By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Four Leaf Cloverfield…
The trepidation that monster mash up Cloverfield might resonate with Snakes on a Planedisappointment proved unfounded as it lapped the competition and emerged the holiday weekend favorite with an estimated $47.1 million. The session also featured upbeat returns of $26.3 million and a second ranking for the romantic comedy 27 Dresses but Overture’s maiden voyage caper comedy Mad Money was no better than tepid as it cleared the four-days with $8.7 million.
The session was also rife with limited entries including Woody Allen’s Cassandra Crossing that generated an OK $4,000 theater average from 107 engagements. Additionally the American indieTeeth bit down on a sizeable $37,100 in four theaters and the documentary Taxi to the Dark Sidelit up $16,400 in its initial three outings.
Overall business set records for the frame and the month with the four day span of the Martin Luther King holiday eyeing roughly $185 million. Revenues bumped up 18% for the comparative three-day portions of the weekend and were 19% better than the 2007 edition. A year ago Stomp the Yarddebuted to $25.9 million to earn holiday bragging rights.
Long shrouded in secrecy and speculation Cloverfield mounted an effective buzz campaign across the media spectrum. Tracking was strong but pundits were rightly skittish having been recently bruised by the Snakes premiere. Critical response was icy but the film prevailed as a latter day water cooler phenomenon that posted a record box office gross for a January premiere.
The twice sneaked 27 Dresses also managed to build word-of-mouth into ticket sales for the “always a bridesmaid” vehicle. It also had unfortunate consequences for Mad Money, the first outing for startup Overture Films. The new distributor found itself locked into ad and campaign commitments it could not shirk when Dresses _ appealing to a comparable demographic _ moved up its release date and the money migrated.
If platform strategies reflect tomorrow morning’s announcement of the Oscar ballot, the slate for best picture shapes up as Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The upside of such a scenario is that all but No Country are likely to reap a considerable domestic theatrical upside in the coming weeks. Overseas the picture is even brighter with three of the films just beginning to enter the international arena and Diving Bell only played out in France while Atonement has ended runs in the U.K. and Germany.
At the moment only Juno sizes up as a $100 million domestic grosser but the march to the Kodak could see a radical commercial momentum for Atonement and There Will Be Blood.
Weekend Estimates – January 18-21, 2008 [4 days]
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change | Theaters | Cume |
Cloverfield | Par | 47.1 (13,820) | – | 3411 | 47.1 |
27 Dresses | Fox | 26.3 (8,590) | – | 3057 | 26.3 |
The Bucket List | WB | 16.3 (5,590) | -28% | 2915 | 43.8 |
Juno | Fox Searchlight | 11.9 (4,700) | -25% | 2534 | 87 |
National Treasure: Book of Secrets | BV | 9.5 (2,820) | -27% | 3377 | 199.4 |
First Sunday | Sony | 9.5 (4,310) | -56% | 2213 | 30.2 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks | Fox | 9.1 (3,070) | -26% | 2962 | 198.5 |
Mad Money | Overture | 8.7 (3,530) | – | 2470 | 8.7 |
I Am Legend | WB | 6.0 (2,570) | -37% | 2525 | 248.6 |
Atonement | Focus | 5.7 (4,450) | 8% | 1291 | 32.9 |
The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything | Uni | 3.7 (2,780) | -36% | 1340 | 8.6 |
There Will Be Blood | Par Vantage | 3.5 (9,070) | 57% | 389 | 8.6 |
Sweeney Todd | Par | 3.3 (2,220) | -20% | 1507 | 48.8 |
One Missed Call | WB | 3.2 (1,680) | -53% | 1915 | 24.8 |
Charlie Wilson’s War | Uni | 2.5 (1,880) | -48% | 1340 | 63.4 |
P.S. I Love You | WB | 2.3 (1,430) | -60% | 1626 | 50.8 |
The Water Horse | Sony | 2.1 (1,250) | -50% | 1661 | 37.9 |
The Great Debators | MGM | 1.7 (1,680) | -40% | 1021 | 28.2 |
No Country for Old Men | Miramax | 1.4 (1,760) | -4% | 818 | 48.8 |
The Orphanage | Picture/Christal | 1.4 (1,950) | -42% | 702 | 5.2 |
The Kite Runner | Par Vantage | 1.3 (2,160) | -33% | 606 | 12.9 |
Enchanted | BV | 1.3 (1,640) | -44% | 767 | 124.1 |
In the Name of the King | FreeStyle | .82 (610) | -76% | 1338 | 4.4 |
The Savages | Fox Searchlight | .55 (3,140) | 47% | 175 | 3.7 |
The Golden Compass | New Line | .53 (1,560) | -63% | 340 | 68.3 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $179.70 | – | – | – |
% Change (Last Year) | – | 19% | – | – | – |
% Change (Last Week) | – | 18% | – | – | – |
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Miramax | .47 (4,390) | 12% | 107 | 2.6 |
Cassandra’s Dream | Weinstein Co. | .43 (4,010) | – | 107 | 0.43 |
Persepolis | Sony Classics | .26 (10,480) | 10% | 25 | 0.89 |
Teeth | Roadside At. | 37,100 (9,270) | – | 4 | 0.04 |
Little Chenier | Slow Hand | 32,500 (1,910) | – | 17 | 0.03 |
Taxi to the Dark Side | Thinkfilm | 16,400 (5,470) | – | 3 | 0.02 |
Still Life | New Yorker | 16,200 (16,200) | – | 1 | 0.02 |
Summer Palace | Palm | 11,200 (11,200) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Beaufort | Kino | 6,100 (6,100) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
* percentage changes are 3-day to 3-day |
Domestic Market Share – To January 20, 2008
Distributor (titles) | Gross* | Market Share |
Warner Bros. (10) | 116.9 | 26.20% |
Buena Vista (5) | 68.5 | 15.40% |
Fox (4) | 55.8 | 12.50% |
Fox Searchlight (3) | 48.6 | 10.90% |
Sony (7) | 43.5 | 9.80% |
Universal (3) | 27.8 | 6.20% |
Par (3) | 19.1 | 4.30% |
Focus (2) | 15.9 | 3.60% |
MGM (4) | 11.8 | 2.60% |
Par Vantage (4) | 11.1 | 2.50% |
New Line (1) | 7.8 | 1.80% |
Miramax (2) | 6.9 | 1.50% |
FreeStyle (2) | 3.9 | 0.90% |
Picturehouse (1) | 3.6 | 0.80% |
Other * (18) | 4.4 | 1.00% |
– | 445.6 | 100.00% |