Other Crap

Weekend Box Office Results for July 28-30, 2006

• With no real champion, no must-see event movie in any category, the box office fell to $114 million for the top twelve. It had been in the 140s the previous two weeks. It did manage to eke out a narrow edge over last year, but that was only because it happened to match up with a slump week last year as well! (Last year's three new releases, featuring the megabomb Stealth, all finished below $15 million!)
• There isn't much chance it will fall below last year in the uopcoming weeks. Virtually every new release bombed last August, and this year still has a few that may click.
• The worst news of the week was that The Ant Bully tanked. The biggest positive surprise came from an unlikely source, John Tucker Must Die, which was dismissed by the critics, and given a lukewarm marketing effort, but exceeded all expectations and almost matched its budget on opening weekend.