Samuel L. Jackson literally steps "into the fire" in JUMPER(2008).
© 20th Century Fox
JUMPER Teleports Into First Place
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Sunday, February 17, 2008
Despite the fact that Spiderwick Chronicles had one of the most anticipated trailers of the year attached to it and had everyone else beat in amount of theaters, it still fell short. The adaptation of Holly Black’s fantasy series just couldn’t keep up with the latest dance-off film, Step Up 2 the Streets and Jumper, which took the top spot on this Valentines weekend.
Doug Liman’s adaptation of the Steven Gould 92 sci-fi novel Jumper found itself teleporting into leader’s spot with 27.2 mil since Friday and another 6.6 mil on its Valentines-launch date Thursday evening. Overall, the Hayden Christensen-Samuel L. Jackson vehicle pulled in 33.8 mil, not too shabby a start for Fox since the film’s budget is at 85.
Following in 2nd place is the latest film taking advantage of the dance-off genre phenomenon, Step Up 2 the Streets. The follow-up to the 2006 Step Up pulled in 19.6 in its debut, which is nearly the same as its predecessor pulling in 20.6 on its August 11, 2006 debut. On Thursday night, the sequel pulled in another 7 mil so its overall total for the weekend is 26.2 mil for Disney. If it doesn’t have a big drop-off, it has a shot to beat the original which wound up with a 65.3 domestic total.
Adaptation of children fantasy novels continue to take a hit at the box office, the latest casualty being The Spiderwick Chronicles from Paramount. The Mark Waters-directed film had the biggest theater total with 3,847, yet it only pulled in 19.0 mil in its 3 day debut and 21.3 mil with Thursday’s numbers attached. Paramount has listed the budget at 90 mil so we’ll see if it overcomes that the next few weeks with its domestic and international numbers. It’s safe to say the film could have done a lot better with it being the widest release for the weekend but it could have done a lot worse too when considering previous fantasy box office duds like The Seeker: Dark is Rising, The Golden Compass and Stardust.
Following in 4th place is last weekend’s winner, the romantic adventure Fool’s Gold for Warner Bros., which pulled in another 13.0 mil this weekend. While the studio hasn’t listed a budget for the film, it’s safe to say that 42.0 mil in ten days is respectable enough for the Kate Hudson & Matthew McConaughey vehicle.
The final new wide release for the holiday weekend, Universal’s Definitely, Maybe, didn’t really receive any advantages for being the only new romantic genre film on Valentines Day. It opened this weekend in only 2,204 theaters and pulled in only 9.6 mil, which makes for an average of $4,394. As you can see, couples who didn’t feel like a dance-off and fantasy opted for last weekend’s Fool’s Gold over the latest film. Still, it’s hard to see “Definitely” having that large a budget so a few weekends of average numbers should keep Universal in good shape.
And while Universal may need a few weeks for that film, they’re in good shape for Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, which landed in 6th place in its second week with 8.8 mil. The family-comedy has a budget listed at only 35 mil and in ten days of release, it has 29.1 mil in domestic numbers.
Even though Fox Searchlight pulled Juno out of 456 theaters this weekend, the film still found a way to land in 7th place with 4.6 mil in receipts. This acclaimed film refuses to fade from our weekly Top 10 even its 11th week of release. The indie branch of Fox has accumulated 124.0 mil in domestic totals so clearly, out of all the possible Oscar winners, this is the most successful.
Another successful venture for Warner Bros., The Bucket List, also managed to stay in the Top 10 this weekend in its eighth week of release. The Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman dramedy pulled in another 4.1 mil while still showing in 2,307 theaters across the nation. The film has already proven profitable, having a budget of only 45 mil and tallying up 81.0 mil in domestic totals.
Disney had a major drop on their hands with their Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. It only its third week in theaters, the film dropped 68% at the box office and pulled in only 3.2 mil in 9th place. Not that this drop-off really means much either way because the film is quite clearly one hell of a profitable venture for Disney. It has racked up 58.4 mil in domestic totals and while Disney hasn’t released a budget, the budget for it has to be small.
While Fox are very pleased with Juno’s success, they have to be as equally pleased with their alternative-minded 27 Dresses. The film may have pulled in only 3.1 mil this weekend in 10th place but the fact that it’s still getting discussed at all here in our weekly box office says it all. It’s still left standing after competing with Cloverfield, Rambo and Meet the Spartans. It’s also a profitable release for Fox given the fact that its budget is only 30 mil and it has 69.9 mil in domestic totals.
Note:
If you’re curious where George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead wound up, the latest “Dead” film from the zombie master debuted in only 42 theaters across the nation and found itself in 30th place with $225,000. This makes for an average per showing rate of $5,357.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total $ | Budget | Week # |
| 1 | Jumper | 27.2 mil | 3,428 | $7,941 | 33.8 mil | 85 | 1 |
| 2 | Step Up 2 | 19.6 mil | 2,470 | $7,961 | 26.2 mil | - | 1 |
| 3 | Spiderwick Chronicles | 19.0 mil | 3,847 | $4,959 | 21.3 mil | 90 | 1 |
| 4 | Fool’s Gold | 13.0 mil | 3,125 | $4,185 | 42.0 mil | - | 2 |
| 5 | Definitely, Maybe | 9.6 mil | 2,204 | $4,394 | 12.8 mil | - | 1 |
| 6 | Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins | 8.8 mil | 2,387 | $3,720 | 29.1 mil | 35 | 2 |
| 7 | Juno | 4.6 mil | 1,865 | $2,479 | 124.0 mil | - | 11 |
| 8 | The Bucket List | 4.1 mil | 2,307 | $1,779 | 81.0 mil | 45 | 8 |
| 9 | Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus | 3.2 mil | 685 | $4,801 | 58.4 mil | - | 3 |
| 10 | 27 Dresses | 3.1 mil | 1,936 | $1,639 | 69.9 mil | 30 | 5 |
Friday February 22, 2008 Releases:
Wide
Vantage Point (3,000+ theaters)
Witless Protection (1,250 theaters)
Charlie Bartlett (1,000 theaters)
Be Kind, Rewind (800 theaters)
Limited
The Signal
The Counterfeiters
The Duchess of Langeais
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Hayden Christensen in JUMPER?
(Monday, July 24, 2006)
Samuel L. Jackson is a JUMPER
(Monday, July 10, 2006)
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