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Weekend Box Office Report: May 30 to June 1: Sex and the Indy
Weekend Top 10
| # | Title | GROSS | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Total | Distributor |
| 1 | Sex and the City | $55.7M | NEW | 3,285 | 1 | 16,968 | $55.7M | New Line |
| 2 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | $46.0M | -54.1 | 4,264 | 2 | 10,787 | $216.9M | Paramount |
| 3 | The Strangers | $20.7M | NEW | 2,467 | 1 | 8,393 | $20.7M | Rogue |
| 4 | Iron Man | $14.0M | -31.5 | 3.650 | 5 | 3,835 | $276.6M | Paramount |
| 5 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | $13.0M | -42.9 | 3,801 | 3 | 3,424 | $115.7M | Buena Vista |
| 6 | What Happens in Vegas | $6.9M | -24.9 | 3,086 | 4 | 2,219 | $66.1M | Fox |
| 7 | Baby Mama | $2.2M | -33.8 | 1,784 | 6 | 1,244 | $56.1M | Universal |
| 8 | Speed Racer | $2.1M | -45.7 | 2,070 | 4 | 1,033 | $40.6M | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | Made of Honor | $2.0M | -40.3 | 1,905 | 5 | 1,049 | $43.0M | Sony |
| 10 | Forgetting Sarah Marshall | $1.0M | -41.0 | 768 | 7 | 1,359 | $60.5M | Universal |
They laughed and said it would never happen. They scoffed and deemed the entire
notion as preposterous. Yet here
we are, one month in to the male-driven months of summer and one week after the
release of the supposedly most anticipated movie of the year (Indiana Jones
and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and
Indy settles for a second place bow while a famous foursome of ladies find
themselves on top.
Sex and the City was
expected to pull in anywhere between $30 and $40 million. Of course, these predictions were made
by the mostly male driven world of box office analysis and so the logic is
that, as they are not a part of the very specific demographic for this film,
there’s no way they could have accurately assessed how much the film would
surpass their expectations. Maybe
box office analysts just don’t have girlfriends. As far as I could tell, the desperate anticipation to see
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda reunite was reaching astronomical
heights. It’s not like the female
population was quiet about it, boys.
The official estimate has come in at $55 million. This is the highest opening ever for an
R-rated comedy and for a live-action adaptation of a television series. (Don’t you love arbitrary record
titles?) But records are not Sex
and the City’s greatest
accomplishment. It’s success has
shown Hollywood that a female-driven picture can compete with the boys of
summer. It’s fitting really
considering the original television series showed many a man a thing or two
about what it means to contend with the modern woman and her place in the new
world. That said, I feel the film
will fall almost as hard as Carrie on the runway during fashion week next frame
as die-hard’s have already been and been disappointed at that.
There was another surprise in the Top 10 this week as The
Strangers from first time filmmaker, Bryan
Bertino doubled expectations to land at number three with a healthy $20 million
start. The stylish thriller will need
good word of mouth to avoid getting lost in the summer shuffle but it is
already past the profitability point so anything past this point is icing.
Two titles of note below outside the Top 10 include a giant
surge and a promising start. Director, Tarsem’s The Fall added
88 screens and shot up nearly 630%. The per screen average was a mediocre $3.3K though so it doesn’t look
like The Fall has anywhere else
to go but down. And Will Ferrell
find, The Foot Fist Way, debuted
to a $9K per screen average on six screens. The film has been embraced by critics and exit audiences so
a likely paced rollout is expected in the coming weeks.
NEXT WEEK: The guys had their turn last week; the ladies
were in charge this week. Next
week, the choice goes to the kids as Kung Fu Panda will most certainly kick Carrie right off her Manolo’s. Of course, there could be an Adam
Sandler upset but everyone can see how ridiculous Don’t Mess with the
Zohan is right? Right??
