Weekend Box Office Results for September 26–28, 2008

Weekend Box Office Results for September 26–28, 2008

Of the three big studio releases, only the geriatric chick-flick held up to expectations. Eagle Eye, the Shia thriller, was expected to set the all-time record for September openings, but fell about 15% short. Spike Lee's Miracle at Santa Anna, with its $45 million budget, bombed altogether and will probably fall below $10 million overall.

The major surprise of the week was Fireproof, the film which was promoted in churches, which finished a surprising fourth. As I mentioned earlier in the week, the experts don;t really know how to assess the impact of non-traditional marketing. The Weekend Warrior first thought Fireproof would finish outside of the top ten, then revised his estimate 40% upwards and slotted it into ninth. It nearly doubled his revised estimate to take fourth overall and a very close second in revenues per theater.

The film I wanted to see left some money on the table. Choke was playing absolutely nowhere near me. (I'm no longer in Austin.) It finished fouth in revenues per theater, beating out Spike Lee, but could do no better than 14th overall, since it was only in 400 theaters.

Next week is really going to shake things up. EIGHT different films will open in 500 or more theaters, another will have a 700-screen sneak peek, and two others are still negotiating for space.