Weekend Box Office Report: June 13 to 15: The Hulk Is Happening

Weekend Top 10

This weekend’s box office featured two giants with a whole
heck of a lot to prove.  Realistically speaking, the Hulk actually is a giant while the other (M.
Night Shyamalan) is of the would-be variety.  After sitting nervously in the waiting room all weekend
wondering if they would have to skulk home in shame, they can both relax as they
both have reasons to carry their heads, be them giant in shape or just plain
ego, high.

Marvel’s potentially premature revival of The Incredible
Hulk franchise after a resonating disaster
from just five years ago opened to a solid $54.5 million.  This tally falls short of Ang Lee’s $62 million opening last time out but the opening weekend was not the problem.  What killed the first Hulk attempt was
the disastrous reception from the fans that led to a 65% drop off the following
weekend and a quick disappearance from multiplexes and minds.  And so the future remains to be seen if
Marvel can do what it couldn’t before in the days that follow.

Meanwhile, a director who burst on to the scene with talent
and promise in 1999 with his Oscar nominated twister, The Sixth Sense, has been performing to mixed results ever
since.  The man clearly has the
knack but after last year’s catastrophe, The Lady in the Water, M. Night Shyamalan had to prove he hadn’t
completely lost touch with his audience.  The Happening has opened
to a solid $30 million opening, the second highest opening weekend for an
R-rated June release behind last year’s Knocked Up.  It
also bowed atop the international box-office chart but critics have not been
kind so Shyamalan may not be out of the woods yet.  I wouldn’t rule him out though.  If there’s anyone who can pull off a last minute twist, it’s
him.

The rest of the behemoths continued making big money.  Kung Fu Panda held up very nicely in its second frame, earning
about as much as the Sex and the City gals have in their three weeks.  Adam Sandler fell harder than he had surely hoped with You
Don’t Mess with Zohan, proving that he can
get the masses there opening weekend but you can only disguise a hair-brained
premise for so long.  And Paramount
is sitting pretty as its two summer tent poles, Indiana Jones and Iron Man both approach the $300 million mark.

With the summer blockbusters making most of the noise, it
was a fairly quiet week for the independents.  Regardless, there are two films that warrant mentioning as
both have higher per screen averages than any title in the Top 10 managed.  Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee, Mongol dropped off a scant 20% in its second week of
limited release but still pulled in an average of $21K on just five
screens.  And opening further down
the chart, earning $17.5K on just one screen in all of North America, Werner
Herzog’s return to documentary filmmaking, Encounters at the End of
the World, a breathtaking look at
Antarctica.

NEXT WEEK: Bring on the funny men and then throw them into a
ring until only one is left standing.  Hollywood has decided a healthy fight should decide the box office king
of comedy as Mike Myers in The Love Guru opens against Steve Carrell in Get
Smart.  May the best man win and by that I mean Steve Carrell.