Other Crap

Meet the Fockers opens big. It grossed $44 million for the weekend, $68 million for the long weekend (W-Su), and totally swamped the competition. Relative to expectations, Fockers was way above the $32m prediction.

• Fat Albert did slightly better than expected, opening at #2, grossing $13m versus a prediction of $12m.
• Darkness opened in the number six slot and grossed $6m, despite the fact that it was not expected to crack the top 10. (I think a scary, effective trailer had something to do with that. It got me interested in the film.).
• Scorsese's The Aviator came up about 25% short of expectations ($9.4 versus $12.5m)
• The Phantom of the Opera came up way short ($4.2 versus $7.7), and barely cracked the Top 10, just edging the long-term holdover National Treasure for 10th place.
• The Life Aquatic was right about on target with about $5 million in mid-level distribution.
• The holdover films dropped more than expected in a crowded field. The predictions for Lemony Snicket ran $17-$22m, but it grossed only $12 million, probably based on some disappointing word of mouth (I know the kids in my family were not impressed). Oceans 12 also underperformed, grossing $9m versus predictions in the $12 range.