Nic Cage and Diane Kruger set forth on a new adventure in NATIONAL TREASURE:BOOK OF SECRETS(2008).
© Walt Disney
Disney Finds TREASURE At the Box Office
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Sunday, December 23, 2007
Updated: International numbers have been added...
The box office cash for this weekend was spread out as expected. With so many new releases this weekend (and this week), audiences chose a bit of everything making for some big moneymakers in the top 5 slots, something that hasn’t happened in a while. The past two months, it’s usually the top 2 films pulling in respectable numbers while 3-10 don’t even cross the 10 mil mark.
Not so this weekend.
The top 3 films pulled in 29 million or higher while 4-6 pulled in 6 mil or higher. Leading the group was the Disney sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which grabbed an estimated 45.5 mil in receipts over the weekend domestically. The studio opened the second installment in 3,832 theaters, making for an average per showing rate of $11,873. This points to a higher debut than its predecessor, which pulled in 35.1 mil on 11/19/2004. Then again, the studio released that film on 800 less theaters so the average per showing rate comes out nearly the same. The original film would go on to gross 347.4 mil worldwide, 173 domestically and 174 in foreign tickets. It had a budget of 100 mil. Disney hasn’t released the budget for its sequel at this time. The sequel scored another 22.3 million in 2,055 prints overseas, which made for a foreign average per showing rate of $11, 338. In its first weekend of release, the film now has 67.8 mil in worldwide sales.
Despite 5 new films this weekend, the 2nd and 3rd films are last weekend’s returning I Am Legend and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Warner Bros. continues its highly successful run with Legend pulling in 34.2 mil this weekend, which means the film has grossed 137.4 mil in only 10 days of domestic release. In its second week of release, Legend averaged a very respectable rate of $9,454 per showing. Legend ruled the overall international report this weekend, landing in first with 25.3 million in 15 foreign markets. This has its international tally at 54.3 million in 10 days of release and it marks a worldwide gross of 191.7 million for WB. Legend will debut in the U.K on Boxing Day.
20th Century Fox continues to impress audiences with Alvin and the Chipmunks, a film which already has crossed into the profit margins in its 10 days of domestic release. The adaptation of the toon took in another 29.0 mil this weekend, which has it at 84.8 domestically. The film’s budget is only 60 mil so this film is clearly a success for Fox. It too had a very respectable average per showing rate in its second week of release, averaging $8,288 per showing. Fox has released the tale in 3,500 prints in its foreign territories, marking a foreign debut of 13.0 mil in 38 markets.
Now, it’s time to discuss the other new releases for this weekend. None of these new releases have much pressure working against them. All three were released this weekend more for their critical appeal (keyword: Nomination ballots)…
Landing in 4th place is Universal’s critically acclaimed Charlie Wilson’s War, which tallied 9.6 mil on 2,575 theaters across the nation. The film, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, had an average per showing rate of $3,735.
Following behind in 5th place is Sweeney Todd, which pulled in 9.3 mil in box office receipts. It’s clear that audiences wanted to see this film in its limited 1,249 theaters across the nation. Paramount and Dreamworks had a respectable average per showing rate of $7,485. As with Treasure and Wilson’s War, there is no budget listed for this film and it’s not likely to be high. The studios released Paramount into theaters in much the same reasoning as they did with the Tom Hanks film, to make the award show nomination deadlines…
Warner Bros. lands in 6th place with their debut of P.S I Love You. The film opened up in 2,454 theaters this weekend and pulling in 6.5 mil in receipts. This results in an average per showing rate of only $2,650. Once again, there’s no budget to give but it can’t be very high for WB.
Disney follows in 7th place with Enchanted inching all that much closer to the 100 mil mark in domestic receipts. This weekend, the modern-day fairy tale pulled in 4.1 mil in its 2,752 theaters across the nation. Domestically, it has 98.3 million in receipts. The film has also pulled in impressive numbers overseas, grabbing another 15.8 million this weekend in foreign sales. This kind of weekend tally has it at 70 million internationally. Disney has now grossed 168.3 mil in worldwide sales and they still have not opened the film in 35% of their planned foreign markets.
The last debuting film of this weekend is Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story for Sony Pictures. Apatow-produced flicks have been “money” at the box office this past year but this one wasn’t in the same mold as his others. I could write about Walk Hard falling flat instead by taking in only 4.1 million but this film only has a budget of 35 million. It’s clearly another film aimed at getting in theaters before ballot time rather than wanting any high box office cash, which makes sense as it’s already up for quite a few musical nominations in the upcoming award shows. Also, with a budget of 35 million, the studio will make its money back here. So, yes, it falls flat here but it’s not one of those films which needs a large box office take to overcome its budget. I am curious as to why Sony released it in 2.650 theaters so soon. Did they expect it to compete with National Treasure, Legend, Alvin, Enchanted and the others? I would guess not so why release it in that many theaters? Ah well, you never can tell what these studio executives are thinking…
New Line’s The Golden Compass dropped from 3rd place to 9th place in the space of a week. The film pulled in only 3.9 million this weekend, which has its domestic tally only at 48.4 million. The film, based on the Pullman novel, has been doing respectable numbers overseas, taking in another 23.9 mil this weekend. It now has 130 million in foreign sales. This equates to a worldwide gross of 178.4 million in 17 days of release. New Line has listed the budget at 180 million and it should be noted once again that the studio sold off many of its foreign territories to get its money back from that high budget.
Amazingly, the final ranked film for this week was only in 304 theaters. Juno has been getting some critical recognition and it shows by scoring 3.4 million in that limited a run. This makes for second-best average per showing rate of $11,184. This is its third week of release and it has now garnered 6.3 million in domestic receipts.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend $ | Theaters | Average | Total $ | Week # |
| 1 | National Treasure: Book of Secrets | 45.5 mil | 3,832 | $11,873 | 45.5 mil | 1 |
| 2 | I Am Legend | 34.2 mil | 3,620 | $9,454 | 137.4 mil | 2 |
| 3 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | 29.0 mil | 3,499 | $8,288 | 84.8 mil | 2 |
| 4 | Charlie Wilson’s War | 9.6 mil | 2,575 | $3,735 | 9.6 mil | 1 |
| 5 | Sweeney Todd | 9.3 mil | 1,249 | $7,485 | 9.3 mil | 1 |
| 6 | P.S I Love You | 6.5 mil | 2,454 | $2,650 | 6.5 mil | 1 |
| 7 | Enchanted | 4.1 mil | 2,752 | $1,508 | 98.3 mil | 5 |
| 8 | Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story | 4.1 mil | 2,650 | $1,547 | 4.1 mil | 1 |
| 9 | The Golden Compass | 3.9 mil | 2,953 | $1,347 | 48.4 mil | 3 |
| 10 | Juno | 3.4 mil | 304 | $11,184 | 6.3 mil | 3 |
The box office report was spread out this weekend; each film in the top 5 doing well and within two days, three new major releases will be hitting the market.
Two of those will be genre films, the sci-fi horror Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and the family adventure Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. Fox and Sony are releasing these two films on Christmas Day on 2,500 theaters or more so next weekend’s box office report should be interesting...
Tuesday December 25, 2007 Releases:
Wide Releases
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2,772 theaters)
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2,563 theaters)
The Great Debaters (1,164 theaters)
Limited Releases
The Bucket List
Persepolis
The Orphanage (on Friday)
Honeydripper (on Friday)
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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!