By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
Bo or No…
George S. Kaufman observed that “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.” And whether audiences perceived Meet the Spartans and the resurrection of Rambo as film parodies or simply intuited the two movies as send ups, each struggled for bragging rights in the weekend box office derby.
Spartans, the more obviously humorous assault, appeared to have a slight edge with an estimated $18.7 million debut to Stallone’s vigilante warrior with $17.8 million. The frame also sported national bows for the cop meller Untraceable in fifth position with a languid $11.1 million and a disappointing $4 million for the teen dance romance How She Move.
Additionally, the large format U2 3D had a tuneful $923,000 launch at 61 sites and the U.S. launch of Cannes top prized 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days was just a few admissions away from $50,000 from two venues. A clutch of other limited releases including The Air I Breath and the non-fictionShoot Down barely registered a blip on the viewer meter.
The sheer volume of incoming product abetted a general absence of opening gusto to pump up overall revenues by 17% from 2007. A year ago the Spartan crew’s debut of Epic Movie led the session with an $18.6 million box office followed by the $14.6 million bow of Smokin’ Aces.
The weekend was anticipated as a fierce competition between the eventual leaders and the second weekend of fleeting phenom Cloverfield. Last weekend’s leader was expected to take a hard 50% to 60% decline but dipped closer to 70% and found itself slipping to fourth in the lineup.
The post Oscar-announcement frame saw Juno rock solid while a re-release of Michael Clayton generated a modest $1.9 million gross from a tad more than 1,100 theaters. The other best picture contenders also added playdates with There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men (winner of last night’s Directors Guild honor) experiencing sizeable revenue boosts but Atonement slipping back slightly. Other nominees including The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Persepolis and The Savages benefited for Academy Award recognition while Sweeney Todd and Charlie Wilson’s War continued to erode rapidly.
Sweeney’s international launch doesn’t appear to be affected by its paucity of Oscar nods. The film opened at the top of the charts in England with roughly $4.5 million and also France where No Country was biting at its heels. Its Australian debut ranked second overall.
The absence of Oscar didn’t appear to impede the American opening of the highly lauded Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (it’s grossed about $200,000 in Canada).
Weekend Estimates – January 25-27, 2008
| Title | Distributor | Gross (averag | % change | Theater | Cume |
| Meet the Spartans | Fox | 18.7 (7,180) | – | 2605 | 18.7 |
| Rambo | Lions Gate | 17.8 (6,480) | – | 2751 | 17.8 |
| 27 Dresses | Fox | 13.4 (4,260) | -42% | 3074 | 45.2 |
| Cloverfield | Par | 12.6 (3,700) | -68% | 3411 | 64.2 |
| Untraceable | Sony | 11.1 (4,690) | – | 2368 | 11.1 |
| The Bucket List | WB | 9.9 (3,410) | -29% | 2915 | 57.4 |
| Juno | Fox Searchlight | 9.7 (3,990) | -3% | 2426 | 99.5 |
| National Treasure: Book of Secrets | BV | 4.6 (2,140) | -39% | 2154 | 205.4 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks | Fox | 4.5 (1,840) | -36% | 2430 | 204.1 |
| There Will Be Blood | Par Vantage | 4.5 (5,120) | 54% | 885 | 14.4 |
| Mad Money | Overture | 4.2 (1,690) | -46% | 2470 | 14.9 |
| How She Move | Par Vantage | 4.0 (2,590) | – | 1531 | 4 |
| Atonement | Focus | 3.6 (2,590) | -21% | 1400 | 37.6 |
| First Sunday | Sony | 3.2 (2,110) | -59% | 1503 | 34.3 |
| No Country for Old Men | Miramax | 2.3 (2,060) | 87% | 1107 | 51.8 |
| I Am Legend | WB | 2.1 (1,500) | -57% | 1405 | 251.6 |
| Michael Clayton | WB | 1.9 (1,750) | – | 1102 | 41.4 |
| Sweeney Todd | Par | 1.2 (1,300) | -55% | 936 | 50.6 |
| The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything | Uni | 1.2 (1,160) | -55% | 1016 | 10.2 |
| U2 3D | nWave | .92 (15,130) | – | 61 | 1.1 |
| Charlie Wilson’s War | Uni | .83 (1,370) | -58% | 605 | 64.6 |
| One Missed Call | WB | .73 (910) | -74% | 803 | 26.1 |
| The Water Horse | Sony | .63 (930) | -65% | 677 | 39.4 |
| P.S. I Love You | WB | .61 (1,060) | -69% | 577 | 52 |
| The Kite Runner | Par Vantage | .57 (1,700) | -48% | 335 | 13.8 |
| The Great Debators | MGM | .51 (1,310) | -61% | 390 | 29.1 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | – | $135.30 | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Year) | – | 17% | – | – | – |
| % Change (Last Week) | – | -10% | – | – | – |
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| The Orphanage | Picture/Christal | .45 (1,890) | -62% | 238 | 6 |
| The Savages | Fox Searchlight | .39 (2,370) | -10% | 166 | 4.2 |
| Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Miramax | .39 (3,150) | 0% | 123 | 3.1 |
| Persepolis | Sony Classics | .29 (5,460) | 21% | 54 | 1.3 |
| Cassandra’s Dream | Weinstein Co. | .18 (1,650) | -51% | 107 | 0.7 |
| 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days | IFC | 49,600 (24,900) | – | 2 | 0.05 |
| Shoot Down | Magnolia | 42,200 (2,344) | – | 18 | 0.04 |
| Sunday | Eros | 40,100 (2,670) | – | 15 | 0.04 |
| The Air I Breath | Thinkfilm | 20,500 (2,930) | – | 7 | 0.02 |
| Alice’s House | Vitagraph | 14,300 (2,860) | – | 5 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share – To January 24, 2008
| Distributor (titles) | Gross* | Market Share |
| Warner Bros. (10) | 150.9 | 22.70% |
| Fox (5) | 97.9 | 14.70% |
| Buena Vista (5) | 81.4 | 12.20% |
| Paramount (4) | 75.3 | 11.30% |
| Fox Searchlight (3) | 64.1 | 9.60% |
| Sony (7) | 59.9 | 9.00% |
| Universal (3) | 35.1 | 5.30% |
| Focus (2) | 22.8 | 3.40% |
| Par Vantage (4) | 17.8 | 2.70% |
| MGM (5) | 14.3 | 2.10% |
| Overture (1) | 10.7 | 1.60% |
| Miramax (2) | 9.7 | 1.50% |
| New Line (1) | 8.5 | 1.30% |
| Picturehouse (1) | 4.7 | 0.70% |
| FreeStyle (2) | 4.6 | 0.70% |
| Other * (21) | 7.9 | 1.20% |
| – | 445.6 | 100.00% |
