Carmen Electra, Sean Maguire and Kevin Sorbo in MEET THE SPARTANS(2008).
© 20th Century Fox
SPARTANS Grab Victory Against Rambo
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Sunday, January 27, 2008
It seems that the teenage demographic was a key in this weekend’s box office report and the numbers for this report are so close between 1st and 2nd place, it seems too close to call at any rate. We may need to wait until the actual results come in tomorrow afternoon. It was also a weekend where the audiences couldn’t decide on any one film so nearly all of them performed decent numbers. The first 7 places all had at least 10 mil in receipts.
Fox takes 1st place in a surprise upset with their spoof comedy Meet the Spartans, which debuted with 18.7 million in receipts. I say that teenagers had something to do with this victory because these spoofs connect more with that demographic ala Scary Movie, Epic Movie, etc. Older audiences sometimes enjoy them as well but we know which audience the studio is centering it on. Fox opened the spoof on 2,605 theaters in its first week, which marks for an average per showing rate of $7,188.
Following right behind is Lionsgate highly marketed Rambo, the fourth installment of the series. It opened up in 146 more theaters than Spartan but it brought home $600,000 less in the estimates by taking 18.1 mil in its debut. They opened it in 2,750 theaters which have its average rate at $6,597. In comparison with the previous Rambo films, this opener ranks 2nd behind Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985) which pulled in 20 mil in its first three days.
Fox also owns 3rd place for the weekend with their returning 27 Dresses, which dropped one place from last week and took in 13.6 mil. This film is a success for the studio with it pulling in 45.3 mil in two weeks and having a budget of only 30 mil. In weeks where the obvious choice was a monster, a spoof and the return of an action hero, this film has been the “go-to” alternative choice for couples.
Paramount’s Cloverfield dropped from 1st to 4th place in its second weekend but it’s already far “in the green” for the studio. The monster mash-up grabbed another 12.7 mil this weekend, which has its domestic gross at 64.2 mil in 10 days of release. It also will begin its international run soon enough with it only pulling in 4.3 mil so far in international territories. Worldwide gross has it at 68.6 mil and its budget is listed at 25 mil.
The latest Diane Lane thriller Untraceable also made its debut this weekend, landing in 5th place with 11.2 mil in receipts. I wouldn’t call these kinds of numbers a failure of sorts because Sony Screen Gems is very smart by keeping their films low in the budget category. They have this film’s budget listed as only 35 mil so this means it has already took in a quarter of that money in its first three days of release.
Juno has officially hit the 100 mil mark this morning and lands in 6th place in the box office report with 10.3 mil. The film actually gained 3.5% of viewers from its seventh week of release to its eight week so strong word-of-mouth and critical acclaim continues to keep this film running strong, which is still showing in 2,426 theaters across the nation.
WB’s The Bucket List dropped 4 places to 7th place this weekend but like 27 Dresses, the studio has already hit their profit margins. The Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman vehicle has a budget of only 45 mil and has taken in 57.6 mil, 10.2 mil of it being from this weekend.
And now, we hit the last three films in the box office report, all of them clocking in around 4 mil in receipts. Paramount Vantage has taken advantage of re-releasing There Will Be Blood because of “award time” and they have 8th place to show for it. The film pulled in around 4.8 mil while only getting shown in 885 theaters across the nation. This makes for an average rate of $5,522. In 5 weeks of release (original and re-release), it has a domestic gross of 14.7 mil.
Disney has begun pulling National Treasure: Book of Secrets out of a lot of theaters but the sequel still managed to stay in the top 10 in its sixth week of release. The film pulled in another 4.6 mil this weekend by landing in 9th place. As I said, Disney yanked it from 809 theaters but its still showing in 2,154 houses around the nation. It has 205.4 in domestic grosses and another 143.2 mil in foreign territories. No budget listed for the film 348.7 worldwide is obviously very nice numbers for Disney.
Overture Film’s Mad Money looks to be racing a “How fast can we drop” gauntlet by finishing 10th place this weekend in its second week. The film took in only 4.6 mil on 2,470 theaters and only has a domestic gross of 15.2 mil in 10 days of release. Obviously, that’s better numbers than other box office failures and hey, it’s better than There Will Be Blood but as we know, this film won’t be taking home any Oscars as “Blood” will likely be so there is small comfort in that for Overture…
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total | Budget | Week # |
| 1 | Meet the Spartans | 18.7 mil | 2,605 | $7,188 | 18.7 mil | - | 1 |
| 2 | Rambo | 18.1 mil | 2,751 | $6,597 | 18.1 mil | - | 1 |
| 3 | 27 Dresses | 13.6 mil | 3,074 | $4,424 | 45.3 mil | 30 | 2 |
| 4 | Cloverfield | 12.7 mil | 3,411 | $3,723 | 64.2 mil | 25 | 2 |
| 5 | Untraceable | 11.2 mil | 2,368 | $4,729 | 11.2 mil | 35 | 1 |
| 6 | Juno | 10.3 mil | 2,426 | $4,245 | 100.1 mil | - | 8 |
| 7 | The Bucket List | 10.2 mil | 2,915 | $3,502 | 57.6 mil | 45 | 5 |
| 8 | There Will Be Blood | 4.8 mil | 885 | $5,522 | 14.7 mil | - | 5 |
| 9 | National Treasure: Book of Secrets | 4.6 mil | 2,154 | $2,165 | 205.4 mil | - | 6 |
| 10 | Mad Money | 4.6 mil | 2,470 | $1,866 | 15.2 mil | - | 2 |
Friday Feb 1, 2008 Releases:
Wide Releases
The Eye (2,200+ theaters)
Over Her Dead Body (1,950 theaters)
Strange Wilderness (1,100 theaters)
Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour (650 theaters)
Limited Releases
Caramel
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