By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Bourne Again …
August 4 , 2007
Weekend Estimates
Canada: Weekend Estimates
Domestic Market Share
The third installment of the Jason Bourne saga – The Bourne Ultimatum – reigned supreme at the box office with an estimated debuted of $70.3 million. In another expansive frame three other releases had average to poor bows including canine crusader Underdog that ranked third with $12.1 million and the teen oriented Hot Rod and Bratz that squeaked into the top 10 with respective openers of $5 million and $4.4 million.
The session also saw OK results for the limited launch of the omnibus comedy-drama The Ten of $110,000 but a pair of new entries on the Bollywood circuit, Cash and Gandhi, My Father were both disappointing.
Expectations were high for the concluding (we’ll see) chapter of the spy who came in with a cold memory series. Reviews had been rapturous and tracking indicated a hefty opening of about $60 million. It’s now clear that it will set a new box office record for August (previously $67.4 million for Rush Hour 2) and with exit polls reflecting an initial audience skewing older (57% aged 30 years plus) and equivalent male-female appeal it should play strong throughout the month.
Weekend revenues should hit about $178 million for a 4% ebb from seven days earlier but a sturdy 28% boost from the 2006 frame. A year ago debuts of Talladega Nights and Barnyard led the pack with respective grosses of $47 million and $15.8 million.
While hardly cause for alarm, expectations that The Simpsons Movie would decline by half were generous. International returns were closer to the mark with an estimated $47 million frame that included a hefty $4 million launch in Mexico that spurred its global cume to $315 million in just 10 days.
Classic TV canine Underdog bowed but not wowed in his theatrical debut and the traditional string of August commercial casualties got underway with Hot Rod and Bratz. The latter film prompted several industry pundits to wonder if it would not have been more efficacious to go straight to video and avoid the crushing advertising costs to launch any film nationally.
Opening in limited wide release, the musical bio El Cantante generated a better than respectable $5,300 theater average for a $2.9 million weekend and the 100 screen launch of the literary speculationBecoming Jane (Austen) proved even more potent with slightly better than a $1 million gross.
Weekend Estimates – August 4-5, 2007
Title |
Distributor
|
Gross (average)
|
% change *
|
Theaters
|
Cume
|
The Bourne Ultimatum |
Uni
|
70.3 (19,200)
|
–
|
3660
|
70.3
|
The Simpsons Movie |
Fox
|
25.7 (6,550)
|
-65%
|
3925
|
128.7
|
Underdog |
BV
|
12.1 (4,020)
|
–
|
3013
|
12.1
|
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry |
Uni
|
10.0 (3,030)
|
-48%
|
3290
|
91.2
|
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoe |
WB
|
9.5 (3,030)
|
-47%
|
3125
|
261
|
Hairspray |
New Line
|
9.2 (2,970)
|
-42%
|
3115
|
78.9
|
No Reservations |
WB
|
6.4 (2,660)
|
-45%
|
2425
|
24
|
Transformers |
Par
|
5.8 (2,410)
|
-50%
|
2419
|
296.2
|
Hot Rod |
Par
|
5.0 (1,930)
|
–
|
2607
|
5
|
Bratz |
Lions Gate
|
4.4 (2,900)
|
–
|
1509
|
4.4
|
Ratatouille |
BV
|
3.9 (2,020)
|
-47%
|
1940
|
199.2
|
El Cantante |
Picturehouse
|
2.9 (5,310)
|
–
|
542
|
2.9
|
Live Free or Die Hard |
Fox
|
2.1 (1,460)
|
-63%
|
1422
|
130.1
|
I Know Who Killed Me |
Sony
|
1.1 (830)
|
-69%
|
1320
|
6.2
|
Who’s Your Caddy? |
MGM
|
1.1 (1,110)
|
-60%
|
962
|
4.8
|
Becoming Jane |
Miramax
|
1.0 (10,210)
|
–
|
100
|
1
|
Talk to Me |
Focus
|
.68 (3,640)
|
-15%
|
187
|
2.8
|
Rescue Dawn |
MGM
|
.56 (1,110)
|
-66%
|
505
|
4.2
|
Knocked Up |
Uni
|
.53 (1,330)
|
-57%
|
392
|
146.3
|
Sicko |
LGF/Alliance
|
.52 (1,490)
|
-56%
|
349
|
22.7
|
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) |
$172.80
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
% Change (Last Year) |
–
|
28%
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
% Change (Last Week) |
–
|
-4%
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
The Ten |
Thinkfilm
|
.11 (4,380)
|
–
|
25
|
0.11
|
Cash |
Adlabs
|
67,600 (1,730)
|
–
|
39
|
0.07
|
Arctic Tale |
Par Vantage
|
54,700 (1,950)
|
142%
|
28
|
0.1
|
Gandhi, My Father |
Eros
|
41,500 (1,380)
|
–
|
30
|
0.04
|
Blame It on Fidel |
Koch Lorber
|
7,900 (7,900)
|
–
|
1
|
0.01
|
The Willow Tree |
New Yorker
|
5,300(5,300)
|
–
|
1
|
0.01
|
Canada – July 27 – August 2, 2007
Title |
Distributor
|
Gross
|
Cume
|
The Simpsons Movie |
Fox
|
11,448,179
|
11,448,179
|
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoe |
WB
|
3,570,315
|
28,336,894
|
Hairspray |
Alliance
|
2,872,350
|
7,006,461
|
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry |
Uni
|
2,423,553
|
6,627,536
|
Transformers |
Par
|
1,990,238
|
23,229,097
|
No Reservations |
WB
|
1,207,760
|
1,207,760
|
Live Free or Die Hard |
Fox
|
1,166,349
|
13,130,173
|
Ratatouille |
BV
|
1,069,511
|
13,108,473
|
I Know Who Killed Me |
Sony
|
495,881
|
495,881
|
Taxi 4 |
Christal
|
271,492
|
271,492
|
Ma Tante Aline |
Alliance
|
268,645
|
661,415
|
Sunshine |
Fox
|
222,381
|
258,029
|
Knocked Up |
Uni
|
159,980
|
14,419,928
|
Rescue Dawn |
MGM
|
156,743
|
228,858
|
Nitro |
Alliance
|
151,657
|
3,544,010
|
Sicko |
Alliance
|
138,400
|
2,400,305
|
Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worl |
BV
|
127,199
|
28,489,171
|
License to Wed |
WB
|
125,364
|
2,902,481
|
Shrek the Third |
Par
|
119,100
|
30,422,354
|
Ocean’s Thirteen |
WB
|
102,484
|
11,330,042
|
Domestic Market Share: August 2, 2007
Distributor (Releases) |
Gross
|
Market Share |
Paramount (14) |
1142.4
|
19.10% |
Warner Bros. (22) |
919.6
|
15.40% |
Sony (18) |
887.1
|
14.90% |
Buena Vista (14) |
885.5
|
14.80% |
Fox (18) |
642.1
|
10.70% |
Universal (12) |
545.4
|
9.10% |
MGM (14) |
198.2
|
3.30% |
New Line (7) |
178.6
|
3.00% |
Lions Gate (12) |
122.6
|
2.10% |
Fox Searchlight (11) |
86.1
|
1.40% |
Focus (4) |
54.8
|
0.90% |
Picturehouse (3) |
46.3
|
0.80% |
Miramax (6) |
44.4
|
0.70% |
Par Vantage (4) |
34.5
|
0.60% |
Sony Classics (12) |
33.4
|
0.60% |
Other * (160) |
157.2
|
2.60% |
* none greater than 0.5% |
5978.2
|
100.00% |