People complain about quality control at the cinemas, but in the end, audiences like what they like. And they REALLY like watching Roland Emmerich end civilization. On one level, you really have to wonder about this guy, who’s repeated himself so many times over as far as onscreen destruction. Why is it that when terrorists plan to destroy a building they get locked up, but when Roland Emmerich completes extensive storyboards for the destruction of every major landmark in the world, he gets 25% of the gross? “2012” did huge US business, but more importantly, it killed overseas as well. Emmerich’s last two films, “The Day After Tomorrow” and “10,000 BC” did big US business and then DOUBLED those grosses internationally and “2012” should do the same. Consider this— if “2012” wraps up with “Tomorrow”‘s worldwide gross, Emmerich will personally walk away with $136 million. You’re in the wrong profession.
At #2 was “A Christmas Carol,” which posted a predictably strong hold. The reason you’re reading a lot of “this will play long” comments as far as weekend box office is because we’re entering the holiday season, where the competition isn’t as dense as it is during the summer, so a lot of films post strong holds. However, can “2012” and “Christmas Carol” weather next week’s debut of “New Moon”? And what of “Precious”? The grosses for the indie aren’t approaching the numbers of the first two finishers of the season, but in limited release, Lee Daniels’ feel-bad ghetto opera is smashing records, doing $35k per-screen on 174 screens for a surprising #4 berth. The film is still only exclusively playing big city and black neighborhoods, but can it cross over for a wider expansion? Lionsgate is probably getting itchy wondering if mainstream midwest moviegoers will sit through this story.
The rest of the box office was relatively quiet. “The Men Who Stare At Goats” and “This Is It” held sway at #3 and #5. The former is looking to eke out a solid gross, but check the numbers— what’s the last big hit Clooney’s been in? “Burn After Reading” did $60 million, but that was an ensemble deal, and the last non-“Ocean” film Clooney did to match those numbers was “Three Kings” ten years ago. We know his reputation isn’t based on blockbusters, but it would be good for his profile if he headlined a movie that people saw, right? The latter, of course, is on its way to success, falling slowly but still one of the nation’s top earners. With the skimpy amount of releases on the horizon, “This Is It” could hold on to more than a few screens in the coming weeks. Do we smell… sequel?
A mid-major release was given to “Pirate Radio,” which is already available on DVD overseas as “The Boat That Rocked.” Audiences didn’t care much for Richard Curtis’ followup to “Love Actually”— while his love of rock and roll is admirable, Curtis should know people will show up for love more than they will for music, especially when you’ve got a cast that could be considered low B-List or high C-Listers. These ensemble films are tricky, because to make some cash, you really need to stack them with a few actors with higher visibility, because a cast made up entirely of those with medium recognition will not add up to one star of a high A-List ranking. Or you can make it good. Mr. Curtis should take both options to heart. In other limited release news, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” debuted on four screens with a muscular $65k per screen average. Once word gets out to the kiddies that the film did spectacularly at the art house, you won’t be able to stop them from buying tickets!
1. Smashey Explodey- $65 million
2. Disney’s Charles Dickens’ Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol- $22.3 million ($63 mil.)
3. The Men Who Stare At Goatse- $6.2 million ($23 mil.)
4. Precious: Based On The Novel Tokyo Suckerpunch By Sapphire- $6.1 million ($9 mil.)
5. This Is It- $5.1 million ($68 mil.)
6. The Fourth Kind- $4.7 million ($21 mil.)
7. Couples Retreat- $4.3 million ($102 mil.)
8. Paranormal Activity- $4.2 million ($104 mil.)
9. Law Abiding Citizen- $3.9 million ($67 mil.)
10. The Box- $3.2 million ($13 mil.)