'Pirates' ship doesn't tip
'Pirates' fills chest higher; 'Lady' is a disappointment
July 24, 2006
It was a weekend of highs and lows at the North American boxoffice. Buena Vista Pictures' "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" continued to break records, and Sony Pictures' "Monster House" surpassed expectations with its estimated $23 million opening. However, the same can't be said for Warner Bros. Pictures' release of M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water," which grossed an estimated $18.2 million, or 20th Century Fox's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," which came in at an estimated $8.7 million. Meanwhile, Kevin Smith's loyal fans turned out in abundance, as his irreverent sequel "Clerks II" grossed $9.6 million.
Overall, the top 12 movies earned an estimated $143.2 million, an extremely healthy 10.8% increase compared with the same weekend last year. The variety of films offered seemed to draw audiences in droves.
"Dead Man's Chest" maintained its rising trajectory, reaping an estimated $35.5 million for the frame and plundering yet another record on its way to becoming one of the top boxoffice grossers ever. The film crossed the $300 million mark Saturday, becoming the fastest picture to hit that milestone after 16 days in release, beating "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." That picture reached the $300 million mark after 17 days.
After three weeks, "Dead Man's Chest's" overall gross of an estimated $321.7 million surpassed the original "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl's" entire domestic take of $305 million. It also marks the first picture of the year to hold on to the No. 1 spot for three consecutive weekends.
Between its motion-capture technology and the 163 theaters where it played in 3-D, "Monster House" lured in audiences with the promise of something different. The PG-rated animated film from newbie director Gil Kenan earned $23 million to become the weekend's No. 2 film, beating expectations and confirming that motion-capture is a viable alternative for animated films.
The effort to convert additional theaters to Real D 3-D before the film's opening proved to be worth it, with the gross of the 3-D engagements totaling an estimated $2.6 million, for a per-theater average of $16,012. (In the 3,553 total theaters in which it played, the movie averaged $6,473 per theater.) The film, from executive producers Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, brought in an audience that was comprised of 66% families, with predominantly boys being attracted to the scary-themed movie about a house that's actually a monster.
"This was above expectations all around," Sony president of distribution Rory Bruer said. "It's become one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and the 3-D was the icing on the cake. It's just a movie that is so fresh and fun and different."
The bad reviews and the overall negative press Shyamalan received last week helped hamper the boxoffice gross of the writer-director's fifth wide release. "Lady" grossed $18.2 million, not far below expectations but the smallest opener for a Shyamalan wide release. Warners, his new distributor, said the PG-13 picture, which stars Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard in a modern-day fairy tale, performed well on both coasts but failed to draw much of an audience in the Midwest and South.
"This movie was set up for an older audience," Warners president of distribution Dan Fellman said. "The cast gave the appearance of an upscale film, not as commercial as (Shyamalan's) others, and we were hurt by the negative press." Playing in 3,235 locations, the movie took in $5,629 per theater, good for a third-place finish for the weekend.
"Super Ex-Girlfriend," from veteran director Ivan Reitman, also was hurt by negative reviews. Grossing $8.7 million for a per-theater average of $3,220 -- the lowest of the new releases -- it underperformed original expectations and ended up in seventh place. But Fox has hopes that the comedy, starring Uma Thurman as a superhero who gets revenge on ex-boyfriend Luke Wilson, will pick up in the coming weeks. The PG-13 film, according to the distributor, had the best percentage increase of all films from Friday to Saturday.
"We're hoping that the Friday-to-Saturday bump shows there is life in the ol' gal," Fox president of distribution Bruce Snyder said.
The bump wasn't enough to beat the fourth wide release of the weekend, MGM's "Clerks II" from the Weinstein Co., which finished in sixth place. Opening in 2,150 theaters, Smith's sequel to the 1994 cult classic grossed $9.6 million, more than $6 million better then the original made during its entire run.
With a respectable per-theater average of $4,477, the R-rated "Clerks II" racked up its biggest numbers with urban young males. "This is a good number for us," MGM president of domestic distribution Clark Woods said. "The Kevin Smith fans came out big Saturday night and supported this picture."
" 'Clerks II' was extremely low cost, extremely profitable, and we're extremely proud of Kevin Smith's success," Weinstein Co. co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said.
Of the holdovers, Universal Pictures' "You, Me and Dupree" held strong in its second weekend with a 41% drop, resulting in a $12.8 million haul. The Owen Wilson starrer has grossed an estimated $45.3 million after 10 days in release, on the road to what is likely to be a $70 million cume. Sony's "Little Man" had a bit bigger drop, falling 49% as it took in an additional $11 million. The Wayans' brothers comedy has earned $40.6 million overall.
Warners also was granted a bit of a reprieve for the weekend on its "Superman Returns" numbers. The Bryan Singer-directed film, which has consistently dropped in the 40%-50% range, fell just 39% in its fourth weekend. Its gross stands at an estimated $178.5 million, and Warners is confident it will hit $200 million. At this weekend's Comic-Con International in San Diego, Singer said he is in discussions with the studio about a sequel.
The top 12 films for the weekend grossed an estimated $143.2 million, compared with $129.2 million for the top 12 a year ago, a year-over-year increase of close to 11%. Last year's lineup, which consisted of the second weekends of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Wedding Crashers" plus poor showings from new releases "The Island" and "Bad News Bears," was no match for this year's "Dead Man's Chest" and the four new wide releases.
For the week ending July 24, boxoffice was $248.8 million, down 4.7% from $261.1 million in the comparable week in 2005. For the year-to-date, boxoffice stands at $5.23 billion, up about 7% compared with $4.89 billion in 2005.
Admissions are up 5% over 2005 year-to-date.
Overall, the top 12 movies earned an estimated $143.2 million, an extremely healthy 10.8% increase compared with the same weekend last year. The variety of films offered seemed to draw audiences in droves.
"Dead Man's Chest" maintained its rising trajectory, reaping an estimated $35.5 million for the frame and plundering yet another record on its way to becoming one of the top boxoffice grossers ever. The film crossed the $300 million mark Saturday, becoming the fastest picture to hit that milestone after 16 days in release, beating "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." That picture reached the $300 million mark after 17 days.
After three weeks, "Dead Man's Chest's" overall gross of an estimated $321.7 million surpassed the original "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl's" entire domestic take of $305 million. It also marks the first picture of the year to hold on to the No. 1 spot for three consecutive weekends.
Between its motion-capture technology and the 163 theaters where it played in 3-D, "Monster House" lured in audiences with the promise of something different. The PG-rated animated film from newbie director Gil Kenan earned $23 million to become the weekend's No. 2 film, beating expectations and confirming that motion-capture is a viable alternative for animated films.
The effort to convert additional theaters to Real D 3-D before the film's opening proved to be worth it, with the gross of the 3-D engagements totaling an estimated $2.6 million, for a per-theater average of $16,012. (In the 3,553 total theaters in which it played, the movie averaged $6,473 per theater.) The film, from executive producers Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, brought in an audience that was comprised of 66% families, with predominantly boys being attracted to the scary-themed movie about a house that's actually a monster.
"This was above expectations all around," Sony president of distribution Rory Bruer said. "It's become one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, and the 3-D was the icing on the cake. It's just a movie that is so fresh and fun and different."
The bad reviews and the overall negative press Shyamalan received last week helped hamper the boxoffice gross of the writer-director's fifth wide release. "Lady" grossed $18.2 million, not far below expectations but the smallest opener for a Shyamalan wide release. Warners, his new distributor, said the PG-13 picture, which stars Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard in a modern-day fairy tale, performed well on both coasts but failed to draw much of an audience in the Midwest and South.
"This movie was set up for an older audience," Warners president of distribution Dan Fellman said. "The cast gave the appearance of an upscale film, not as commercial as (Shyamalan's) others, and we were hurt by the negative press." Playing in 3,235 locations, the movie took in $5,629 per theater, good for a third-place finish for the weekend.
"Super Ex-Girlfriend," from veteran director Ivan Reitman, also was hurt by negative reviews. Grossing $8.7 million for a per-theater average of $3,220 -- the lowest of the new releases -- it underperformed original expectations and ended up in seventh place. But Fox has hopes that the comedy, starring Uma Thurman as a superhero who gets revenge on ex-boyfriend Luke Wilson, will pick up in the coming weeks. The PG-13 film, according to the distributor, had the best percentage increase of all films from Friday to Saturday.
"We're hoping that the Friday-to-Saturday bump shows there is life in the ol' gal," Fox president of distribution Bruce Snyder said.
The bump wasn't enough to beat the fourth wide release of the weekend, MGM's "Clerks II" from the Weinstein Co., which finished in sixth place. Opening in 2,150 theaters, Smith's sequel to the 1994 cult classic grossed $9.6 million, more than $6 million better then the original made during its entire run.
With a respectable per-theater average of $4,477, the R-rated "Clerks II" racked up its biggest numbers with urban young males. "This is a good number for us," MGM president of domestic distribution Clark Woods said. "The Kevin Smith fans came out big Saturday night and supported this picture."
" 'Clerks II' was extremely low cost, extremely profitable, and we're extremely proud of Kevin Smith's success," Weinstein Co. co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said.
Of the holdovers, Universal Pictures' "You, Me and Dupree" held strong in its second weekend with a 41% drop, resulting in a $12.8 million haul. The Owen Wilson starrer has grossed an estimated $45.3 million after 10 days in release, on the road to what is likely to be a $70 million cume. Sony's "Little Man" had a bit bigger drop, falling 49% as it took in an additional $11 million. The Wayans' brothers comedy has earned $40.6 million overall.
Warners also was granted a bit of a reprieve for the weekend on its "Superman Returns" numbers. The Bryan Singer-directed film, which has consistently dropped in the 40%-50% range, fell just 39% in its fourth weekend. Its gross stands at an estimated $178.5 million, and Warners is confident it will hit $200 million. At this weekend's Comic-Con International in San Diego, Singer said he is in discussions with the studio about a sequel.
The top 12 films for the weekend grossed an estimated $143.2 million, compared with $129.2 million for the top 12 a year ago, a year-over-year increase of close to 11%. Last year's lineup, which consisted of the second weekends of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Wedding Crashers" plus poor showings from new releases "The Island" and "Bad News Bears," was no match for this year's "Dead Man's Chest" and the four new wide releases.
For the week ending July 24, boxoffice was $248.8 million, down 4.7% from $261.1 million in the comparable week in 2005. For the year-to-date, boxoffice stands at $5.23 billion, up about 7% compared with $4.89 billion in 2005.
Admissions are up 5% over 2005 year-to-date.
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