Weekend Box Office by Klady
So… the claim out there is that Inglourious Basterds opened to an estimated $37.6m, which coincidentally is $259k more than District 9 opened to last weekend. Hmmm….
On the other hand, Klady’s estimate has IB at $38.4m.
Either way – since beating D9 is a meaningless victory – a great weekend for The Weinsteins and another chance for the media to not fall of their hype swords… just to wipe them down, waiting for the next chance to declare the boys dead.
It looks like QT will have his second $100 million movie. And Brad Pitt’s muscle at the box office still has to make you scratch your head and wonder who wouldn’t want a $58 million Brad Pitt movie.
D9 had a perfectly reasonable hold. In fact, the only Sony movies to hold second weekend better this were Fired Up (against a $5.5m opening) and the family phenom known as Paul Blart: Mall Cop. The film will easily best $100m and could pass Angels & Demons‘ $133m to become Sony’s #2 domestic movie of the year.
The Time Traveler’s Wife isn’t going to quite get to the number for The Notebook, but it’s going to get a lot closer than anyone really thought.
Disney’s efforts on behalf of Miyazaki are bearing fruit. Ponyo is looking like it will get into the teens, which is not terribly impressive out of context, but is another big step on terms of seeding a young audience to accept the feel and look of his legendary animation.
The Hurt Locker is in the much-discussed-here freefall, losing screens weekly, and now looking like $13m is a far-away goal.
HP6 is close to passing “Order” to become the #2 domestic grosser of the franchise..still an outside shot at $300 million.
“The Hangover” is about a week from passing “There’s Something About Mary” in attendance to become the #3 R-rated comedy in terms of ticket sales, behind Animal House and Beverly Hills Cop II…
$280 per theatre for Mark Pease!
I’m very happy by these numbers. The holdovers are mostly strong, the IB opening is a giant fuck you to the slavering press eager for a Weinstein implosion, and the Ponyo gross shows difinitively that Chucky in Jersey has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about, ever.
Check out the legs on Julie and Julia. $59m already and only a 28% drop.
Sometime ago Dave ran a poll regarding the The Ugly Truth release date and whether it might have hurt its final box office tally. It seems to be doing alright though. I was just wondering who were the turds that decided it would be good idea to release Final Destination 4 and Halloween 2 on the same freaking friday?
Maybe Wrecktum enjoys getting pistol-whipped. Disney left money on the table for “Ponyo” by (1) not providing the Japanese version for big cities and (2) the Academy Award references in all promotion.
Face it, the public knows the Academy Awards are less honest than WrestleMania or even SummerSlam (the latter is on tonight).
Funny People’s weekend drops: 60%, 61% and 70%. Kapow.
I would imagine Adam Sandler is just tickled pink that he passed up playing The Bear Jew in Inglourious Basterds for Funny People right about now.
I’m guessing, Bulldog68, that each studio thought the other would flinch. Now both movies will lose about $10 million in their respective opening weekends.
“Maybe Wrecktum enjoys getting pistol-whipped. Disney left money on the table for “Ponyo” by (1) not providing the Japanese version for big cities and (2) the Academy Award references in all promotion.”
OK, tough guy. How much do you think it would have made if 1) a subtitled version were available and 2) if the campaign hadn’t mentioned the Academy?
@Wrecktum: A helluva lot better than it currently is doing.
On a brighter note England have reclaimed the Ashes in a smashing victory over Australia. The BBC even brought on Daniel Radcliffe from the Harry Potter movies for an interview at the lunch break. The over-by-over roundup has a link to the interview.
Here’s an exchange between horror writer Ryan Turek and Final Destination producer Craig Perry:
Shock: What about the competition? Obviously everyone kept on thinking that one of the horror movies was going to flinch
This is why I generally want to throw nerf footballs in the faces of those, that make fucking horror movies. So the fucking movie that gets it’s jollies off of killing kids in the most pain and horrific ways, is a FUN MOVIE. While the movie that’s all about Myers doing what he does is a DIRTY AND GRUNGY MOVIE? Really assholes? Really? Fucking horrour films.
Just looking at the horror/thriller itinerary for the next few weeks, and its really jam packed.
Aug 28: FD4 & H2
Sept 4: Carriers & Flicker
Sept 11:Sorority Row & Whiteout
Sept 18: Jennifer’s Body
Sept 25: Pandorium
The only word that comes to mind is Cannibalism.
“@Wrecktum: A helluva lot better than it currently is doing.”
By what metric do you assume this? Please, give me something besides “because I say so.”
To m, the most surprising thing about the success of Inglourious Basterds opening is the amount of people on twitter who won $250 in grocery money just by mentioning it.
You know, I felt like word of mouth for IB might not be great after it got released and people found out it wasn’t a movie about Brad Pitt killing “Natzis”, but word seems to be pretty positive so far.
I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but is there a chance that it might get a BP nomination with the 10 slots?
Albeit, the friend that I saw it with thought the worst part of the movie was the opening scene with Cristoph Waltz. I thought it was maybe the best thing QT has ever written.
“I would imagine Adam Sandler is just tickled pink that he passed up playing The Bear Jew in Inglourious Basterds for Funny People right about now.”
Yeah. Passing up a small part in Tarantino’s movie in order to play the lead in a film built largely around your own life – that sounds like a lifetime of regret with a bow on top. Sandler already experienced the reactions to “Spanglish” and “Reign O’er Me”, so he knew what he was probably in for as soon as he signed the dotted line.
The actor who should really feel embarassed, in spite of IG’s success, is Brad Pitt. Try listening to the audio of that “I want my scalps!” speech and tell me that it isn’t one of the worst attempts at an accent ever recorded for film. “Inglourious Basterds” may wind up as one of the ten Best Picture nominees, but his performance belongs firmly in the Razzies.
This is the first Tarantino film that’s going to draw in a lot of older folk who don’t go out to movies to much based on the walkers and wheelchairs at the screening I was at and their enthusiastic response.
I wonder if a lot of WW2 veterans are going, primarily to get vicarious joy from the ending.
I saw Basterds at a more upmarket cinema (it’s my usual daytime cinema, but I rarely go there on weekend nights) and it was filled with most older people (including a lesbian couple in front of me and the bf who were making out – random) so I actually think it’s second weekend could not be a bloodbath. Sub 50% would be an emphatic win, for sure.
Hallick, you’re right about Pitt. He was really bad. However, the liked of Waltz, Kruger, Laurant and Fassbender more than made up for it.
Chucky, we’re used to you throwing around ideas that you have no proof for whatsoever, but do you really think a few subtitled prints would earn more than it would cost to actually get them subtitled (which costs quite a lot of money). I doubt there’s more than half a mil in it. And the Oscar citation? Ugh. You’re a fool.
Oh and Chucky, why the random cricket mention? I am fairly certain the majority of people here have no idea how to even play cricket let alone care about who won the Ashes (a concept they probably have no clue about).
Besides, I’m sick of hearing about the bloody cricket. Truly one of the worst sports ever imagined.
“I wonder if a lot of WW2 veterans are going, primarily to get vicarious joy from the ending.”
since most living world war 2 vets are around 90, i’m guessing ‘not a lot’.
Dave will love this, from today’s Hollywood Reporter:
“Finally, a Twitter effect that benefits a movie instead of hurts it.
After lukewarm tweets from Friday screenings caused weekend drops for pics like “Bruno” and “Funny People” earlier this summer, “Inglourious Basterds” came along this weekend and rode a crest of tweeting goodwill.”
I noted this in today’s USA Today report on Inglorious Basterds:
“A lot of naysayers said we wouldn’t get a female audience,” says Harvey Weinstein of the Weinstein Co., which released Basterds. “We knew they loved it when they saw it. We just needed to entice them.”
That strategy paid off as Basterds drew an audience that was 42 % female — high for a Tarantino movie.
could that be the PITT effect?
i personally can’t stand the guy but it would appear he is like catnip to many of my fellow chicks, and ‘basterds’ certainly was marketed almost solely on his name and face (complete with jutting jaw and what someone must have thought was an amusing accent)
i should have said that i’m not surprised at all that women like ‘basterds'(shosanna is deliciously root-worthy), just that using pitt as bait to lure them in was a clever ploy
I saw In The Loop over the w/e. First off, holy crap, was that freckin’ funny or what! I remember the days when I had no filter and said whatever I felt to other people and this movie made me cringe wondering if I was ever that bad.
Anyway, I saw it not in the theater but In Demand at home. I’m sure they wouldn’t count it as b.o. revenue but is there any kind of asterick for the ppv numbers for such a case? Not sure what I’m asking but have any trends or partial theories been made on releasing films for home veiwing while the film is still in the theater been made?
Kami must still be in mourning. I would not have talked about the Ashes if the BBC hadn’t brought on the man who plays Harry Potter. His wizardry was magic for England — where was Kami when Ricky Ponting was run out?
i believe he’s already told you elsewhere he doesn’t give two farts in the wind about cricket, chuckles. and as a fellow antipodean i must agree: any game that can be played for 5 bloody looooong days and nobody wins is a fizzer (but the one-dayers are at least an excuse to drink copious amounts of beer whilst frying in the sun like a hapless sausage on a bbq)
MELANIE LAURENT HOTTEST NEW CHICK OF ’09 BOW.
RESPECT.
Chucky, I know your only reason for coming here is to piss people off with your repetitive garbage, but if you’re going to respond to me at least read what I wrote. God dammit.
What a tool.
Any of you guys know any HOT FEMALE SQUACK who just want some dude to GO DOWN ON THEM for sixteen hours?
I can bring Saran Wrap if she’s in the V.C.
@Kami: That “repetitive garbage” makes more sense than all the name-checking and Academy Award pimping. At least I don’t reference a chick flick in response.
As for Australia losing the Ashes there are worse things — ask any New York Mets fan.
Chucky, you’re entering the D.Z. Zone…
CHRISTIAN, YOU’RE A FUCKING REBORN DOUCHEBAG.
NICE SCREEN NAME, FUCKBAG.
He who’s not busy being re-born is busy dying…