,871 locations.

MGM's "Mr. Brooks" had a relatively soft bow in line with expectations. Kevin Costner starrer grossed $10 million at 2,453 theaters, giving it a per-play take of $4,085.

Picturehouse opened soccer pic "Gracie" to a weak $1.4 million at 1,164 playdates.

"Shrek the Third" fell 50% on its third weekend to $26.7 million. DreamWorks Animation toon has cumed $254.6 million...


The entire article can be read here

Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly:

A great opening weekend for the Seth Rogen-Katherine Heigl laffer ''Knocked Up'' -- but ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' still holds top spot

The folks at Disney can spin it all day long. The fact of the matter is, they can't be liking how things have turned out here...I will be shocked if Pirates 3 actually three-peats next week...

At least the 2nd film in the series tops MTV Movie Awards, as does star Johnnny Depp

No comments:

Post a Comment