Holiday banquet a 7-course meal
Wide openers seek holiday joy at boxoffice
Dec 23, 2005
While seven new wide releases will jostle for the attention of moviegoers on Christmas weekend, two holdovers, Buena Vista Pictures' "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe" and Universal Pictures' "King Kong," will battle to claim the top spot.
"Kong" won the previous round last weekend with a debut of $50.1 million to "Narnia's" sophomore-frame gross of $31.8 million. But with each passing day, more kids are out of school for vacation, and the midweek numbers for "Narnia" have been edging closer to "Kong," actually overtaking the Peter Jackson-helmed picture Wednesday.
The numbers were close: "Narnia" captured $4.94 million for the day, and "Kong" claimed $4.87 million. But with more kids and families available, the PG-rated "Narnia" could be the No. 1 film for this weekend.
Industry veterans admit that with Christmas falling on a Sunday, it is difficult to project the four-day holiday weekend; a Sunday Christmas is the worst possible scenario for boxoffice business. Christmas Eve is notorious as being one of the slowest moviegoing days of the year, so much so that many smaller theaters simply close. Sunday matinees will be dead, but ticket-buying will begin to pick up that evening, and Monday's business should be through the roof. (The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday was 1994.)
Meanwhile, the weekend's seven new wide openers are relying on a hodgepodge of release strategies dependent on the individual film -- two opened Wednesday, two on Friday and three Sunday -- and the same is true for the limited releases.
With "Narnia" and "Kong" in a race for the top spot, two comedies -- Sony Pictures' "Fun With Dick and Jane" and 20th Century Fox's "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" -- are contending for the third and fourth slots. Both "Dick and Jane" and "Dozen 2" started a bit slow, and their target audiences will not really be available after Christmas. "Fun" nabbed $3.8 million and "Dozen" pulled in $2.5 million Wednesday, placing third for fourth for the day, respectively.
The PG-13 "Dick and Jane," starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni, was produced by Imagine Entertainment, directed by Dean Parisot and scripted by Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller. An updated remake of a 1977 comedy, it revolves around an upper-middle-class couple who turn to pulling heists to pay the bills.
Steve Martin stars in the PG-rated "Dozen 2" with co-star Bonnie Hunt and their blended family of 12 children. The original "Dozen" opened on Christmas weekend in 2003 with $27.6 million and went on to earn $138.6 million. This time out, the Martin clan takes a trip on their summer vacation, but the idyllic setting is interrupted when competition ensues with another large, rival family. The test for the Adam Shankman-helmed "Dozen 2" will be how much audience interest there will be after another comedy with a similar premise, Paramount Pictures' "Yours, Mine & Ours," has been out for about a month and grossed $46.7 million.
Fox Searchlight's "The Ringer" goes wide Friday in 1,829 theaters. The PG-13 comedy, executive produced by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, stars Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox and Katherine Heigl and was helmed by Barry Blaustein. The story revolves around two men (Knoxville, Cox) who try to fix the Special Olympics to pay off a debt.
Sony will be expanding runs on "Memoirs of a Geisha" to 1,547 theaters, hoping to capitalize on positive word-of-mouth from its limited run, which produced promising per-theater averages. Co-produced by Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks and Spyglass Entertainment, the period drama from director Rob Marshall has taken in about $3 million to date.
Universal and DreamWorks' high-profile "Munich," the controversial drama from director Steven Spielberg about the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics, opens Friday in 532 theaters. So far, it has met with more positive than negative reviews, and interest in the film is high.
On Christmas Day, Warner Bros. Pictures launches "Rumor Has It" in about 2,800 theaters. The Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Mark Ruffalo, Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine, is rated PG-13 and is expected to attract a female audience. The Weinstein Co.'s "Wolf Creek," an R-rated horror film from Australian director Greg McLean, also debuts on Christmas, going out to 1,749 theaters in a counterprogramming move to attract horror fans.
Universal's "The Producers," a film version of the Broadway musical starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, goes moderately wide Sunday in 975 theaters. The PG-13 comedy revolves around two producers who attempt to cash in by mounting the biggest Broadway flop of all time.
Two movies bow in limited release on Christmas Day: Buena Vista's "Casanova," a romantic comedy helmed by Lasse Hallstrom; and the Terrence Malick-directed "The New World," from New Line Cinema, a drama about Pocahontas and the cultural collision of European explorers and American Indian tribes.
Focus Features' "Brokeback Mountain" expands to 217 theaters, hoping to exploit award nominations in order to cross over to more mainstream audiences. The Western drama from director Ang Lee about an affair between two male ranch hands has generated exceptional per-theater averages and has picked up $3.5 million to date.
"Kong" won the previous round last weekend with a debut of $50.1 million to "Narnia's" sophomore-frame gross of $31.8 million. But with each passing day, more kids are out of school for vacation, and the midweek numbers for "Narnia" have been edging closer to "Kong," actually overtaking the Peter Jackson-helmed picture Wednesday.
The numbers were close: "Narnia" captured $4.94 million for the day, and "Kong" claimed $4.87 million. But with more kids and families available, the PG-rated "Narnia" could be the No. 1 film for this weekend.
Industry veterans admit that with Christmas falling on a Sunday, it is difficult to project the four-day holiday weekend; a Sunday Christmas is the worst possible scenario for boxoffice business. Christmas Eve is notorious as being one of the slowest moviegoing days of the year, so much so that many smaller theaters simply close. Sunday matinees will be dead, but ticket-buying will begin to pick up that evening, and Monday's business should be through the roof. (The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday was 1994.)
Meanwhile, the weekend's seven new wide openers are relying on a hodgepodge of release strategies dependent on the individual film -- two opened Wednesday, two on Friday and three Sunday -- and the same is true for the limited releases.
With "Narnia" and "Kong" in a race for the top spot, two comedies -- Sony Pictures' "Fun With Dick and Jane" and 20th Century Fox's "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" -- are contending for the third and fourth slots. Both "Dick and Jane" and "Dozen 2" started a bit slow, and their target audiences will not really be available after Christmas. "Fun" nabbed $3.8 million and "Dozen" pulled in $2.5 million Wednesday, placing third for fourth for the day, respectively.
The PG-13 "Dick and Jane," starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni, was produced by Imagine Entertainment, directed by Dean Parisot and scripted by Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller. An updated remake of a 1977 comedy, it revolves around an upper-middle-class couple who turn to pulling heists to pay the bills.
Steve Martin stars in the PG-rated "Dozen 2" with co-star Bonnie Hunt and their blended family of 12 children. The original "Dozen" opened on Christmas weekend in 2003 with $27.6 million and went on to earn $138.6 million. This time out, the Martin clan takes a trip on their summer vacation, but the idyllic setting is interrupted when competition ensues with another large, rival family. The test for the Adam Shankman-helmed "Dozen 2" will be how much audience interest there will be after another comedy with a similar premise, Paramount Pictures' "Yours, Mine & Ours," has been out for about a month and grossed $46.7 million.
Fox Searchlight's "The Ringer" goes wide Friday in 1,829 theaters. The PG-13 comedy, executive produced by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, stars Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox and Katherine Heigl and was helmed by Barry Blaustein. The story revolves around two men (Knoxville, Cox) who try to fix the Special Olympics to pay off a debt.
Sony will be expanding runs on "Memoirs of a Geisha" to 1,547 theaters, hoping to capitalize on positive word-of-mouth from its limited run, which produced promising per-theater averages. Co-produced by Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks and Spyglass Entertainment, the period drama from director Rob Marshall has taken in about $3 million to date.
Universal and DreamWorks' high-profile "Munich," the controversial drama from director Steven Spielberg about the aftermath of the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics, opens Friday in 532 theaters. So far, it has met with more positive than negative reviews, and interest in the film is high.
On Christmas Day, Warner Bros. Pictures launches "Rumor Has It" in about 2,800 theaters. The Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Mark Ruffalo, Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine, is rated PG-13 and is expected to attract a female audience. The Weinstein Co.'s "Wolf Creek," an R-rated horror film from Australian director Greg McLean, also debuts on Christmas, going out to 1,749 theaters in a counterprogramming move to attract horror fans.
Universal's "The Producers," a film version of the Broadway musical starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, goes moderately wide Sunday in 975 theaters. The PG-13 comedy revolves around two producers who attempt to cash in by mounting the biggest Broadway flop of all time.
Two movies bow in limited release on Christmas Day: Buena Vista's "Casanova," a romantic comedy helmed by Lasse Hallstrom; and the Terrence Malick-directed "The New World," from New Line Cinema, a drama about Pocahontas and the cultural collision of European explorers and American Indian tribes.
Focus Features' "Brokeback Mountain" expands to 217 theaters, hoping to exploit award nominations in order to cross over to more mainstream audiences. The Western drama from director Ang Lee about an affair between two male ranch hands has generated exceptional per-theater averages and has picked up $3.5 million to date.
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