Retro IONCINEMA.com
Weekend Box Office Report: April 25-27: Babies Over Bongs
Weekend Top 10
| # | Title | GROSS | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Total | Distributor |
| 1 | Baby Mama | $18.3M | NEW | 2,543 | 1 | 7,184 | $18.3M | Universal |
| 2 | Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay | $14.6M | NEW | 2,510 | 1 | 5,804 | $14.6M | New Line |
| 3 | The Forbidden Kingdom | $11.2M | -47.5 | 3,151 | 2 | 3,563 | $38.3M | Lionsgate |
| 4 | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | $11.0M | -37.9 | 2,799 | 2 | 3,934 | $35.1M | Universal |
| 5 | Nim’s Island | $4.5M | -20.4 | 2,977 | 4 | 1,519 | $39.0M | Fox |
| 6 | Prom Night | $4.4M | -49.3 | 2,821 | 3 | 1,559 | $38.1M | Screen Gems |
| 7 | 21 | $4.0M | -27.5 | 2,952 | 5 | 1,355 | $75.8M | Sony |
| 8 | 88 Minutes | $3.6M | -48.3 | 2,168 | 2 | 1,660 | $12.6M | Sony |
| 9 | Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! | $2.4M | -31.4 | 2,159 | 7 | 1,116 | $147.9M | Fox |
| 10 | Deception | $2.2M | NEW | 2,001 | 1 | 1,111 | $2.2M | Fox |
Though summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21 here in
North America, this is widely considered by Hollywood as the last weekend of
spring. I guess in Hollywood,
summer doesn’t begin with the solstice but rather with Iron Man. And
how did people choose to spend this last weekend before the inevitable
explosions? Why they decided it
was a good time to laugh.
Two high profile comedies playing to two vastly different
audiences went head to head this weekend and ultimately viewers chose babies
over bongs as Baby Mama opened safely
ahead of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The
Tina Fey / Amy Poehler surrogate comedy surged past the stoner sequel and
should have an easier time holding on to its audience in the weeks ahead given
the difference in attention spans from one audience to the other. Harold & Kumar’s returns likely
suffered from their R-rating as it was clearly written for teenagers of the
high and horny variety and they weren’t allowed in. I was allowed in. How very unfortunate for me.
This week’s Top 10 saw some very healthy holds for some of
its aging members. Forgetting
Sarah Marshall, Nim’s Island, 21 and Horton Hears a Who! all saw
dips below 40%. Good news all
around as the box office was up over last year for the same frame and this was pretty much the last
chance for a few of these films before they get completely lost in the summer
shuffle.
The Visitor surged
over 200% this week as it expanded to 76 screens. It managed a still robust per screen average of nearly $7K
in its third frame. It’s success
has surprised the business as higher profile specialty films this spring, like My
Blueberry Nights and Where in
the World Is Osama Bin Laden have failed
to connect with their audiences and seen their returns diminish with their
expansions. Another high profile
specialty film, Helen Hunt’s directorial debut, Then She Found Me, opened with solid results (over $8K per screen)
but will confirm its potential longevity next week with its wider expansion.
This week’s highest per screen average came courtesy of
veteran French director, Claude Lelouche’s latest export, Roman de Gare. The
film averaged nearly $13K on just two screens and is being heralded as a return
to Lelouche’s style from his earlier years. Plans to expand are still minimal so its performance in the
next few weeks will decide its fate.
NEXT WEEK: Summer! Well, sort of. Iron Man opens ultra wide on 3800 screens. Aiming to counter-program for the
ladies, Patrick Dempsey’s rip off of My Best Friend’s Wedding, Made of Honor opens on approximately 2700 screens. Meanwhile, The Visitor expands to over 200 screens and tries to get to everyone who won’t be
seeing the other two releases.
