Milla Jovovich as Alice in Screen Gems' Resident Evil: Extinction
© Screen Gems
RESIDENT EVIL Takes Top Spot
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Sunday, September 23, 2007
The box office numbers improved over the last two reports with a headline franchise hitting theaters over the weekend. The executives at Screen Gems won this weekend with their third installment Resident Evil: Extinction pulling in 24.0 million in 2,828 prints across the nation. This is nearly the opening sum of their previous film Resident Evil: Apocalypse which pulled in 23.0 million on September 10, 2004. Gem’s RE 2 would go onto make 51 million domestically and another 78 million in overseas numbers making a profit on a 45 million budget. The original was managed on a budget of 33 mil and opened to 17.7 mil in March 2002. It would go onward to gross 40.1 mil domestically and 62.3 mil in foreign sales. Basically, Sony/Screen Gems has improved the numbers with each further installment in the franchise.
Landing in 2nd place was another debut film for the report, a romantic comedy by Lionsgate in the name of Good Luck Chuck. The film starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba pulled in a respectable 14 million in 2,612 auditoriums around the nation taking advantage of the “date movie” demographics that was missing elsewhere. That’s the assumption of course unless people take their dates to zombie action flicks. No budget listed for Chuck yet but a 14 mil opening has to give some satisfaction for Lionsgate.
Following behind in 3rd place is the female vigilante tale from Warner Bros, Jodie Foster’s The Brave One. The revenge story took in 7.4 million in 2,755 prints in its second weekend dropping 44.9% from its opening numbers last week. The film has accumulated 25.1 million in domestic grosses so far.
Maintaining steady legs in 4th is Lionsgate’s 3:10 to Yuma remake starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale which dropped only 28% from its previous weekend’s totals. The film grabbed 6.3 mil in 2,902 screens. Other then having two A-list actors, it’s also targeting demographics that enjoy the western genre. With little to no competition inside that genre right now (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford opened this weekend in only 5 screens.), the film should maintain legs to stand on in the next few box office reports with little drop off in sales. Yuma has a budget of 55 million and has grossed 37.9 million in 3 weeks of release.
Focus has expanded the Viggo Mortensen featured Eastern Promises, adding 1,389 prints to its totals from their debut weekend. With the expansion in place, Promises took 5.7 million this weekend landing in 5th place and averaging a respectable $4,093 per showing for each of its screens.
The last wide released debut for the weekend is the little advertised Sydney White following Promises in 6th place. The film from Universal had 5.3 million in sales over the weekend, debuting in 2,104 screens. It averaged only $2,529 per showing. Not quite sure about this one. It’s a wide release that I’ve seen very little advertising for and its debut totals represent as much. It’s taken a backseat to the headline opening films, RE and Good Luck Chuck.
The sports comedy from New Line, Mr. Woodcock, continues to flail under the weight of competition. The film starring Billy Bob Thornton opened up last weekend in 3rd place and dropped down to 7th place in it second weekend of release pulling in only 4.9 million in sales. As of right now, it has only 15.7 million in domestic grosses. Honestly, Billy Bob isn’t have the best year at the box office. His previous film, The Astronaut Farmer, opened to a dismal 4.4 million back in February and would gross only 11.0 million before being pulled from theaters. No, it hasn’t been the best year for the actor…
While Sony is pleased counting up the winning results from RE 3, they’re also thrilled about the success of Judd Apatow’s latest producing effort, Superbad. While this weekend’s 3.1 million in sales isn’t exactly noteworthy, the fact that a comedy with a budget of 20 mil has grossed 116.1 million in domestic sales is eyebrow rising for all parties involved. Sony’s having the best month of September thus far...
Just as happy as Sony is Universal with their third installment of Jason Bourne. The Bourne Ultimatum has now officially pulled in twice its budget in domestic grosses alone as of today for the studio. With a budget of 110 mil, it has grossed 220.1 mil in local sales while accumulating another 125.0 million in foreign sales. 345.2 million is definitely a good haul for Damon and Universal.
Riding in the back of the bus this week is Dragon Wars coming in 10th place pulling in 2.5 million in 2,246 screens across the nation. The film debuted last weekend in 5th place and dropped 50% to the final slot in its second week of release with a domestic gross of 8.4 million. It should be noted that it has better numbers overseas grabbing 55.6 million in foreign sales.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend $ | Theaters | Average | Total $ | Week # |
| 1 | Resident Evil: Extinction | 24.0 mil | 2,828 | $8,486 | 24.0 mil | 1 |
| 2 | Good Luck Chuck | 14.0 mil | 2,612 | $5,359 | 14.0 mil | 1 |
| 3 | The Brave One | 7.4 mil | 2,755 | $2,695 | 25.1 mil | 2 |
| 4 | 3:10 to Yuma | 6.3 mil | 2,902 | $2,188 | 37.9 mil | 3 |
| 5 | Eastern Promises | 5.7 mil | 1,404 | $4,093 | 6.5 mil | 2 |
| 6 | Sydney White | 5.3 mil | 2,104 | $2,529 | 5.3 mil | 1 |
| 7 | Mr. Woodcock | 4.9 mil | 2,237 | $2,223 | 15.7 mil | 2 |
| 8 | Superbad | 3.1 mil | 2,305 | $1,344 | 116.1 mil | 6 |
| 9 | The Bourne Ultimatum | 2.7 mil | 2,009 | $1,390 | 220.1 mil | 8 |
| 10 | Dragon Wars | 2.5 mil | 2,246 | $1,118 | 8.4 mil | 2 |
Friday September 28, 2007 Releases:
Wide Releases
The Game Plan (2,800 Theaters)
The Kingdom (2,700+ Theaters)
Feast of Love (1,200 Theaters)
Limited Releases
The Darjeeling Limited
I’ll Believe You
Lust, Caution
Trade
