Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey celebratiing in ENCHANTED(2007).
© Walt Disney Co.
ENCHANTED Continues Victory Dance
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Sunday, December 02, 2007
It was a weekend where half the movies didn’t budge. Five of the 10 movies landed in the same exact spot as they did last weekend while Awake’s debut pushed Hitman down one slot. It was also a weekend, judging from the numbers, where audiences chose to do other things then attend the theaters. The only film to hit the double-digit million mark was the #1 film, with Disney’s Enchanted continuing its successful run.
The live-action take on the fairy tale pulled in 17.0 million in 3,730 theaters. With that kind of box office take on that amount of theater distribution, it points to an average per showing rate of $4,563. In fact, no movie pulled over $5,000 per showing for this weekend. In two weekends, the Disney flick has pulled in 70.6 million.
Landing in second place once again is the Screen Gems-holiday themed release of This Christmas, pulling in another 8.4 mil in 1,858 theaters. This film is clearly a success for the Sony distributor, taking in 36.8 million over two weekends with a budget of only 13 mil.
Paramount’s release of Beowulf also stayed status quo, once again landing in 3rd place for the second consecutive weekend. The adventure, based on the heroic poem, grabbed 7.8 million in its third weekend. As I said last weekend, the question still remains on how much of a success this film will be. The studio has its budget listed at 150 million and over the course of the last 17 days; it has a domestic total of 68.6 million. The good thing for the studio is that it’s clearing some respectable cash in its early foreign releases, accumulating an international tally of 48.4 million so far. So, at this moment, it has a worldwide gross of 117.0 million. It has another week or two before it hits the 150 mil mark for the studio.
Time to discuss the only new wide release for the weekend. MGM released the horror film Awake on 2,002 theaters this week and ended up landing in 4th place with a 6.0 mil box office take. This point to an average per showing rate of $3,002. There’s no budget listed for this film but it’s most likely not very high. Still, the question remains whether this film will have legs at the box office. Will it stand steady or will it drop out of the top 10? We’ll see very soon.
Fox’s Hitman moved down one slot to 5th place, pulling in another 5.8 million in its second weekend of release. The film is showing on 2,468 theaters so this take points to an average per showing rate of only $2,350. Again, no budget listed for the film. Thus far, it has 30.2 million in domestic receipts.
The Warner Bros-holiday themed film of Fred Claus lands once again in 6th place for this weekend, pulling in another 5.5 million in its fourth week of release. This film hasn’t done badly at all, accumulating a domestic tally of 59.7 million. I’m not sure how well it will do well in overseas sales when its get released over the next month but its domestic total has it in good shape even with no budget listed.
August Rush landed again in 7th place by taking 5.1 million in its 2,310 theaters across the country. It had an average per showing rate of $2,229 and has totaled a domestic take of 20.3 million over the last 10 days of release.
The only film that has less than 1,000 theaters landed in 8th place this weekend. No Country for Old Men moved up 3 slots this weekend, taking in 4.5 million on 995 theaters across the nation. The film had a respectable average of $4,523 per showing and has taken in 23.0 million in a limited run of four weeks.
The Dreamworks animation Bee Movie dropped from 5th place to 9th place this weekend by taking in 4.4 million. This film is still showing in 3,150 theaters in its fifth week of release so it points a low average of only $1,419 per showing. Like Beowulf, the jury is still out on how much of a success this film will end up being here. It has a budget listed at 150 million and yet it only has 117.6 million in domestic receipts. It’s fared no better in its foreign release so far, pulling in only 12.4 million, which has its worldwide gross at 130.0 million.
Landing in 10th place this weekend is Universal’s release of American Gangster. There is no jury on this one in terms of box office success. The film has made its money back on domestic totals alone and stands to gain more profits from its later foreign release. The film pulled in another 4.2 million this weekend on 2,699 theaters across the nation with an average per showing rate of $1,585. In five weeks of release, the 100-mil budgeted film has 121.7 mil in domestic receipts. The Ridley Scott film also has another 30.4 mil in foreign sales, which has its worldwide gross sitting comfortably at 152.1 mil.
Note: If you’re wondering where The Mist is and why it’s already out of the top 10 after only one weekend, I’ll add the following note. The Mist is indeed in 11th place this weekend but not by much. In fact, when the actual numbers come in on Monday night, it could end up in 10th place and American Gangster could end up in 11th place. The two films are that close. American Gangster has a weekend total of $4,278,000. The Mist has a weekend total of $4,245,000. With only 30 thousand separating the two films, it’s a close race for the final 10th place for the weekend.
It should also be noted that MGM has chosen to release the budget of the film. Frank Darabont’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel is only 18 million. In two weeks of release, it has a domestic total of 19.2 million.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend $ | Theaters | Average | Total $ | Week # |
| 1 | Enchanted | 17.0 mil | 3,730 | $4,563 | 70.6 mil | 2 |
| 2 | This Christmas | 8.4 mil | 1,858 | $4,520 | 36.8 mil | 2 |
| 3 | Beowulf | 7.8 mil | 3,249 | $2,425 | 68.6 mil | 3 |
| 4 | Awake | 6.0 mil | 2,002 | $3,002 | 6.0 mil | 1 |
| 5 | Hitman | 5.8 mil | 2,468 | $2,350 | 30.2 mil | 2 |
| 6 | Fred Claus | 5.5 mil | 3,420 | $1,608 | 59.7 mil | 4 |
| 7 | August Rush | 5.1 mil | 2,310 | $2,229 | 20.3 mil | 2 |
| 8 | No Country for Old Men | 4.5 mil | 995 | $4,523 | 23.0 mil | 4 |
| 9 | Bee Movie | 4.4 mil | 3,150 | $1,419 | 117.6 mil | 5 |
| 10 | American Gangster | 4.2 mil | 2,699 | $1,585 | 121.7 mil | 5 |
The next week is a very important event for New Line Cinema. For two years now, analysts have wondered if New Line’s Bob Shaye can break out another big time franchise with the same success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. New Line has stated publicly in the past their hopes for The Golden Compass in terms of reliving that fantasy experience/success.
New Line has a lot riding on the line here. The question becomes…
Will this film be a major success? Will it perform in the same light as the success the studio had for the Lotr trilogy?
I don’t see that happening…
It’s not so much the source material that has me in doubt here. I understand that there has been controversy surrounding Philip Pullman’s His Dark Material series, which The Golden Compass is based on, but that’s not why I’m in doubt on the film’s success surpassing the Lotr trilogy. After all, there is a large following which loves the HDM series by Pullman. The book’s fans will be in theaters next week so that should offset some of the controversy.
No, the two concerns that have me in doubt are competition & recent fantasy failures.
It’s more the success rate (or lack there of ) of recent fantasies which have me in doubt. Especially fantasy series based on novels. The last two fantasies, based on books from popular series, fell short of the box office mark in their domestic launches here in the states.
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, based on the series by Susan Cooper, was an absolute failure for 20th Century Fox. The studio opened it up in 3,141 theaters on October 5, 2007 and yet it only debuted with 3.7 million in cash. It fared no better as time moved forward for the studio. In the end, the film only grossed 8.7 mil domestically and 20.6 mil in foreign sales. Of course, horrible reviews didn’t help their cause. The film has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 3.9 out of 10. It’s ranked 48th on the Live Action-Fantasy list.
Stardust, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, fared a little better for Paramount but still ended up a disappointment at the box office. The film opened up in 2,540 theaters on August 10, 2007 and only brought in 9.1 million in its debut. It would go on to gross 38.3 million domestically. The good thing for Paramount is that it has taken in three times that amount in foreign box office sales, bringing in 92.5 million in receipts. So, the film which has a budget listed listed at 70 mil, has grabbed a worldwide total of 130.9 million. It’s not a total failure for Paramount with the studio taking 50+ mil over the budget line but it still fell short in expectations from those executives. It just couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with The Bourne Ultimatum, a major success for Universal in August. Stardust has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 6.7 out of 10. The film is ranked 22nd on the Live Action-Fantasy list.
So, how will The Golden Compass do in its upcoming release? I see it performing much better than Stardust and The Seeker by being released in December but do I see it coming anywhere near New Line’s Lord of the Rings films?
No.
Part of it may be the above films’ recent failures pointing to a cynicism towards fantasy novel adaptations of late. Part of it knows just how spread out the month of December will be in the upcoming weeks. The Golden Compass only has one week to make some serious box office cash before Warner Bros releases I Am Legend, another fantasy-horror based on another best selling novel. A third part is the obvious point that His Dark Materials doesn’t have the fan base to the same degree that Lord of the Rings has, due in large part to how long the respective series have been in the market.
Perhaps, I’m wrong here. Perhaps, I’m way off the mark and The Golden Compass ends up being an international smash hit for New Line. The film could end up grossing as much as Fellowship of the Ring and the studio could end up having another box office successful fantasy franchise.
For my part, I see the film performing very well and making its money back. I see it as a success but not in the same terms as the studio hopes, especially not in terms of their last fantasy trilogy.
The December corridor is stacked in the same context of the previous summer. Studios have lined up too many films to compete against each other in too short a period of time and this strategy will likely cause some films to fail at the box office.
Here’s the Wide release schedule for December:
December 7, 2007:
The Golden Compass (3,000+ theaters)
December 14, 2007:
I Am Legend
Alvin in the Chipmunks
The Perfect Holiday (formerly This Christmas)
December 21, 2007:
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Charlie Wilson’s War
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
P.S I Love You
December 25, 2007:
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
The Great Debaters
I understand that studios need to fit some of these films in before the Oscar nomination ballots are mailed but fitting so many films together in such a short period of time will spell trouble for their box office success rates.
There’s only four days separating the release of 8 major films in the Dec 21-25 corridor. Two of those films are rated-R tent poles (AvP2 & Sweeney Todd) going up against a major comedy, two family films and three other wide releases.
Someone is going to take a major hit here in the box office.
The question is….who?
That’s enough of my take on this subject. Let’s hear your thoughts.
Who do you see running away with the Christmas victory here? Who do you see failing? Do you see The Golden Compass being a major success for New Line or do you see I Am Legend cutting into that film’s second weekend totals?
Here’s the top 10 Fantasy-Live Action Films of All Time. As you will see, Warner Bros. and New Line pretty much control the top 10. This list is comprised of live-action fantasies based on fantasy novels published before the films.
| Rank | Movie | Opening $ | Theaters | Domestic $ | Release |
| 1 | Lord of the Rings: Return of the King | 72.6 mil | 3,703 | 377.0 mil | 12/17/03 |
| 2 | Lord of the Rings: The TwoTowers | 62.0 mil | 3,622 | 341.7 mil | 12/18/02 |
| 3 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | 90.2 mil | 3,672 | 317.5 mil | 11/16/01 |
| 4 | Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring | 47.2 mil | 3,359 | 314.7 mil | 12/19/01 |
| 5 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 77.1 mil | 4,285 | 291.9 mil | 07/11/07 |
| 6 | Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | 65.5 mil | 3,616 | 291.7 mil | 12/09/05 |
| 7 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 102.6 mil | 3,858 | 290.0 mil | 11/18/05 |
| 8 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 88.3 mil | 3,682 | 261.9 mil | 11/15/02 |
| 9 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 93.6 mil | 3,855 | 249.5 mil | 06/04/04 |
| 10 | Hook | 13.5 mil | 2,197 | 119.6 mil | 12/11/91 |
Friday December 7, 2007 Releases:
Wide Releases
The Golden Compass (3,000+ theaters)
Limited Releases
Dirty Laundry
The Amateurs
Atonement
Grace is Gone
Juno
Looking for Cheyenne
Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding
The Walker
