Box Office Report

Doug Jones as the Silver Surfer in FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (2007).
© 20th Century Fox

Surfer Flies Into A Fantastic Weekend

By: Jarrod Sarafin
Date: Sunday, June 17, 2007

As I said in last week’s box office report, Ocean’s Thirteen had very little chance to make a repeat appearance at the top spot. With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer clocking in at 1 hr & 29 minutes and it appearing in 3,959 theaters, there was no competition for it or for Fox Studios.

Its predecessor debuted on July 8, 2005 opening up to a fantastic 56.0 million on 3,619 theaters. It clocked in at 2 hrs and 3 minutes length time with a budget listed at 100 million. Fantastic Four would end up grossing 154.6 million here in the states and another 175.4 million overseas.

So, the question is…Did the sequel top the originals debut?

It did.

Fox’s next installment Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer hit the market this weekend taking in 57.4 million in its debut. With such a short running time and so many auditorium coverage, it was getting at least 6-8 showings a day. There was a definitive amount of options for the audiences with this sequel and they chose very clearly to take advantage of it. I’m still not sure what this means to the overall future prospects of the film. Its budget is listed at 130 million and it has a lot of competition coming in the next few weeks. I’d say it will win next weekend as well going up against Evan Almighty (3,500 theaters) and 1408 (2,500 theaters). After that, the outcome gets murky.

Fox is the first of the studios showing their intelligence (or lack there-of) by releasing their next major tent pole Live Free or Die Hard the following weekend. Yes, that’s correct, Maniacs. Fox will be cutting into their own tent pole movie by not having the sense to space their projects with more breathing room. Obviously, they’re not the only studio who isn’t making much sense. Transformers come out just 6 days after the next Die Hard installment with Harry Potter & Order of the Phoenix following 6 days after that. Like I said a few weeks ago, these studios are going to start hurting each other and their franchises in the next few weeks. Many of our reading Maniacs here could make more intelligent release decisions then these studio executives are currently doing with their franchises. Still, at the very least, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has another weekend of being on the top spot.

Following right behind the surfer in 2^nd place is the Warner Bros ensemble comedy, Ocean’s Thirteen. The 3^rd installment in the Oceans franchise banks in at 19.1 million in its second weekend dropping 47.1% in its 3,565 theaters. It averaged $5,359 on its theaters and has grossed 69.8 million here in the states. The comedy has also begun its overseas run pulling in 28 million from last weekend. No word yet on its overseas numbers from this weekend. Those numbers are usually turned in tomorrow.

Universal Studios and director Judd Apatow have something to celebrate about. Their comedy Knocked Up continues to impress audiences and accountants by pulling in another 14.5 million in 3^rd place over the weekend. It’s pulled in 90.4 million in its first three weekends and with a budget of only 30 million, there are obviously things to celebrate about for them. Stretch your toes and open those champagne bottles guys. With so many major movies about to under perform, you guys have nothing to fear.

Sailing into 4^th place is the last major release, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Jack Sparrow’s latest adventure raked in 12.0 million of booty in its fourth week of release. The film has grossed 273.7 million here in the states and another 547.0 million overseas as of last week. This weekend’s overseas numbers will be released tomorrow. It should also be noted that over the past week, Pirates has overtaken Spider-Man 3 in overseas sells. As of last weeks accounting, Pirates has a 547 million foreign total and Spider-Man has a 538 million foreign total. Still, Spider-Man 3 is winning the domestic battle so far.

Curse of the Black Pearl vs. Dead Man’s Chest vs. At World’s End Comparisons:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl:

Budget: 140 million

Opening Weekend: 46.6 million

Total Domestic: 305.4 million

Total Foreign: 348.5 million

Worldwide Total: 653.9 million

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Budget: 225 million

Opening Weekend: 135.6 million

Total Domestic: 423.3 million

Total Foreign: 642.3 million

Worldwide Total: 1.065 billion

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Budget: 300 million

Opening Weekend: 156.1 million

Total Domestic: 273.7 million

Total Foreign: 547.0 million

Worldwide Total: 820.7 million

Sony is probably feeling the exact opposite as what Universal is currently feeling. Their animation comedy, Surf’s Up, continues to fail to impress as far as box office numbers are concerned. The film landed in 5^th place pulling in 9.3 million in its second weekend of release. It’s pulled in only 34.6 million thus far. With so much PG and PG-13 fare out there right now, this lack of success is easy to dissect as far as reasoning. You’ll see the obvious reasons by the film which follows it in this box office report.

Dreamwork’s Shrek the Third follows right behind on the surfing penguins pulling in 9.0 mil in 6^th place over the weekend. The studio has begun pulling the third installment of the franchise out of theaters, taking it out of 420 theaters the last few days. It has grossed 297.2 million over the last 5 weeks of release nearly doubling its 160 million budget. By the way, I’m still wondering how the budget for the film comes to 160 million but I won’t go into that one here. I am curious on your thoughts for it though.

Shrek vs. Shrek 2 vs. Shrek the Third Comparisons:

Shrek Numbers:

Budget: 60 million

Opening Weekend: 42.3 million

Total Domestic: 267.6 million

Total Foreign: 216.7 million

Worldwide Total: 484.4 million

Shrek 2 Numbers:

Budget: 150 million

Opening Weekend: 108.0 million

Total Domestic: 441.2 million

Total Foreign: 479.4 million

Worldwide Total: 920.6 million

Shrek 3 Numbers:

Budget: 160 million

Opening Weekend: 121.6 million

Total Domestic: 297.2 million

Total Foreign: 54.6 million

Worldwide Total: 351.8 million

Warner Bros didn’t exactly have a stellar weekend with its next debut, Nancy Drew, landing in 7^th place taking in only 7.1 million. The studio is probably wondering where all the young teenage girls were at this weekend. Then again, is Nancy Drew still a popular book for young audiences these days or is more of a classic that the older female targeted generations might like more? If so, the older audiences had no desire to see the young female sleuth this weekend over the other competition like FF:ROSS, Ocean’s Thirteen & Knocked Up.

Eli Roth’s Hostel Part II is the only darker toned movie in the box office report for the second weekend in a row. The torture based horror dropped 63.4 % from its debut release to this weekend landing in 8^th place. It has made back its budget of only 10.2 million but not by much. Hostel II has only grossed 14.1 million so far landing in 6^th place in its debut and 8^th this weekend.

MGM’s Mr. Brooks isn’t faring much better with all the lighter competition around it. Kevin Costner’s thriller grabbed 2.8 million in 9^th place over the last 3 days. This means it has grossed 23.4 million in its 3 weeks of release. Surprisingly, MGM is already pulling the film out of theaters in just its third weekend. It was taken out of 530 theaters this weekend. I guess I’m surprised they’re already pulling it. Give it some more time. It’s not films fault you guys chose to release it against Pirates, Oceans and Fantastic Four. Much like Hostel II, it has made its budget back which is listed at only 20 mil. Yep, just like Hostel II, it had made its budget back but not by much.

Sony has continued its pullout of Spider-Man 3 over the weekend taking it out of 748 more theaters. I guessed that Spidey would have been out of the box office report this weekend but I was wrong. It has landed in 10^th place this weekend taking in another 2.5 million in its 1,822 theaters. It would be easy to assume that it will be out of the box office report next weekend. The third installment in the Spidey franchise has been the top domestic grossing movie of the year thus far taking in 330.0 million here in the states and another 538.2 million overseas as of last week.

Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man 2 vs. Spider-Man 3 Comparisons:

Spider-Man Numbers:

Budget: 139 million

Opening Weekend: 114.8 million

Total Domestic: 403.7 million

Total Foreign: 418.0 million

Worldwide Total: 821.7 million

Spider-Man 2 Numbers:

Budget: 200 million

Opening Weekend: 88.1 million

Total Domestic: 373.5 million

Total Foreign: 410.1 million

Worldwide Total: 783.7 million

Spider-Man 3 Numbers:

Budget: 258 million

Opening Weekend: 151.1 million

Total Domestic: 330.0 million

Total Foreign: 538.2 million

Worldwide Total: 868.2 million

Rank	Movie	Weekend $	Theaters	Average	Total $
1	Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer	57.4 mil	3,959	$14,498	57.4 mil
2	Ocean’s Thirteen	19.1 mil	3,565	$5,359	69.8 mil
3	Knocked Up	14.5 mil	2,907	$5,000	90.4 mil
4	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End	12.0 mil	3,329	$3,611	273.7 mil
5	Surf’s Up	9.3 mil	3,531	$2,633	34.6 mil
6	Shrek the Third	9.0 mil	3,505	$2,569	297.2 mil
7	Nancy Drew	7.1 mil	2,612	$2,731	7.1 mil
8	Hostel Part II	3.0 mil	2,350	$1,276	14.1 mil
9	Mr. Brooks	2.8 mil	1,923	$1,466	23.4 mil
10	Spider-Man 3	2.5 mil	1,822	$1,372	330.0 mil

The Top 10 Box Office Winners Question Continues:

Here are the Maniacs which have turned in their Top 10 Box Office estimates so far:

Snallygaster:

1. Spider-Man 3
2. Pirates 3
3. Shrek 3
4. Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix
5. Transformers
6. Ratatouille
7. Fantastic Four
8. The Bourne Ultimatum
9. Rush Hour 3
10. Live Free or Die Hard

jppintar326

1. Spiderman 3
2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
4. Transformers
5. Shrek the Third
6. The Bourne UItimatium
7. Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer
8. Live Free or Die Hard
9. Rush Hour 3
10. Surf's Up

SinisterPryde

1. Spider-Man 3
2. Pirates of the Carribean: At Earth's End
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4. Shrek 3
5. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
6. Ratatouille
7. Transformers
8. Rush Hour 3
9. Ocean's Thirteen
10. Live Free or Die Hard

wessmith1966

1. Pirates 3
2. Spider-Man 3
3. Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix
4. Shrek 3
5. Transformers
6. Ratatouille
7. Live Free or Die hard
8. Fantastic Four
9. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
10. Evan Almighty

Captmathman

1 Spider-Man 3
2 Pirates 3
3 Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix
4 Shrek the Third
5 Transformers
6 The Bourne Ultimatum
7 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
8 The Simpsons Movie
9 Evan Almighty
10 Ocean's 13

Merin (with Box Office predictions as well)

1. Pirates 3 - $450 million L
2. Spider-Man 3 - $350 million M
3. Harry Potter 5 - $325 million L
4. Shrek 3 - $315 million L
5. FF 2 - $205 million M
6. Simpsons Movie - $200 million M
7. Rush Hour 3 - $200 million L

8. Transformers - $180 million L

9. Bourne Ultimatum - $175 million L
10. Ratatouille - $150 million M

Hanso

1.Pirates 3.
2.Spidey 3.
3.Shrek 3.
4.Transformers.
5.Harry Potter 5.
6.Ratataouile.
7.Rush Hour 3.

8.Fantastic Four 2.
9.Chuck & Larry.
10.The Simpsons.

theCollector

1.POTC: AWE - 600 Million
2. Fantastic Four: ROTSS- 445 Million
3. Transformers - 400 Million
4. Knocked Up) - 380
5. The Simpsons/ Shrek the Third - 325 million
6. Spidey 3 - 320 million
7. Die Hard 4 - 310 million
8. Rush Hour 3 - 225 million
9.Harry Potter 5/ Evan Almighty- 210 million
10. Oceans 13 -205 Million

Scorpionstryker

1.transformers
2. pirates3
3. harry potter 5
4. spiderman 3
5. shrek 3
6. fantastic four 2
7. simpsons
8. surfs up
9. rush hour 3
10. Chuck & Larry

DaForce

1. Spidey 3
2. Pirates 3
3. Transformers
4. Shrek 3
5. Ratatouille
6. Harry Pothead and the Phoenix
7. FF2
8. Simpsons
9. Die Hard 4
10. Surf's Up

MaverickRenegade

1. Pirates 3
2. Spidey 3
3. Shrek 3
4. Transformers
5. Harry Potter
6. FF2
7. Die Hard 4
8. Simpsons
9. Ratatouille
10. Surf's Up

AlmostUnbiased

1. POTC3
2. spidey 3
3. Shrek
4. Harry Potter 5
5. Ratataouile
6. Ocean's Thirteen
7. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. Rush Hour 3
9. Transformers
10. FF:ROTSS

Friday June 22, 2007 Releases:

Wide Releases

Evan Almighty (3,500+ Theaters)

1408 (2,500 Theaters)

A Mighty Heart (1,350 Theaters)

Limited Releases

Black Sheep

Broken English

You Kill Me

White Palms

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Comments/Responses

almostunbiased • Jun 17, 2007, 04:51pm •

The first Fantastic Four was only 106 minutes. Not 123 minutes.
As for FF2 I liked it. Not as funny as the first, but it was a cool action movie. Effects were outstanding, good chemistry between everyone, Silver Surfer kicked butt, and like I said great action. As for Galactus:
Very Minor Spoiler --> I thought I saw his mug and helmet through the flames, but I could maybe just have wanted to see it. Either way he was ok. Worked out good for a movie and I'm not sure they could have done it better or it would have looked stupid.

Freddyfred27 • Jun 17, 2007, 05:09pm •

Freddyfred27 • Jun 17, 2007, 05:13pm •

I really enjoyed this movie it was way better things are looking up. The best thing was not seeing a Big Purple Head in the sky !!!!

jppintar326 • Jun 17, 2007, 05:52pm •

I liked the original Fantastic Four and thought this sequel was even better. Don't listen to the critics who are not on board with it. Jarrod must have thinking of the new extended cut that is out on DVD now when he talked about the running time. I remember the original theatrical version being under two hours. The Fantastic Four Extended DVD was one of those tie in to the sequel DVDs that was actually worth buying. The DVD extras were much better than on the original disc and it wasn't just an advertisement for the sequel.

I'm really disappointed Surf's Up has not done better. I liked the film and thought it was more fun than Shrek the Third, which is just a shadow of what the original was.

snallygaster • Jun 17, 2007, 07:36pm •

One of the most surprising stats I've read is that this is the third weekend in a row in which the box office fell short of the same weekend's box office last year - and remember, last year was a pretty sucky summer at the box office. It's hard to believe that this year's crop of franchise sequels is having troubles matching last year's box office - especially given the release of Pirates 3 three weeks ago.

Anyway, looks like FF is doing about as expected - just a bit ahead of the previous FF movie, which is certainly better than losing ground.

I saw Ocean's 13 this weekend and liked it best out of all the Ocean's movies. Looks like it's performing right in line with the previous installments, which is good considering the competition.

I haven't seen Surf's Up, but I think they're running into penguin fatigue. The latest trailer I saw for Surf's Up before its release had a theater full of penguins watching the previous trailer for Surf's Up, who start throwing popcorn at the screen and yelling "not another penguin movie!" Just a hunch, but my guess is that trailer was issued as a direct reaction to focus groups who were probably groaning the same thing. I'm surprised it's not doing a bit better simply because this summer has not seen the glut of CGI animated movies that last year produced.

As for Mr. Brooks and Hostel 2 - I saw them both and actually liked both of them. The fact is, thrillers and horror movies have rarely performed well in recent years when released up against the blockbusters. They would have been better served by waiting until August or later, when the competition starts to wane.

As far as I know, Nancy Drew still has a lot of young readers as well as multiple generations that grew up on the books. From the chatter I've been reading online, it makes me wonder if why they didn't just adapt one of the dozens (hundreds?) of novels already available. Instead it looked like another generic light & fluffy movie directed at the pre-teen girl market. If they had adapted one of the novels and treated it as a literary adaptation, there may have been more interest. Yeah, I know there's probably not a lot of people here that would be categorized as being in the "Nancy Drew demographic," but the fact is fans of books - whether Stephen King, Tolkien, or DC/Marvel - like to see faithful adaptations. I'm not a Nancy Drew reader, but even I could tell from the previews that something wasn't ringing true.

wessmith1966 • Jun 17, 2007, 08:02pm •

Glad to see FF2 did as well as expected. It was a fun popcorn movie. I still think it just misses the mark a little of being a good movie, but it was entertaining. All of the leads, especially Alba and Griffold (however the hell you spell his name), seemed more comfortable in their characters. Doc Doom still sucked, but at least he wan't in the film much.

I'm really glad that Knocked Up is still doing well. I can't recommend this film enough; best movie I've seen all year.

AlpineWoods • Jun 17, 2007, 08:25pm •

I think FF2 was better than the first. And the eighty-nine minute running time really helped, too. So now, there are only a few summer movies left. Live Free or Die Hard, The Simpsons, and Transformers. But the one movie I want to see is Black Sheep, and I don't think it's going to be shown here in Chicago. If not, I'll have to settle for 1408 instead.

snallygaster • Jun 17, 2007, 09:27pm •

AplineWoods, I think there's more than "a few" summer movies left. Besides Die Hard, Transformers, and The Simpsons, we also have the following summer blockbusters to look forward to:

Harry Potter 5
Ratatouille
The Bourne Ultimatum
Rush Hour 3
Evan Almighty

Additionally, look for the fantasy Stardust and comedies Chuck & Larry and Superbad to perform reasonably well.

iceman71 • Jun 17, 2007, 10:08pm •

saw FF:ROTSS today. It was ok. I'm not gonna bash the movie like some people would... Most of the time, I feel the ones who are crucifying movies with their comments should try to find 150 millions (or more) and do their own movie... I'm sure it would all be box-office miracles and oscar winners... (I really enjoyed Spider-man 3, by the way) Now, about FF: they screwed up a bit here and a bit there, but really, who would have liked to actually see a 40-stories high monkey in a purple suit? I was disapointed a bit with their Galactus, then I started to think about it, and thought it wasn't really bad that way... I hope the movie can score a bit, so they can make more, hopefully a little better... the important thing, IMO: I didn't feel insulted, and my 8 year-old son liked it... good enough for me... as for the predictions of theCollector, 445 millions for that movie... hey man, can I have some of what you're smoking?

westend • Jun 18, 2007, 12:40am •

I enjoyed FF2 as well. I was never bored (ahem, Spidey 3). It's not perfect but I was satisfied.

For the record I'm confident EVAN ALMIGHTY will be #1 next week. It should have a broad appeal, and looks better than Bruce Almighty. Steve Carrell is a pretty decent draw now.

I have zero interest in Ratatouille. Surf's Up looks better.

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Surfer Flies Into A Fantastic Weekend

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