Weekend numbers
Yesterday Variety's Ben Fritz and Dave McNary reported that Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Michael Clayton, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? and We Own the Night "are expected to gross in the low- to mid-teens" in a kind of even-steven fashion, and I said I'd been told that Why Did I Get Married? would do "$20 million-plus, and that the others will come in at $10 to $12 million lowball, and $12 to $14 million at best." That's more or less what's happened. My estimate, I mean, and not Variety's.
There's too much product out there and product kills product, but despite the glut Why Did I Get Married? -- far and away the weekend's #1 film -- will end up with $22,151,000 by Sunday night, give or take.
The Game Plan will be second with $11,226,000 -- almost exactly half of Perry's earnings. James Gray's We Own The Night will come in third with $10,948,000 -- a little over $4000 a print and going nowhere. The fourth-place Michael Clayton is probably doing well in the uptown regions, but the rurals are giving it the bum's rush -- a projected $9,893,000, under $4000 a print, dying in Middle America.
The Heartbreak Kid is down 50% for a projected $7,064,000 and a fifth-place showing.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age has gone down to the sea in ships. It will take in $6,383,000 -- 2000 theatres, $3200 a print. The women and older couples read the reviews and said "later." Cate Blanchett's Ziggy Stardust has slipped beneath the waves and been embraced by Bill Nighy's Davy Jones. "You are one of us now," he says as he looks into her eyes and her soul. "Tug on my facial squid tentacles and join us in eternal damnation."
The Kingdom will come in seventh with $4,467,000. Across The Universe is eighth with $3,921,000 and $4100 a print. I don;t care about the ninth- and tenth-place finishers. Sleuth opened in 9 theatres and only made $4000 a print...disaster. Control , the best of them all, has been playing in one theatre in the Village and will take in $28,000.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 13, 2007 at 10:32 AM
comment #1
JD
says ...
The question this begs is, why does every dramatic film have to be positioned as Oscar bait? If these movies were spread out throughout the year, those of us who prefer dramatic filmmaking to blockbusters would pay to see them instead of Transformers and Spider-Man 3. But when they're all released at the same time, they cancel each other out. Still, I'm glad to hear that We Own the Night is doing okay (relative to its budget and the past performance of Gray's unfashionably serious films).
Posted by JD
at October 13, 2007 11:00 AM
comment #2
Larry
says ...
"The fourth-place Michael Clayton is probably doing well in the uptown regions, but the rurals are giving it the bum's rush -- a projected $9,893,000, under $4000 a print, dying in Middle America."
Is Burbank Middle America, because that's where I saw it last night and the theatre wasn't too crowded.
Posted by Larry
at October 13, 2007 11:01 AM
comment #3
gruver1
says ...
Wells to Larry: Really? Okay. My theory is that Burbank is essentially a below-the-line community mixed in with regular So Cal Joes...no different than the Ozarks, really, after the stars and the studio execs go home after work. I like Burbank, but it's not the Upper West Side of Manhattan or the Fillmore district in San Francisco or the university area of Seattle. It's basically a wage-earning SUV Bubbaland -- it's no different than Valencia or Fresno or any other middle-class town.
Posted by gruver1
at October 13, 2007 11:49 AM
comment #4
D.Z.
says ...
Tyler Perry seems like this generation's Bill Cosby in drag, but I congratulate him on his success anyway. As for The Golden Age, did it really need 2,000 theaters? The highest count for the last one was 624! If Russel Crowe at his peak couldn't sell Master and Commander, what made Universal think Blanchett would help this one? It's kind of sad that Marky Mark has become more appealing than Clooney at the box office, but I really can't tell one political thriller of the latter actor from another. He really needs better marketing people.
Posted by D.Z.
at October 13, 2007 12:54 PM
comment #5
EDouglas
says ...
Except that Bill Cosby was funny and talented. Welcome to 21st Century America.
Posted by EDouglas
at October 13, 2007 1:12 PM
comment #6
jeffmcm
says ...
Oh good, so now we can stratify America based on 'above-the-line' and 'below-the-line', aka a few hundred thousand people who Wells thinks are more important than the other 299 million of us.
Posted by jeffmcm
at October 13, 2007 2:21 PM
comment #7
banks64086
says ...
Don't completely count out middle America when it comes to taste. I saw Michael Clayton in a full house in a suburban, blue-collar Kansas City theatre last night (although it was just a 175 seat house). On the ohter hand, the two 300-seat house projecting Night didn't seem too packed. In the long run, I think well-crafted Michael Clayton will have the legs in the bunch.
Posted by banks64086
at October 13, 2007 2:42 PM