This weekend at the box office, 2008 continued to trounce 2007, thanks mostly to the huge debut of
' solid bridesmaid performance. Over three days, the Top 12 films earned a fantastic $131.8 million, which represents a 24% increase over last weekend, and an enormous 84% over the same weekend last year. This is made even more eye-popping when you factor in the holiday weekend. Over four days, the Top 12 churned out $157.2 million in ticket sales. Where did this box office surge come from? The fanboys.
Monster movie
Cloverfield stomped onto the scene and claimed first place this weekend, grossing a huge $46 million over four days. The super-secretive Paramount picture proved that if a trailer can truly whet an audience's appetite, they'll show up to get their fill when it debuts. The fanboys (self-included here) have been raving about
Cloverfield for months now, excitedly anticipating it in forums across the web. All that excitement translated into big box office for the J.J. Abrams produced project, which broke the record for best three-day opening in January, but I'm expecting
Cloverfield to fall pretty quickly. Movies that appeal to the movie-geek community (still self-included) usually open big and fall fast. We saw it last month with
AVP:R, and we'll see it (to a lesser extent) with
Cloverfield. The trend is already apparent in its opening weekend: After a $16.8 million opening day, the film fell 17% on Saturday, which implies front-loadedness. Still, with good reviews, a widely-appealing story, an $11,738 (three day) venue average, and an innovative spin on the monster movie,
Cloverfield shouldn't have much trouble crossing the $100 million mark some time in the future.
In second place, the romantic comedy
27 Dresses earned about $1 million for each of the dresses in its title, garnering a sweet $27.3 million four-day gross. This is great news for both of the film's leads, for Katherine Heigl's star continues to rise, and James Marsden proved that he can open a movie as the romantic lead. The one-two punch of
Cloverfield and
27 Dresses reminds me very much of June 30, 2006, a weekend when
Superman Returns opened with $52.5 million, and chick flick
The Devil Wears Prada came in second with $27.5 million. (Coincidentally,
Prada and
Dresses were written by the same woman, who must have a knack for penning girly movies that open well against action films.) After that weekend,
The Devil Wears Prada ended up having way better legs than
Superman Returns, finishing with $124.5 million versus
Superman's $200 million, and while
27 Dresses probably won't reach these heights (it will have trouble pulling in any men), I wouldn't be surprised if it finished with a total very similar to
Cloverfield's. Its three day per theater average of $7,442 is strong, and Fox has got to be happy with these results.
In third place, The Bucket List pulled in $16.1 million over the holiday weekend. Showing some fairly promising endurance, the three-day gross only fell 28% from last week, though the Morgan Freeman/Jack Nicholson comedy's three-day venue average of $4,806 was just alright. Still, with $43.7 million after ten days, Warner Brothers' The Bucket List is doing quite well, and that makes me pretty happy. Any time old actors can prove themselves at the box office, I'm thrilled. Juno, the little comedy that could, came in fourth place this weekend, grossing $12 million over the four day period. Over the three-day weekend, the widely released indie darling (finally) started to show some very slight signs of its age, dropping 27% and earning a $3,917 venue average, which is actually still fairly strong. Fox Searchlight has platformed Juno gradually with amazingly effective results. The teen pregnancy comedy has earned a tremendous $87.1 million over seven weekends.
First Sunday fell hard this weekend, earning just $9.4 million. Over the three-day frame, the "Hey, let's rob a church!" comedy had a low $3,525 per theater average and fell an alarming 56%, which is pretty awful, since the four day weekend usually leads to soft declines. Still, ScreenGems (who reached a similar audience with last year's
This Christmas) will ultimately be pleased with
First Sunday's performance. After two weekends, it's earned $30.1 million.
In sixth place, Disney's juggernaut National Treasure: Book of Secrets continued its great run with another $9.4 million over four days. This is and always was money in the bank for Disney, and after five weekends, the Nicholas Cage adventure film has earned $199.6 million.
Mad Money, the estrogen-heavy heist film starring Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, and Queen Latifah, opened poorly, stealing just $9.2 million over the holiday weekend. Unable to convince many women to watch a robbery film, Mad Money lost most of its audience to 27 Dresses. The comedy earned terrible reviews and had a weak $3,022 venue average over the three-day weekend, and it should disappear from the Top 12 faster than some shredded money from the Federal Reserve.
In eighth and ninth place are constant companions Alvin and the Chipmunks and I Am Legend, respectively. The former held better than the latter, and Alvin scooped up $9.2 million, while I Am Legend earned $5.7 million. After six weekends, the CGI rodent comedy has earned $198.6 million, and the Will Smith apocalyptic thriller has earned $248.3 million.
Atonement held onto the tenth place spot, earning a $5.7 million in the holiday weekend after its Golden Globe win for Best Picture. Helped by its expansion into 1,291 theaters, Atonement increased 13% over the three-day weekend, and it earned a $3,687 per theater average. The period piece has been a great performer for Focus Features, and it will have no trouble breaking $50 million in the weeks to come. If it wins some Oscars (that is, if there are any Oscars this year...) it could go very far.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything managed to hang on to a spot in the Top 12 this weekend, earning $3.6 million over four days. The entirely overlooked Universal release from the VeggieTales has grossed a tiny $8.5 million after two weekends.
Providing a nice surprise at the end of the Top 12, There Will Be Blood earned $3.5 million. The Paramount Vantage film has received lots of awards attention for Daniel Day-Lewis' performance, and with a strong $7,416 per theater average, it should be around for a good while. Thus far, in just 260 theaters, it has earned a very encouraging $8.6 million.
Top 12 for January 18-21 | # | Movie Title | Weekend Gross | Total |
| 1 | Cloverfield | $46,037,000 | $46,037,000 |
| 2 | 27 Dresses | $27,270,000 | $27,270,000 |
| 3 | The Bucket List | $16,110,000 | $43,669,000 |
| 4 | Juno | $12,000,000 | $87,125,533 |
| 5 | First Sunday | $9,400,000 | $30,066,000 |
| 6 | Nation Treasure: Book of Secrets | $9,359,000 | $199,242,000 |
| 7 | Mad Money | $9,200,000 | $9,200,000 |
| 8 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | $9,200,000 | $198,580,181 |
| 9 | I Am Legend | $5,715,000 | $248,292,000 |
| 10 | Atonement | $5,690,199 | $32,815,005 |
| 11 | The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything | $3,631,400 | $8,518,310 |
| 12 | There Will Be Blood | $3,541,000 | $8,575,000 |
All Numbers Courtesy of Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. 
It's always a sad day in Hollywood when a truly great actor is lost, and on Tuesday, we lost one of our most promising actors. Heath Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment yesterday, and I'm sure you've seen the story on the news by now. Say whatever you want about the man's personal life (he had a few issues), but he could act, and since he kept a low profile, he was always most notable for his acting skills than tabloid fodder. Whether belting a ballad from the bleachers in 10 Things I Hate About You, fighting for his brother and country in The Patriot, or mourning his unfulfilled love of Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger took chances and impressed audiences everywhere. I can say, without a doubt, that his performance as Ennis Del Mar in 2005's Brokeback Mountain will go down as one of the riskiest, restrained, powerful performances of our time. Presently, Heath can be seen portraying Bob Dylan in He's Not There, and this summer, he can be seen in his final role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger was just 28 years old, and he will be terribly missed. Rest in peace.
This weekend at the box office, 2008 continued to trounce 2007, thanks mostly to the huge debut of Cloverfield, and 27 Dresses' solid bridesmaid performance. Over three days, the Top 12 films earned a fantastic $131.8 million, which represents a 24% increase over last weekend, and an enormous 84% over the same weekend last year. This is made even more eye-popping when you factor in the holiday weekend. Over four days, the Top 12 churned out $157.2 million in ticket sales. Where did this box office surge come from? The fanboys.
One of the most important things for a box office analyst to be able to do is recognize when the movie business is changing. Sometimes, films just don't behave the way you think they're going to, and you must realize that the traditional box office behavior of yesteryear may no longer apply. This seems to be the case with January. With fantastic performances from Cloverfield, 27 Dresses, and The Bucket List (one of the films which I egregiously underestimated this weekend), January has become a totally viable month for studios to release big titles, leaving poor September as the worst month of the year. This weekend proves that with solid marketing and a catchy concept, a movie can open well at any time of the year. Fueled primarily by Cloverfield's record breaking opening (highest ever in January!), this year's three-day weekend was huge, blowing past 2007's grosses. Check back in tomorrow for the four-day weekend analysis.
What month are we in again? January? Really? Alright, but last time I checked, January was one of the worst months of the year in terms of box office. With Cloverfield and 27 Dresses' fantastic opening day grosses, it looks like times must be really changing. At least Mad Money is behaving normally...
