Box Office Archive for March, 2007
Friday Estimates by Klady
Not too many surprises here, though estimates of the TNMT flick were pretty high considering that it is an old phenom having to face two, count ’em, two strong pictures right in the same demo.
Blades of Glory at about $32 million is a nice piece of marketing. It
Box Office Hell – March 30, 2007
Updated – Friday @ 11a
The Earlier Chart
Friday Box Office
Not too much to say. The 300 drop is not surprising. The only real surprise this weekend is the strong opening of Dead Silence, which theoretically is right up against the 300 audience.
Decent reviews for Premonition seem to indicate that Wild Hogs will still be able to advertise “#1 comedy In America” for a third weekend.
I am rather disgusted by the spin that Variety continues to put on the “300 vs The Critics” thing. But I am equally irritated by critics who are fighting the issue as well, giving it more life. Even the great and wise Joe Morgenstern wrote about it in the WSJ Weekend Journal. And the fact is that this stuff happens every year and though the number was and is massive, we are a long, long way from any indication that anything has changed because of this movie… as in, “Didn’t we have this discussion last July when Pirates 3 opened?”
It is, simply, idiotic to argue that saying that this film is like a videogame is wrong either in conceit or detail. Rarely has a film so accurately embodied that accusation, whether you think “it’s a videogame” is praise or an insult. It is equally foolhardy to argue that all CG-heavy movies are the same as videogames. It is equally idiotic to start the “critics are out of touch” schtick again… yes, they are out of touch… they are in the business critical analysis of films. Real audiences don’t have that responsibility. And we don’t know what real audiences think of 300 yet. Based on that opening, when it hits $300 million, I will start writing about how the film really has become a cultural event. Until then, it’s chasing Night At The Fucking Museum.
So where are the trend stories about America wanting more movies about museums?
Desperately Seeking Slumpin'
I haven’t really had the urge to call EW’s Joshua Rich an idiot. He’s hardly a savant, but there are no sharp edges that slice dangerously close to any ugliness. Until today.
In a PopWatch piece called “Hollywood’s box-office year: Good news, but for whom?,” he continues to argue the false notion that “The business is still struggling.”
Of course, it does struggle. But not in a way that this guy is equipped to even consider. He opines further:
“We’re the ones who stand to pay
Sunday Estimate by Klady
Well, It looks like my little Wild Hogs theory was right. The Saturday bump suggests that pretty clearly. It’s a family film, not a middle-aged comedy. Ya gotta give that one to Disney.
Amazingly, it looks like The Number 23 could sneak up on Jim Carrey spring vehicle Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind ($34.4m/d), which had so much positive energy and media love compared to this year’s release. I’m not sure what that says about the movie world, but I doubt it’s good.
The Oscar bumps are pretty much inconsequential.
Friday Numbers by Klady & BO Hell
Wild Hoggies couldn’t drag me to it
Wild, wild hoggies, they went to that shit
What can you do? People still eat a lot of Big Macs, they want to read about Britney