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KNOWING a Box Office Victory
Three new films take down top three spots. By
Jarrod Sarafin
March 22, 2009
John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) looking at the numbers in Summit Entertainment's KNOWING(2009).
© Summit Entertainment
Theaters found themselves with three new wide releases over the weekend and those three films took down the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place spots, respectively. Leading the pack was Alex Proyas’ latest thriller Knowing, with Summit Entertainment introducing the film into 3,332 theaters. As a result, the Nic Cage vehicle grabbed $24.8 million in its first three days. Those numbers has it coming in with the best average rate of the top 10 as well with a financial score of $7,447 per showing. No budget has been listed. This is Proyas’ second best opening film to date behind I, Robot, which grabbed $51.1 million in its first summer weekend of 2004.
Paramount and DreamWorks found themselves in 2nd place with their Paul Rudd and Jason Segel comedy I Love You, Man grabbing an estimated $18.0 million over its first weekend. This has it averaging a respectable $6,641 per showing with audiences who went for laughs instead of disaster film thrills. It’s also another good showing for Rudd, who’s buddy comedy Role Models performed successful numbers for Universal Pictures with a $19.1 opening tally. It would go on to gross $91.1 million worldwide against a budget of only $28 mil. No price tag has been listed for his latest effort.
And landing in 3rd place is the final debuting wide release of Duplicity. Universal’s reuniting of stars Clive Owen and Julia Roberts (Closer) pulled in an estimated $14.4 million on 2,574 theater prints across the nation. The Tony Gilroy-directed thriller has also been launched in some oversea markets early to the tune of $4.2 million. Not bad numbers for Gilroy’s first wide releasing effort after making his directorial debut with 2007’s Michael Clayton, which had a limited release launch of $719,910.
With the three new releases ruling the top of list, all the previous releases were moved down a few slots.
Walt Disney’s Race to Witch Mountain, the previous #1 film, took home the 4th place spot in its second weekend with another estimated $13.0 million in ticket sales, which means it had only a 46% drop in its first week of release. The latest numbers combined with last weekend’s victory has its domestic gross sitting at $44.7 million. Disney hasn’t revealed a budget for their return to the 70’s franchise so we don’t know the full extent of the profitability here.
The same can’t be said for Watchmen since Warner Bros. made it known to the media that it had a price tag of around $150 million. In the comic adaptation’s third weekend of release, the Zack Snyder film found itself dropping to 5th place by pulling in only $6.7 million. Since the film has the highest theatrical distribution of the top 10 with 3,510 prints across the nation, the poor weekend numbers has it coming in with an average of only $1,916 per showing.
The latest results has its domestic gross at $98.0 million. If you want to include the $49.3 million in foreign sales from the previous two weekends, the film’s current worldwide tally sits at $147.4 million. But it should be noted that Warner Bros. sold their stake in the foreign distribution of the film to Paramount, Universal and some other studios.
The 6th place spot goes to Universal’s horror remake of The Last House on the Left, which pulled in an estimated $5.9 million in its second weekend of release. Combined with last weekend’s debut, the film has a domestic gross of $24.0 million. No budget is listed but most horror films come with low price tags so these are likely decent numbers for the studio.
20th Century Fox follows in 7th with their revenge thriller Taken grabbing another $4.1 million over the weekend. The film, which has been out for eight weeks, has a successful domestic gross of $133.1 million. As most of you know, Liam Neeson had a tragic week with the loss of his wife Natasha.
Like its parent company, Fox Searchlight is likewise enjoying strong legs with their Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. The Danny Boyle-directed film has been showing in theaters for 19 weeks but still continues to find the top 10 in each report, this time in 8th place with an estimated $2.7 million in sales. The latest numbers has its domestic gross at $137.2 million. With the film’s $135.0 million from foreign distribution, it has a worldwide gross of $272.2 million. Incredible numbers for a film which cost only $15 mil to produce.
Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail is in 9th by taking in another $2.5 million. With the film’s fifth weekend now in the bag, his most successful film to date has a domestic gross of $87.2 million.
And the final 10th place spot goes to Focus’ animated adaptation of Coraline, based on the Neil Gaiman work. It adds another $2.1 million to its overall gross, which is currently $72.8 million.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total | Budget |
| 1 | Knowing | $24.8 mil | 3,332 | $7,447 | $24.8 mil | ---- |
| 2 | I Love You, Man | $18.0 mil | 2,711 | $6,641 | $18.0 mil | ---- |
| 3 | Duplicity | $14.4 mil | 2,574 | $5,595 | $14.4 mil | ---- |
| 4 | Race to Witch Mountain | $13.0 mil | 3,187 | $4,080 | $44.7 mil | ---- |
| 5 | Watchmen | $6.7 mil | 3,510 | $1,916 | $98.0 mil | $150 |
| 6 | The Last House on the Left | $5.9 mil | 2,402 | $2,465 | $24.0 mil | ---- |
| 7 | Taken | $4.1 mil | 2,661 | $1,541 | $133.1 mil | ---- |
| 8 | Slumdog Millionaire | $2.7 mil | 2,067 | $1,306 | $137.2 mil | $15 |
| 9 | Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail | $2.5 mil | 1,835 | $1,368 | $87.2 mil | ---- |
| 10 | Coraline | $2.1 mil | 1,431 | $1,498 | $72.8 mil | ---- |
Paramount and DreamWorks hopes to take over the box office in our next report with the release of their animated adventure Monsters Vs. Aliens. The film, which clocks in at 1 hour and 32 minutes, will premiere in 3,500 theaters next weekend so it likely will take down the 1st place spot.
Fox is releasing their Renny Harlin-directed action flick 12 Rounds on 2,200 prints while Lionsgate is poised to launch their horror The Haunting in Connecticut into over 2,600 theaters.
Friday March 27, 2009 Releases:
Monsters Vs. Aliens (3,500)
The Haunting in Connecticut (2,600+)
12 Rounds (2,200)
Limited
Goodbye Solo
Spinning into Butter
American Swing
Little Ashes
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Hey, finally an opening weekend I can enjoy is coming!
Aliens Versus Monsters looks like fun.
I won't bother with The Haunting In Conneticut, just tune in Discovery Channel's show A Haunting In Conneticut. You'd think the producers of the movie could've come up with something more creative when they made their big screen version.
What's Little Ashes? A movie that was made when my cat Ashes was a kitten? And why do I have the urge to say "yeah, baby!" in an Austin Powers voice when I read "American Swing?"