By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
On the Dole
The Dark Knight remained top dog in the marketplace with an estimated $25.8 million weekend gross. However, the competition was torrid as the bow of stoner comedy Pineapple Express nipped at its cape with an opening weekend salvo of $22.2 million. Also bowing nationally was the female bonding sequel Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 with $10.6 million to rank fourth overall.
Additionally there was fierce competition in debuts in the niches and limited bows. On the Bollywood circuit Singh is Kinng had the strongest opening in that sector this year with a $1.07 gross at 112 theaters. Bottle Shock, the droll saga of California wines back in the 1970s posted an impressive $230,000 and Elegy, adapted from Philip Roth’s The Dying Animal, generated a potent $16,200 average at six locations. Conversely the regional bow of Beer for My Horses was just fair with a $208,000 tally at 91 corrals and biker opus Hell Ride ran out of gas with an $86,200 gross at 82 truck stops.
Overall box office trailed off by double digits in contrast to 2007’s August surge. This year’s summer revenues are currently 4.5% better than last year but admissions are flat and if the final weeks leading up to Labor Day continue the trend there will be no cheering in Mudville come September.
Tracking for the offbeat action-comedy Pineapple Express was sufficiently strong to suggest it might knock Batman off his perch. But bragging rights aside, the decision was made to open the film on Wednesday for a couple more days of summer revenue. Its jaw dropping $12 million plus opening day certainly justified the move but nonetheless bowdlerized its full weekend potential.
The Sisterhood sequel also bowed Wednesday (and Tropic Thunder will take that head start this week); entering the weekend with $8.9 million. Its weekend performance was pretty much on track with pundit prognostications.
Weekend box office pushed to roughly $116 million to ebb back 24% from both the prior weekend as well as the comparable 2007 session. Last year the debut of Rush Hour 3 was head of the class with $49.1 million while counter-programmed Stardust opened in position four with $9.2 million.
The lead up to Singh is Kinng was as closely watched in the Bollywood arena as any U.S. summer blockbuster. The maiden producing effort of box office superstar Akshay Kumar was eyed with some skepticism as it appeared to be tipped toward a minority Punjabi crowd. But initial sales everywhere indicate it could be the year’s top grosser in its circuit.
Aside from the new entries, alternative fare continued to play strong with Tell No One andBrideshead Revisited slotting in the top 20 with small ripples in their box office potency. Non-fiction entry Man on Wire expanded forcefully but one could see the strain of new playdates on American Teen. One could also see Quebec family drama Un Ete sans point ni coup sur showing solid staying power in its second weekend.
Weekend Estimates – August 8-10, 2008
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chan | Theaters | Cume |
| The Dark Knight | WB | 25.8 (6,420) | -39% | 4025 | 441.3 |
| Pinapple Express | Sony | 22.2 (7,240) | – | 3072 | 40.3 |
| The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Empire | Uni | 16.2 (4,290) | -60% | 3778 | 70.8 |
| Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 | WB | 10.6 (3,930) | – | 2707 | 19.6 |
| Step Brothers | Sony | 8.8 (2,760) | -47% | 3182 | 80.8 |
| Mamma Mia! | Uni | 8.0 (2,490) | -37% | 3194 | 103.9 |
| Journey to the Center of the Earth | WB | 4.7 (2,380) | -30% | 1970 | 81.6 |
| Hancock | Sony | 3.2 (1,420) | -37% | 2258 | 221.6 |
| Swing Vote | BV | 3.1 (1,400) | -50% | 2213 | 12 |
| Wall-E | BV | 3.0 (1,390) | -35% | 2144 | 210 |
| Space Chimps | Fox | 1.6 (990) | -40% | 1631 | 25.4 |
| Hellboy II: The Golden Army | Uni | 1.2 (1,210) | -51% | 1015 | 73.5 |
| X-Files: I Want to Believe | Fox | 1.1 (650) | -67% | 1695 | 19.6 |
| Singh is Kinng | Studio 18 | 1.1 (9,550) | – | 112 | 1.1 |
| Brideshead Reisited | Miramax | 1.0 (2,920) | -12% | 349 | 3.3 |
| Wanted | Uni | .69 (1,070) | -44% | 642 | 132.6 |
| Get Smart | WB | .51 (1,180) | -49% | 432 | 127.5 |
| Kung Fu Panda | Par | .44 (1,080) | -30% | 408 | 211.3 |
| Iron Man | Par | .39 (1,130) | -33% | 345 | 316.1 |
| Tell No One | Music Box | .33 (3,270) | -28% | 101 | 2.8 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $112.80 | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | -24% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -24% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Man on Wire | Magnolia | .26 (4,460) | 448% | 59 | 0.42 |
| Bottle Shock | FreeStyle | .23 (4,640) | – | 50 | 0.3 |
| Beer for My Horses | Roadside At. | .21 (2,290) | – | 91 | 0.21 |
| Un Ete sans point ni coup sur | Alliance | .17 (2,850) | -34% | 61 | 0.6 |
| American Teen | Par Ventage | .13 (1,740) | -21% | 76 | 0.46 |
| Elegy | IDP | .10 (16,200) | – | 6 | 0.1 |
| Hell Ride | Weinstein C | 86,200 (1,050) | – | 82 | 0.09 |
| Amal | Seville | 26,700 (8,900) | – | 3 | 0.03 |
| What We Do in Secret | Peace Arch | 6,600 (6,600) | – | 1 | 0.01 |
| Red | Magnolia | 2,900 (1,450) | – | 2 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – To August 7, 2008
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (19) | 1247.5 | 20.00% |
| Paramount (12) | 1114.9 | 18.40% |
| Universal (15) | 820.1 | 13.20% |
| Sony (18) | 793.2 | 12.70% |
| Fox (16) | 711.3 | 11.40% |
| Buena Vista (11) | 632.3 | 10.10% |
| Lions Gate (9) | 204.3 | 3.20% |
| Fox Searchlight (5) | 150.9 | 2.40% |
| Paramount Vantage (10) | 72.3 | 1.10% |
| New Line (4) | 61.8 | 1.00% |
| Focus (5) | 60.1 | 1.00% |
| Miramax (6) | 50.4 | 0.80% |
| MGM (9) | 46.5 | 0.70% |
| Picturehouse (6) | 35.1 | 0.50% |
| Summit (2) | 34.9 | 0.50% |
| Other * (205) | 190.7 | 3.00% |
| * none greater than 0.45% | 6226.3 | 100.00% |
Top Domestic Releases – To July 31, 2008
| Title * | Distributor | Gross |
| The Dark Knight | WB | 351,086,846 |
| Iron Man | Par | 315,107,589 |
| Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Cryst | Par | 313,972,312 |
| Hancock | Sony | 210,795,466 |
| Kung Fu Panda | Par | 209,854,538 |
| Wall-E | BV | 199,474,897 |
| Horton Hears a Who | Fox | 154,423,552 |
| Sex and the City | WB | 151,169,251 |
| The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Casp | BV | 140,415,913 |
| The Incredible Hulk | Uni | 132,805,330 |
| Wanted | Uni | 130,080,115 |
| Get Smart | WB | 125,506,819 |
| Juno * | Fox Searchlight | 115,568,583 |
| You Don’t Mess with the Zohan | Sony | 98,440,404 |
| 10,000 B.C. | WB | 94,819,450 |
| The Bucket List * | WB | 92,781,554 |
| National Treasure: Book of Secrets * | BV | 86,700,433 |
| 21 | Sony | 82,823,812 |
| Jumper | Fox | 80,172,128 |
| Cloverfield | Par | 80,048,433 |
