By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Green… With Envy
The not so jolly green giant – The Incredible Hulk – pulverized the marketplace with an estimated $54.9 million to top the weekend moviegoing charts. In another upbeat session, the debut of The Happening exceeded expectations with a $30.8 million bow that ranked it third; a shade behindKung Fu Panda.
There was also fierce activity in niche and exclusive debuts. A good title proved an asset for Young People F*cking that generated $108,000 from 36 engagements in Canada while Mere Baap Pahlegrossed a disappointing $94,800 from 55 Bollywood screens. Non-fiction titles of every stripe were prominent among the freshmen including Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the Worldwith a potent $15,100 from a single site, Guy Maddin’s faux doc My Winnipeg with a $13,900 box office from two venues and the gay couple Chris & Don scoring $9,300 from a solo encounter.
Box office bumped slightly from last weekend and again was significantly ahead of last year’s tally.
Skepticism surrounded the decision to take another kick at the can on The Hulk following the disappointing but not unprofitable 2003 attempt by Ang Lee. However, reticence diminished as its opening approached and tracking among core young males proved strong. Still estimates going into the weekend pegged the film at $45 million on the high side.
The chasm between predictive and actual biz was even greater for The Happening. The latest fromM. Night Shyamalan was largely written off as a quick fader with an initial salvo around $20 million. The knives were out but that had little effect on fans that provided the filmmaker with what appears to be a second wind for his eerie tales of doom.
Internationally both films were also potent with The Incredible Hulk estimating a $31 million tally from 38 countries and The Happening marginally higher with $32 million in a wider release of 88 territories. In head to heads, including Russia, Mexico, Brazil and the U.K., the green thing prevailed. Shyamalan’s event topped the charts in such first tier nations as France, Italy and Spain.
Domestic box office was inching toward $180 million overall that represented a 2% bump from the prior weekend. It was 23% improved from 2008 when The Fantastic Four sequel debuted with $58 million and Ocean’s Thirteen held the place position with $19.7 million.
Holdover titles generally experienced hits of between 40% and 50% with the second weekend of You Don’t Mess with the Zohan off by a not unexpected 57%. The American indie The Promotionexpanded from six to 81 theaters but evinced little staying power with a $1,570 engagement average. Conversely Oscar-nominated Mongol held fast with five playdates and remained potent with a slight 27% decline.
Weekend Estimates – June 13-15, 2008
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chang | Theater | Cume |
| The Incredible Hulk | Uni | 54.9 (15,670) | – | 3505 | 54.9 |
| Kung Fu Panda | Par | 33.8 (8,160) | -44% | 4136 | 117.4 |
| The Happening | Fox | 30.8 (10,300) | – | 2987 | 30.8 |
| Don’t Mess with the Zohan | Sony | 16.4 (4,730) | -57% | 3466 | 68.8 |
| Indian Jones & Kingdom of Crystal S | Par | 13.2 (4,290) | -42% | 3084 | 275 |
| Sex and the City | WB | 10.3 (3,270) | -51% | 3155 | 120.1 |
| Iron Man | Par | 5.1 (2,130) | -32% | 2403 | 297.4 |
| The Strangers | Uni/Alliance | 4.1 (1,710) | -54% | 2410 | 45.4 |
| Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | BV | 3.1 (1,340) | -45% | 2308 | 131.8 |
| What Happens in Vegas | Fox | 1.7 (1,170) | -51% | 1422 | 75.8 |
| The Visitor | Overture | .43 (1,690) | -10% | 254 | 6.6 |
| Baby Mama | Uni | .41 (910) | -49% | 453 | 58.8 |
| Made of Honor | Sony | .33 (1,020) | -59% | 324 | 45.4 |
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Uni | .30 (970) | -38% | 309 | 62.1 |
| Speed Racer | WB | .22 (850) | -49% | 260 | 42.5 |
| Horton Hears a Who | Fox | .19 (880) | -25% | 217 | 153.9 |
| The Fall | Roadside Attract | .15 (2,050) | -40% | 73 | 1.4 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $173.40 | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 23% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | 2% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| The Promotion | Weinstein Co. | .13 (1,570) | 316% | 81 | 0.17 |
| Young People F*cking | Maple Pics | .11 (3,150) | – | 36 | 0.11 |
| Mongol | Picturehouse | .10 (19,800) | -27% | 5 | 0.3 |
| Mere Baap Pahle | Shemaroo | 94,800 (1,720) | – | 55 | 0.09 |
| Encounters at the End of the World | ThinkFilm | 15,100 (15,100) | – | 1 | 0.02 |
| My Winnipeg | IFC | 13,900 (6,950) | – | 2 | 0.01 |
| Chris & Don | Zeitgeist | 9,300 (9,300) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
| Love Comes Lately | Kino | 8,800 (2,870) | – | 3 | 0.01 |
| Baghead | Sony Classics | 8,100 (4,050) | – | 2 | 0.01 |
| Quid Pro Quo | Magnolia | 7,200 (1,800) | – | 4 | 0.01 |
| Beauty in Trouble | Menemsha | 6,100 (6,100) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – To June 12, 2008
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
| Paramount (11) | 879.3 | 21.80% |
| Fox (12) | 584.5 | 14.50% |
| Warner Bros. (15) | 574.4 | 14.20% |
| Sony (15) | 435.5 | 10.80% |
| Buena Vista (9) | 402.9 | 10.00% |
| Universal (10) | 317.9 | 7.90% |
| Lions Gate (8) | 203.1 | 5.00% |
| Fox Searchlight (5) | 150.1 | 3.70% |
| Par Vantage (8) | 71.5 | 1.80% |
| New Line (4) | 61.8 | 1.50% |
| Focus (4) | 59.9 | 1.50% |
| Miramax (5) | 47.9 | 1.20% |
| MGM (9) | 46.3 | 1.20% |
| Summit (2) | 34.9 | 0.90% |
| Overture (3) | 27.1 | 0.70% |
| Other * (154) | 135 | 3.30% |
| * none greater than 0.45% | 4032.1 | 100.00% |
Top Global Grossers – To June 12, 2008
| Title | Distributor | Gross |
| Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crys | Par | 600,931,854 |
| Iron Man | Par | 540,026,315 |
| Horton Hears a Who | Fox | 291,955,572 |
| I Am Legend * | WB | 270,507,723 |
| 10,000 B.C. | WB | 269,253,549 |
| National Treasure: Book of Secrets * | BV | 263,704,304 |
| The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Cas | BV | 238,987,233 |
| Jumper | Fox | 212,525,723 |
| Sex and the City | WB | 211,896,830 |
| Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis | Pathe | 205,322,718 |
| Juno * | Fox/Mandate | 200,693,977 |
| What Happens in Vegas | Fox | 185,942,782 |
| The Bucket List | WB | 172,551,917 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks * | Fox | 171,654,900 |
| Cloverfield | Par | 170,532,188 |
| The Spiderwick Chronicles | Par | 162,698,911 |
| 27 Dresses | Fox/Spyglass | 157,784,284 |
| Vantage Point | Sony | 151,585,100 |
| Step Up 2: The Streets | BV | 144,930,409 |
| 21 | Sony | 142,917,767 |
| * does not include 2007 box office | ||
