TOP 12: Gellar holds a GRUDGE

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Sunday, October 24, 2004

Perhaps it was because it's simply that time of the year, or perhaps it's due to Sarah Michelle Gellar's BUFFY fans showing up en masse, but whatever the reason Columbia Pictures' THE GRUDGE opened big. $40 million large big -- double what the studio was hoping for in a best case scenario.

After three weeks DreamWorks' SHARK TALE finally swan down one spot on the box office charts. Four weeks after opening the animated flick has earned nearly $137 M, making that DreamWorks Animation IPO very attractive to Wall Street investors.

Miramax's light-hearted drama SHALL WE DANCE? rose one spot to third overall while Universal's FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS dropped down one to fourth. TEAM AMERICA has now made its budget back for Paramount (fifth spot), LADDER 49 is turning out to be a modest hit for Buena Vista (sixth if you're keeping count) but DreamWorks' SURVIVING CHRISTMAS came too early (and unwanted), making just $4.5 M in its opening week. Ouch.

Next week will see Nicole Kidman getting all weepy in BIRTH, Jamie Foxx channelling the spirit of soul singer RAY Charles and Lions Gate cutting audiences with its scary SAW. Will THE GRUDGE hold on to its audience share for Halloween weekend or will the challenger take it? Find out next week, true believers!

Here are the estimated box office receipts of the top twelve films from October 22 through to October 24 with their weekend gross and the movie's total domestic gross to date. The week's new films are signified in red.


BOX OFFICE FRIDAY OCTOBER 22 to SUNDAY OCTOBER 24, 2004:


1. THE GRUDGE $40,000,000 $40,000,000
2. SHARK TALE $14,300,000 $136,900,000
3. SHALL WE DANCE? $8,614,000 $24,442,000
4. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS $7,000,000 $47,284,000
5. TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE $6,600,000 $22,327,000
6. LADDER 49 $5,416,000 $61,457,000
7. SURVIVING CHRISTMAS $4,500,000 $4,500,000
8. TAXI $4,250,000 $29,856,000
9. THE FORGOTTEN $3,400,000 $62,110,000
10. I HEART HUCKABEES $3,000,000 $5,905,000
11. THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES $1,448,000 $7,828,000
12. RAISE YOUR VOICE $1,200,000 $9,571,000


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