By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Alive and Kicking…
The Bucket List scooped up an estimated $19.4 million to take charge of the weekend box office in what proved to be a hotly contested frame. Among new entries there were also excellent results for the African American comedy First Sunday of $18.4 million to rank it second overall but blah returns for the animated The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything of $4.3 million and the Dark Ages revenge saga In the Name of the King of $2.8 million.
Overall box office experienced a slight bump up from 2007. However, the increase was palpable in light of the industry leaders skewing older and the hot titles tilting toward upscale fare.
Largely vilified by critics, The Bucket List’s sophomoric rendering of two dying men’s last fling didn’t quite have the abandon of last year’s Wild Hogs. Most pundits felt it wouldn’t muster more than $15 million because of its miniscule appeal to frequent movie goers. It ultimately didn’t matter as the plus 35s who comprised about 70% of the crowd according to exit polls came out in force.
First Sunday obviously had ethnic appeal and targeted a younger demographic quite successfully. It too exceeded expectations though looks likely to loose traction more quickly than the weekend leader.
Juno was also holding well as it expanded its run by more than 500 engagements. It posted in the third spot with $13.7 million and with the prospect of Oscar attention has evolved as both a popular and critical darling that to everyone’s surprise will wind up grossing more than $100 million domestically and now has much greater appeal internationally.
Weekend box office should generate slightly better than $130 million in ticket sales for a 7% fall back from seven days earlier and a 2% bump from 2007. A year ago Stomp the Yard bowed to $21.8 million and Night at the Museum was holding on in second with a $17.2 million weekend.
The uplifting The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything with the Veggie Tales characters waited too long to follow up on 2002’s Jonah. The earlier film pulled in a surprising $6 million debut while the new entry simply couldn’t compete with Alvin and his freres.
In the Name of the King simply looked like a pale imitation of Eragon by a touring company. Its initial thrust suggested only the most indiscriminate viewer was buying tickets.
The session most brisk business was centered on expansions of prestige fare with the likes ofAtonement, There Will Be Blood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Kite Runner andPersepolis all cautiously adding theaters in the run up to Oscar announcements. The first three now appear to have the utz to wind up on the ballot’s top tier categories and despite recent experience of award’s attention not providing quite the bounce of decades past, the hope runs high that this year will be an exception. After all without hope what do we have to prod us to continue?
Weekend Estimates – January 11-13, 2008
| Title | Distributor | Gross (averag | % chang | Theate | Cume |
| The Bucket List | WB | 19.4 (6,670) | – | 2911 | 20.8 |
| First Sunday | Sony | 18.4 (8,330) | – | 2213 | 18.4 |
| Juno | Fox Searchlight | 13.7 (5,600) | -13% | 2448 | 71 |
| National Treasure: Book of Secrets | BV | 11.4 (3,370) | -43% | 3377 | 187.2 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks | Fox | 8.5 (2,500) | -47% | 3384 | 187.1 |
| I Am Legend | WB | 8.2 (2,450) | -48% | 3353 | 240.3 |
| One Missed Call | WB | 6.2 (2,780) | -50% | 2240 | 20.7 |
| P.S. I Love You | WB | 4.9 (2,120) | -37% | 2323 | 46.9 |
| The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything | Uni | 4.3 (3,230) | – | 1337 | 4.3 |
| Charlie Wilson’s War | Uni | 4.2 (1,750) | -48% | 2408 | 59.4 |
| Atonement | Focus | 4.2 (4,410) | -17% | 950 | 25.1 |
| Sweeney Todd | Par | 3.3 (2,510) | -40% | 1323 | 44 |
| The Water Horse | Sony | 3.2 (1,260) | -49% | 2506 | 35 |
| In the Name of the King | FreeStyle | 2.8 (1,740) | – | 1631 | 2.8 |
| The Great Debators | MGM | 2.4 (1,840) | -44% | 1290 | 25.7 |
| The Orphanage | Picture/Christal | 2.0 (3,090) | 293% | 638 | 3.1 |
| There Will Be Blood | Par Vantage | 1.9 (14,990) | 46% | 129 | 4.3 |
| Enchanted | BV | 1.7 (1,400) | -56% | 1201 | 122.3 |
| The Kite Runner | Par Vantage | 1.6 (2,250) | -2% | 715 | 10.9 |
| Alien vs. Predator: Requiem | Fox | 1.4 (1,000) | -69% | 1378 | 40 |
| No Country for Old Men | Miramax | 1.2 (1,870) | -32% | 657 | 46.8 |
| The Golden Compass | New Line | 1.1 (1,400) | -60% | 816 | 67.5 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $126.00 | – | – | – | |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 2% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -7% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Miramax | .37 (4,950) | 7% | 75 | 2 |
| The Savages | Fox Searchlight | .31 (3,360) | -32% | 93 | 3 |
| Persepolis | Sony Classics | .15 (9,500) | 98% | 16 | 0.5 |
| The Business of Being Born | Red Envelope | 10,300 (10,300) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – 2007 Calendar Year
| Rank | Distributor (releases) | Gross (millions) | Mkt Share | % Change | Rank ‘0 |
| 1 | Paramount (21) | 1500.9 | 15.50% | 58% | 5 |
| 2 | Warner Bros. (32) | 1417.9 | 14.60% | 33% | 4 |
| 3 | Buena Vista (20) | 1350.8 | 14.00% | -8% | 2 |
| 4 | Sony (30) | 1261 | 13.00% | -27% | 1 |
| 5 | Universal (20) | 1098.7 | 11.40% | 35% | 6 |
| 6 | Fox (23) | 1007.9 | 10.40% | -28% | 3 |
| 7 | New Line (14) | 490.1 | 5.10% | 94% | 8 |
| 8 | Lions Gate (20) | 369.5 | 3.80% | 11% | 7 |
| 9 | MGM (26) | 365.9 | 3.80% | 119% | 11 |
| 10 | Fox Searchlight (14) | 132.7 | 1.40% | -20% | 12 |
| 11 | Miramax (10) | 126.1 | 1.30% | 175% | 16 |
| 12 | Focus (9) | 120.3 | 1.20% | -15% | 10 |
| 13 | Par Vantage (9) | 60.5 | 0.60% | 30% | 15 |
| 14 | Picturehouse (8) | 57.2 | 0.60% | 139% | 23 |
| 15 | Other (309) | 323.2 | 3.30% | N/A | – |
| – | – | 9682.7 | 100% | 4.90% | – |
| Other Distributors | |||||
| 16 | Sony Classics (19) | 39.2 | 0.40% | -34% | 13 |
| 17 | Weinstein Co. (11) | 37.1 | 0.40% | -84% | 9 |
| 18 | FreeStyle (15) | 32.4 | 0.30% | -42% | 14 |
| 22 | Warner Independent (7) | 15.7 | 0.20% | -43% | 18 |
