Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze in GHOST RIDER.
© Columbia Pictures
Weekend Box Office Report: February 23-25
By: Jarrod SarafinDate: Sunday, February 25, 2007
This is the highly anticipated weekend of the Oscars. It’s the weekend where the industry rewards quality “films” over “movies”. It’s the weekend where actors, directors & distribution studios are hoping to bring home a statue. Where bringing home the gold means you lied, cried, or died in terms of actors. Where bringing home the gold means you brought audiences to tears, free thinking or soul searching in terms of directors. Where bringing home the gold means you took serious & calculated risks as an exec and was rewarded in terms of your studio investment.
Which movie wins this weekend?
Ghost Rider wins of course! Was there ever any doubt?
Sony seems to have known all along how the masses would flock to this movie. In fact, they came to the conclusion that 3,619 screens were just not enough chances for audiences last weekend. They increased it to one more screen. The film starring Nic Cage has caused quite a few conversations around the water coolers and of course around here. See the any number of maniac reviews. See the hornet’s nest our news editor KJ has caused in his latest blog! There isn’t a doubt that the movie has stirred conversation between people. Rider rode in 1st place this weekend with an estimated 19.7 mil in receipts, dropping 56 % from last weekend while being increased in 1 screen across the nation. Its total is now at 78.6 mil with a budget listed at 110 mil. It’s also made another 16.5 mil in foreign showings where it’s available. It’s yet to be released in England, Germany, and other countries as of yet.
The new thriller starring Jim Carrey as he obsesses over the Number 23 landed in 2nd place with a 15.1 mil box office draw. The number focused film was in 2,759 screens and had an average of 5,475 per screen per showing.
Coming in 3rd place behind that was the Disney fantasy Bridge to Terabithia. It dropped 39% from its previous weekend while in a little over 3,000+ screens but it still brought in another 13.5 mil. Its total is now at 46.2 mil.
Right behind the Disney fantasy was the comedy central based Reno 911!: Miami. The officers from the desert found themselves in coastal Florida this weekend and on the big screen. They came in 4th place with an estimated 10.4 mil in receipts.
The Eddie Murphy comedy went from 3rd (last week) to 5th place this week bringing in another 9.7 mil. It dropped 42 % from last weekend and it’s the only movie that has been out more then 2 weeks in this box office report. Its total is now at 74.6 mil while still being in 3,145 screens. Its budget is still listed at 60 mil so it’s in the profit margin.
The romantic comedy (starring Barrymore and Grant) Music and Lyrics ended up in 6th place this weekend with another 8.0 mil in receipts. The Warner Bros. film has brought in 32.0 mil domestically and another 13.8 mil in foreign tickets bringing its total worldwide to 45.8 mil.
The Universal thriller Breach followed in 7th place this weekend bringing in another 6.1 mil bringing its total to 20.4 mil domestically while Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls came in right behind in 8th place.
The Astronaut Farmer crashed into 9th place this weekend. Not sure what happened here because it was in enough screens. Warner Bros. put the Billy Bob Thorton space cowboy adventure in 2,155 screens. It ended the weekend with 4.5 mil and a low average of $2,095 per screen per showing.
Amazing Grace finishes up our top 10 chart pulling in an estimated 4.3 mil while in only 791 screens. Not too shabby for the IDP distributor.
| Rank | Movie | Opening $ | Screens | Average | Total $ |
| 1 | Ghost Rider | 19.7 mil | 3,620 | $5,441 | 78.6 mil |
| 2 | The Number 23 | 15.1 mil | 2,759 | $5,475 | 15.1 mil |
| 3 | Bridge to Terabithia | 13.5 mil | 3,139 | $4,324 | 46.2 mil |
| 4 | Reno 911!: Miami | 10.4 mil | 2,702 | $3,849 | 10.4 mil |
| 5 | Norbit | 9.7 mil | 3,145 | $3,095 | 74.6 mil |
| 6 | Music and Lyrics | 8.0 mil | 2,955 | $2,707 | 32.0 mil |
| 7 | Breach | 6.1 mil | 1,493 | $4,125 | 20.4 mil |
| 8 | Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls | 5.2 mil | 2,111 | $2,486 | 25.5 mil |
| 9 | The Astronaut Farmer | 4.5 mil | 2,155 | $2,095 | 4.5 mil |
| 10 | Amazing Grace | 4.3 mil | 791 | $5,442 | 4.3 mil |
Bring Home The Gold Talking Points:
As we all know, tonight is the Academy of Motion Pictures Oscar Night. This is the day of the year where it would be hard to miss a Hollywood press party with the many studios and production companies involved in cinema today. It’s a day where stocks go up for many actors and directors who carry home a gold statue and where business meetings happen over drinks for future movies not even scripted out or thought out fully. It’s a day of patting each other on the backs for successes and “good calls” from people inside the industry.
We have had a dialogue these past two months in our comments section about the relationship between serious minded movies and successful box office juggernauts. How one can’t do without the other in most cases. Like it or not, it’s fun popcorn films like Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Matrix, Shrek, & Night at the Museum which literally fund risky films like Babel, Venus, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, Letters from Iwo Jima, Half Nelson & Pan’s Labyrinth. The profit margins for studios from big name fun movies help the studios green-light more risky adventures on the cutting room floor. It of course helps fund the major misses we see in those total train-wrecks we come to expect in the slow box office season every year.
Our very intelligent readers here at Mania.com have pointed out more than once as it’s something always on the back of the mind when you sit there in front of the tube watching the same serious movies get rewarded every year.
That’s just how the nature of the business works.
Now, it’s time to give you some box office facts about this years’ nominations (and winners after tonight). I’ll start with the highest award and go onward from there.
Best Picture:
| Movie | Distributor | Opening $ | Screens | Total $ | Released on |
| The Queen | Miramax | 2.2 mil | 606 | 51.7 mil | 09/30/06 |
| The Departed | Warner Bros. | 26.8 mil | 3,017 | 131.5 mil | 10/06/06 |
| Babel | Paramount Vantage | 5.5 mil | 1,251 | 33.3 mil | 10/27/06 |
| Little Miss Sunshine | Fox Searchlight | 5.6 mil | 691 | 59.7 mil | 07/26/06 |
| Letters From Iwo Jima | Warner Bros. | 1.6 mil | 720 | 12.1 mil | 12/20/06 |
A couple of notes for you: These were not as risky as most films in the serious minded risky adventures department. The reason I say this is because The Departed was clearly a box office success. It made 278.2 mil worldwide and its production budget is listed at 90.0 mil. Babel made 71.6 mil in foreign receipts bringing its total worldwide take to 104.9 mil. Its budget is N/A but it’s probably less then its receipts in box office cash-flow. Little Miss Sunshine has a budget of 8.0 mil and its total worldwide take was 94.3 mil. As you can see, these movies did just fine on their own.
Best Director:
| Director | Movie | Opening $ | Screens | Total $ | Released on |
| Martin Scorsese | The Departed | 26.8 mil | 3,017 | 131.5 mil | 10/06/06 |
| Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu | Babel | 5.5 mil | 1,251 | 33.3 mil | 10/27/06 |
| Stephen Frears | The Queen | 2.2 mil | 606 | 51.7 mil | 09/30/06 |
| Clint Eastwood | Letters From Iwo Jima | 1.6 mil | 720 | 12.1 mil | 12/20/06 |
| Paul Greengrass | United 93 | 11.4 mil | 1,795 | 31.4 mil | 04/28/06 |
Best Actor:
| Actor | Movie | Opening $ | Screens | Total $ | Released on |
| Leonardo DiCaprio | Blood Diamond | 8.6 mil | 1,910 | 55.9 mil | 12/08/06 |
| Ryan Gosling | Half Nelson | $53,983 | 2 | 2.6 mil | 08/11/06 |
| Forest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland | $142,899 | 4 | 13.2 mil | 09/27/06 |
| Peter O’Toole | Venus | $35,604 | 3 | 2.5 mil | 12/21/06 |
| Will Smith | The Pursuit of Happyness | 26.5 mil | 2,852 | 162.3 mil | 12/15/06 |
A couple of notes for you: Now, we’re starting to see where the popcorn box office juggernauts come more into play this year. Three of the films above were limited released films which were critically acclaimed but never meant to make a huge box office draw. It should be noted that Half Nelson was in 106 screens at its widest released week. The Last King of Scotland was bumped up to 540 screens and Venus was escalated to 168 screens. Blood Diamond has made 134.0 mil with a budget listed at 100.0 mil while The Pursuit of Happyness was a major success for Sony. Will Smith’s movie has a budget listed at 55.0 mil and it has made 266.5 mil worldwide. Yes, this movie brought in the gold already.
Best Actress:
| Actress | Movie | Opening $ | Screens | Total $ | Released on |
| Helen Mirren | The Queen | 2.2 mil | 606 | 51.7 mil | 09/30/06 |
| Meryl Streep | The Devil Wears Prada | 27.5 mil | 2,847 | 124.7 mil | 06/30/06 |
| Kate Winslet | Little Children | $97,953 | 5 | 5.0 mil | 10/06/06 |
| Judi Dench | Notes on a Scandal | 2.6 mil | 641 | 15.6 mil | 12/25/06 |
| Penelope Cruz | Volver | 1.1 mil | 689 | 11.7 mil | 11/03/06 |
A couple of notes for you: Fox scored a major hit with The Devil Wears Prada. This film made 197.4 mil foreign on top of the 124.7 mil domestic bringing in a total of 322.2 mil. The films budget is at 35 mil and it brought it in that much money after the fact. Yes, Fox hit a grand slam with that one.
Now, it’s time to listen and address the people who make this site go round. That would of course be you!
Ghost Rider brought in 52 mil last weekend on over 3,600 screens and it certainly caused quite a few comments as to whether it deserved it or not.
Here’s some of the feedback from last week’s column over Ghost Rider and David S. Goyer’s possible involvement with it:
Jppintar326: “I am willing to bet that David Goyer contributed to the script of Ghost Rider but either declined credit or the writer's guild decided Mark Steven Johnson should be given sole credit. The union has the final say who gets credit and who doesn't.
I haven't seen Ghost Rider but I am looking forward to seeing it. I actually liked Daredevil. Ben Affleck has definitely done worse (Gigli for example).”
I haven't seen Ghost Rider but I am looking forward to seeing it. I actually liked Daredevil. Ben Affleck has definitely done worse (Gigli for example).”
A lot of people have had fun tearing into Daredevil from a critical standpoint but it did make profitable numbers. Its budget is at 78 mil and it made 179.1 mil worldwide. It’s much like Constantine making 230.8 mil worldwide. An uncommon statistic on why it does pay off to put a comic based movie all alone in February.
Our maniacs Godsonfilm and Braveheart seem to think more in positive terms against the steadfast criticism of Ghost Rider...
Godsonfilm: “I actually liked Ghost Rider. I think it was pretty entertaining and served the purpose it set out for. There were a few questionable editing moments where they obviously were trying to rush the action but that is to be expected and I am sure they will have a "Director's Cut" on DVD where the drama is properly extended. And, for the record, Nic Cage was good in character. It’s a good movie to check out if you have interest in the genre.”
Braveheart79: “I'm with Godsonfilm. I didn't have high expectations for this film, by no mens, but Ghostrider definitely surpassed them. It was a solid movie. I'll always watch a Marvel movie, just to give it my support, but I'm glad I watched this one. You can wait for the DVD, but you may be surprised.”
Our maniac Muchdrama disagreed with them.
Muchdrama : “If Goyer had anything to do with "Ghost Rider's" script...then it would have been good. As it stands now, it sucked.
Ugh.
What a complete waste of time and money. I guess the studio DID know it had a bomb on its hands when it didn't release it to the press for reviews.”
Ugh.
What a complete waste of time and money. I guess the studio DID know it had a bomb on its hands when it didn't release it to the press for reviews.”
Great feedback, everyone! This is the exactly what makes a great community & website thrive. Everyone has an opinion. We want you to have your own soapbox here at Mania and tell us what’s on your minds.
I have a starting point for next week’s feedback section which will most likely deal with the upcoming movie 300.
In our General Movie Forum here at Mania, I have a poll up on the upcoming Frank M. adaptation.
At the current time, we have 6 Maniacs who believe it will break the 100.0 mil barrier while we have 7 Maniacs think it will not break that 100 mil mark. It’s generally believed by our community that it will be highly praised by moviegoers and critics but it won’t make break that mark in box office returns. Let me know what you think as well and it will be part of our Mania Feedback section for next week.
March 2nd, 2007 Releases:
Wide Releases
Black Snake Moan (1,200 screens)
Wild Hogs (3,000 screens)
Zodiac (2,300 screens)
Limited Releases
Full of It
Wild Tigers I Have Known
Ending Note: Mania has now placed all their box office reports on one separate link page. This will make it easier for everyone to cross reference all existing box office reports and check the stats from week to week as we go onward. It can be found inside the “News” and “Movies” sub-pages here or you can click on the link below. If you come across an older report and post a comment on it, just bang it afterwards. Once you bang it, it will alert us to go read your latest thoughts.
As for the Oscars, something tells me this year's show will be boring. Other than Martin Scorsesee winning for Best Director and The Departed winning Best Picture, I can't really excited about who wins the other awards. I hope they don't give everything to the overrated Little Miss Sunshine. Just because something is independently made does not it great. To me, it is just another variation on National Lampoon Vacation movies, right down to the relative dying on the way.