Screenshot from the adaptation of HORTON HEARS A WHO(2008).
© 20th Century Fox
WHO Enjoys Hearing Easter Victory
By: Jarrod SarafinDate: Sunday, March 23, 2008
Two weeks in a row with predictable results to report. It’s the opposite of this time last year when I had to go through the process of reporting Grindhouse as an utter failure for Dimension. Why did Grindhouse fail last Easter?
Because the family movies in theaters at the time…
This Easter is no different. We questioned in our last report whether the new films could overtake the second week of Horton Hears a Who when Fox has the short movie airing on 3,961 across the nation on a family holiday. We also wondered if Shutter or Drillbit Taylor---despite getting more theaters---would beat Tyler Perry’s latest movie when we consider his success rate. We were right on both counts. Horton and Perry landed in the top two spots.
Fox’s latest adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who took the first place spot for the second consecutive weekend with a cash tally of 25.1 million. Horton may be hearing a who but Fox is hearing the cha-ching sounds as their film hit their budget line in just one week at the theaters. They have another successful venture on their hands with the film pulling in 86.4 million in a week of release. The studio also racked up 21.1 mil in foreign territories last weekend, which has its worldwide gross at 107.6 mil. The budget is at 85.
Tyler Perry and Lionsgate also took advantage of the family orientated weekend with their latest effort Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns pulling in 20.1 mil. Something else to report. The distributor continues to keep their Tyler Perry film distribution numbers around just 2,000 prints and they continue to rack up the receipts against overwhelming theater competition (3,000 print releases). Once again, the debut of a Tyler Perry film had the highest average rate of the top 10 with $9,975 per showing. No budget listed but Tyler always keeps his budgets low so this is yet another successful film for the producer and Lionsgate.
Following in 3rd place is Fox’s latest horror effort Shutter, which debuted with 10.7 million in box office receipts. The film got a distribution of 2,753 theaters so this points to just an average rate of $3,886 per showing. Hard to say whether this is good or bad with no budget listed but if it did have a big budget and this isn’t good enough for the studio, they could have looked at last Easter’s numbers for horror vs. family films.
Paramount’s Owen Wilson vehicle-comedy Drillbit Taylor follows in 4th with a debut of 10.2 mil at the box office. This one had this biggest theatrical distribution of the new movies yet fell short of Tyler Perry and Shutter with 3,056 prints around the nation and a rate of $3,337 per showing. No budget is listed.
WB’s 10,000 B.C dropped three places (and only 48.4%) to 5th place in its third weekend of release with a tally of 8.6 million. The film is still getting shown in 3,454 theaters so it came in with only a below-average showing rate of $2,507. Despite the fact that it still has some way to go before its domestic total equals its 105 mil budget, the latest Roland Emmerich film isn’t doing half-bad for WB on a worldwide scale. It has 76.1 mil in the states and another 74.4 in international territories. Basically, it has 150.5 mil worldwide and it still has some weeks to go in a lot of territories.
Summit follows in 6th place with Never Back Down pulling in 4.8 mil in 6th place for this weekend’s box office report. This is a 43.5% drop from its debut last weekend in 3rd place and it has pulled in 16.8 million domestically. With a budget of only 20 mil, this isn’t half bad either but it was probably expected to perform better with a theatrical count of 2,729 prints.
Disney’s latest family vehicle with Martin Lawrence, College Road Trip, didn’t compete with the other family films in its third week of release. The film dropped three places to 7th with a cash take of only 4.6 mil in 2,575 theaters. This points to a low average rate of $1, 798 per showing which is higher than Never Back Down but still nothing to brag about. Obviously, the families were watching other films this weekend. The films doing well for Disney overall though with a domestic haul of 32.0 million in three weeks of release. No budget to report.
Lionsgate’s small theatrical release of The Bank Job has been doing decent numbers despite getting a theatrical print count of only 1,613. In its third weekend of release, the film pulled in another 4.1 mil in 8th place with an average rate of $2,541. It has a domestic rate of 19.4 million so far.
Sony had its political action vehicle Vantage Point dropped out of 637 theaters in its fifth week but it still managed to place 9th by taking in another 3.8 mil. The film is already a success for the studio with a domestic total of 65.3 mil and a budget of only 40 mil. The movie also pulled in another 40.0 mil thus far in international territories so it’s sitting now at a worldwide gross of 105.3 mil.
Biggest surprise of the report is the fact that I’m talking about The Weinstein Company here. The indie distributor may have failed last Easter but they did quite well this weekend with its limited release of Under the Same Moon. They debuted this film in only 266 theaters and yet it pulled in 2.6 million and managed 10th place. This points to the second best average rate of $9,781 per showing.
Note: So, where is Doomsday?!? Well, it debuted last weekend in 7th place and this weekend, it didn’t even manage to capture the top 10. It falls in 11th place with a cash haul of 2.1 mil. This has its drop at 55.8%. Obviously, this Neil Marshall directed film isn’t doing well for Universal despite having some heavy marketing. No budget has been listed but a domestic total of only 8.9 mil can’t be good…
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total | Budget | Week # |
| 1 | Horton Hears a Who | 25.1 mil | 3,961 | $6,336 | 86.4 mil | 85 | 2 |
| 2 | Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns | 20.0 mil | 2,006 | $9,975 | 20.0 mil | - | 1 |
| 3 | Shutter | 10.7 mil | 2,753 | $3,886 | 10.7 mil | - | 1 |
| 4 | Drillbit Taylor | 10.2 mil | 3,056 | $3,337 | 10.2 mil | - | 1 |
| 5 | 10,000 B.C | 8.6 mil | 3,454 | $2,507 | 76.1 mil | 105 | 3 |
| 6 | Never Back Down | 4.8 mil | 2,729 | $1,781 | 16.8 mil | 20 | 2 |
| 7 | College Road Trip | 4.6 mil | 2,575 | $1,798 | 32.0 mil | - | 3 |
| 8 | The Bank Job | 4.1 mil | 1,613 | $2,541 | 19.4 mil | | 3 |
| 9 | Vantage Point | 3.8 mil | 2,124 | $1,789 | 65.3 mil | 40 | 5 |
| 10 | Under the Same Moon | 2.6 mil | 266 | $9,781 | 3.3 mil | - | 1 |
Can Horton do it again a third time next weekend? I’m not as sure as last week but there is no real ambitious projects to speak of for the next report. The Weinstein and MGM’s Superhero Movie spoof has the biggest theatrical count with 2,700 theaters so it will likely win the report while Horton follows in 2nd place.
That’s my guess anyway and considering the public still eats up spoofs (ala Meet the Spartans beat up Rambo), I’d say a Zucker-produced spoofing of Spider-Man has a good shot of winning.
Friday March 28, 2008 Releases:
Wide
Superhero Movie (2,700 theaters)
21 (2,500 theaters)
Stop Loss (1,200 theaters)
Run Fat Boy Run (1,050 theaters)
Limited
My Brother is an Only Child
More From Mania
HORTON HEARS A WHO
Powell To Hear a Who in new Seuss Score
(Monday, October 2, 2006)
Jim Carrey and Steve Carell to voice Dr. Seuss film
(Wednesday, September 13, 2006)
Fox Hears A "Who"
(Thursday, March 10, 2005)
TYLER PERRY Shows Strength in Debut
(Sunday, October 14, 2007)
Tyler Perry Heads to STAR TREK
(Sunday, December 30, 2007)
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Fucking America is full of idiots.