Other Crap

Weekend Box Office Results, November 25-27, 2005

• There were some quirky results this week. Rent, which had a surprisingly big five million dollar opening on Wednesday, ended up with a disappointing ten million for the entire weekend. (Predictions were in the $15 million range.) Rent beat Walk the Line on Wednesday, but could muster only half of Walk the Line's gross by Sunday.
• Speaking of Walk the Line, it had a great weekend, adding another twenty million to its total, and losing only 11% of its audience from the opening weekend.
• Scathing reviews didn't seem to affect Yours, Mine, and Ours (94% negative reviews) or In the Mix (100% negative reviews), both of which exceeded expectations.
• The Ice Harvest, despite the presence of Billy Bob and Cusack, could not crack the top ten!
• Harry Potter slowed a bit, but still made it to $200 million in ten days, an achievement which has been bested by only three films in film history (Revenge of the Sith and the two Spiderman films)
• Syriana took in an astronomical $74 thousand per screen in its test run. That is the third best of all time among films in five theaters or more, bested only by Corpse Bride and Pocahontas. The Pocahontas record - $448,000 per screen for six screens - will be difficult to beat. It is nearly six times as high as the second place finisher!!
• The expansion of Pride and Prejudice has to be considered a success. It accumulated $5400 per screen, fourth best among the wide releases.
• The total for the Top 12 was almost identical to the corresponding total for the 2004 Thanksgiving weekend, with the two numbers separated by less than 1%. For you half-full guys, the slight advantage went to this year, but these totals are estimates, and the razor-thin margin could disappear when the actuals come in.