Horton Hears a Who Movie Still
© 20th Century Fox
HORTON Hears a Victory
By: Jarrod SarafinDate: Sunday, March 16, 2008
There was to be no shocker or surprise victory this weekend at the box office. 20th Century Fox released its new animation Horton Hears a Who on 3,954 theaters with a running time of one hour and twenty-eight minutes. As such, the film---starring Jim Carrey and Steve Carell---cleaned up at the box office by pulling in 45.1 mil and averaging $11,406 per showing. This has it in good shape to end up as a success for the studio since its budget is listed at only 85 mil, barring any major drop offs over the next few weeks.
It also pulled in almost 30 million more than last week’s champion 10,000 B.C, which found its way into 2nd place. The Roland Emmerich-led action adventure grabbed another 16.4 mil in its 3,410 theaters across the nation. This amounts to a 54.2% drop from its debut numbers. It’s clear that audiences were more inclined for the family outing this weekend. In two weekends of release, the film has pulled in 61.2 mil so it still has some way to go before it reaches its budget listed price of 105. It should get there though with its foreign debut totaling a good 25.8 mil and this weekend’s foreign numbers not yet in. Worldwide, it has 87.0 mil in cash from 10 days of release.
Following in 3rd place is the indie-released action flick Never Back Down from Summit Entertainment. The film debuted in 2,729 theaters and wound up with a weekend total of 8.6 million. Summit kept the budget low at just 20 mil so it shouldn’t have a problem proving a success for the independent distributor.
Disney and Martin Lawrence’s latest family comedy College Road Trip follows in 4th place by taking in another 7.8 mil in its second weekend of release. It dropped only 42.0% and two places while getting shown in 2,706 theaters and receiving an average showing rate of $2,916. Overall, Disney has pulled in 24.2 million in 10 days of release for the vehicle.
Sony’s political action thriller Vantage Point dropped two places to 5th place by taking in another 5.4 mil. It too is showing some steady legs with audiences by dropping only 26.6% and continuing to tack onto its profit margins for Sony. In four weeks of release, it has a domestic gross of 59.2 million and a foreign gross of 27.2 million. The studio lists the budget at only 40 mil and it has a worldwide gross of 86.4 mil.
Lionsgate’s import of The Bank Job follows in 6th place with 4.9 mil score for the weekend while getting shown in 1,613 theaters. The vehicle had the lowest drop off of all last week’s new releases with only 17.3%. No budget listed by Lionsgate but it has a domestic gross of 13.1 mil in 10 days of release.
If any movie fell flat this weekend, it was Universal’s Doomsday which debuted in theaters this weekend and only has 4.7 million. It’s hard to know whether to blame the studio or the movie for this performance with the film getting only 1,936 theaters in its debut despite a decent advertising campaign. I’d say the fault goes to both sides. That amount of theaters is not nearly enough against Horton and 10,000 B.C but it should have been enough to pull in better numbers than 4.7 mil. No budget is listed for this film.
New Line’s last sports comedy Semi-Pro dropped three places to land in the 8th position with only 3.0 mil to show for it. In only its third weekend, the film was pulled out of 851 theaters and given its low average of $1,321, it’s easy to see why. Will Ferrell vehicle is clearly not enjoying the same success as his other ventures in the recent past with only grabbing 29.8 mil in three weeks of release.
Sony follows in 9th place with its limited distributed The Other Boleyn Girl. Despite the film starring some big names, the studio has it showing it only 1,212 theaters and that amounts to some low box office numbers. This weekend is no different with it pulling in only 2.9 million with an average rate of $2,392. While the studio hasn’t released a budget for the period drama, the domestic gross of 19.1 mil may be good enough at this point of time.
Paramount’s The Spiderwick Chronicles dropped like a stone from 6th to the final 10th place this weekend by taking in only 2.3 million, despite getting shown in 2,407 theaters. This adds up to the atrocious average rate of only $992 per showing. Paramount has its budget listed at 90 mil and in five weeks of release, it has a domestic gross of only 65.4 mil. It isn’t faring much better overseas as well with a foreign gross of only 6.5 mil.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total $ | Budget | Week # |
| 1 | Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! | 45.1 mil | 3,954 | $11,406 | 45.1 mil | 85 | 1 |
| 2 | 10,000 B.C | 16.4 mil | 3,410 | $4,813 | 61.1 mil | 105 | 2 |
| 3 | Never Back Down | 8.6 mil | 2,729 | $3,155 | 8.6 mil | 20 | 1 |
| 4 | College Road Trip | 7.8 mil | 2,706 | $2,916 | 24.2 mil | - | 2 |
| 5 | Vantage Point | 5.4 mil | 2,761 | $1,955 | 59.2 mil | 40 | 4 |
| 6 | The Bank Job | 4.9 mil | 1,613 | $3,044 | 13.1 mil | - | 2 |
| 7 | Doomsday | 4.7 mil | 1,936 | $2,449 | 4.7 mil | - | 1 |
| 8 | Semi-Pro | 3.0 mil | 2,270 | $1,321 | 29.8 mil | - | 3 |
| 9 | The Other Boleyn Girl | 2.9 mil | 1,212 | $2,392 | 19.1 mil | - | 3 |
| 10 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | 2.3 mil | 2,407 | $992 | 65.4 mil | 90 | 5 |
A horror movie and a comedy are getting nearly exact theatrical releases next weekend unless one of the studios add or subtract the current count during the week. I would say Drillbit Taylor has the advantage over Shutter next weekend due to the horror genre being such a hard genre to fit mass audience appeal into. It’s very hard for a studio to get a horror flick into #1 place for most weeks out of the year.
But I’m not sure if Drillbit Taylor wins even if Shutter doesn’t.
The reason is the wild card Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. Perry continues to be a force to be reckoned with having beaten some heavy competition last October in the midst of two horror movies in the middle of scare season. Now, he’s going against Shutter (2,700 theaters), Drillbit Taylor (2,700 theaters), Horton Hears a Who (3,954 theaters) and 10,000 B.C (3,410 theaters).
He’s probably not going to overcome all that with “Browns” appearing in only 2,000 theaters next week but you never know. They don’t call them wild cards for nothing…
Friday March 21, 2008 Releases:
Wide
Shutter (2,700+ theaters)
Drillbit Taylor (2,700 theaters)
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (2,000 theaters)
Limited
Under the Same Moon
Race
Planet B-Boy
Love Songs
More From Mania
WHO Enjoys Hearing Easter Victory
HORTON HEARS A WHO
(Sunday, March 16, 2008)
Four TV Spots for HORTON
(Wednesday, February 20, 2008)
First Trailer For HORTON HEARS A WHO
(Friday, December 14, 2007)
"Horton Hears a Who" gets a voice cast
(Tuesday, March 13, 2007)
HORTON HEARS A WHO pictures on web
(Friday, September 15, 2006)
Fox Hears A "Who"
(Thursday, March 10, 2005)
See more related content
