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Mamma Mia FTW!

Hellboy II's cumulative number is surely incorrect, since it's less than it did last weekend.

Is this the biggest disparity between first and second since Attack of the Clones and About a Boy?

Also, WALL*E really seems to have slowed down.

Hellboy's cume should be around 49 or 50 million I think. That 77 percent drop off from last Friday, though, might kill any chance of a Hellboy 3 I would think.

It would be a real shame if Kung-Fu Panda winds up grossing more than Wall-E.

64.8 million in one day!! HAHA wtf?

That's over 68% of the ticket dollars on the top 11 movies went to Dark Knight. I think some of the other pictures will bounce back some on Saturday and Sunday. Had to go to three theaters yesterday to find an early evening show-finally got into a 8:00pm.

I don't see a problem with Kung Fu Panda and WALL-E making about the same money. Both are great pictures..."You want the dumpling?...Then Take It!"

About a Boy opened in fourth place behind Attack of the Clones. Spider-Man was a very big #2 movie that weekend. I think the biggest disparity between the #1 and #2 movies is that between Spider-Man 3 and Disturbia (in its fourth weekend): $151.1 million to $5.8 million. As for Hellboy II, with the Friday estimate on BOM it nows stands at $49.573 million.

Doug, I think they're both good movies but I think Wall-E's story is more adult and if it were massively successful, then perhaps studios would make more adult-friendly animated films. Kung Fu Panda is fine and entertaining, but Wall-E really pushes the envelope in my opinion.

Noah, I have to disagree with you on the HBII comments because HBII hit a juggernaut in it's second weekend. If this were a routine second weekend for HBII and it dropped like it did. Well, you sir, would be right, but luckily it is not.

So HBII will make some more sheckles here and abroad, then more sheckles on DVD. Which will hopefully lead to a nice conclusion of this franchise. If not, the Bat killed off HB's chances, and that's not cool.

I don't know why Klady's Dark Knight number is different than elsewhere

Klady's estimates are always different from elsewhere. And not as correct as elsewhere either. =(

The Star War "late-night" screenings were on a Wednesday night, not a Thursday night, so that dynamic is quite different.

They're both weekdays. The only difference between the two was Star Wars came out when school was still in session for the kids.

More than a third of the seats for TDK yesterday went unsold.

And you are basing this off of... ?

Spider-Man 3 did some midnight screenings, I think, but not with the heavy push of the TDK push.

Neither had a marketed midnight screenings to my knowledge. Surpassing the pre-sales for Pirates 2 and Spider-Man 3 was enough of a story, but not marketing.

The front-loading of theatrical continues to gallop forward.

Is this a studio strategy or exhibitor strategy, or both?

If not, the Bat killed off HB's chances, and that's not cool.

Universal killed the chances. We saw this coming when the dates for Mummy & Hellboy switched. It was a suicide run.

Sorry.... Why no MAD DETECTIVE's box office result in Klady's chart?

This Johnnie To's new movie also opened in IFC Center on yesterday.
http://www.ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=636

Frontloading is a combined strategy. Hollywood wants high profits at low risk; the chains and the indy theaters want only the most heavily hyped product.

Thanks for checking the numbers, Citizen R. My phrasing was very clumsy. What I meant to ask was whether this was the biggest disparity between two flicks opening the same weekend since Clones and About a Boy. But I don't remember if About a Boy opened on the Thursday or Friday, so the comparison may be off. TDK and MM opened the same day, and both had midnight screenings.

tofu... the formalization of friday numbers actually does not exist. you're being spun.

"both weekdays" is not the issue, it's that star wars had a fourth "weekend" day. that is of major significance.

you don't think wb was marketing the midnight screenings? ok. wanna buy a bridge?

the continuing push for front-loading is mutual at this point. first, it was studios, pushing for a quick dvd window and trying to take advantage of better-for-them early run splits. then, the exhibitors dumped the changing split system (with the studios), to their advantage. But the result is that moving movies in and out of screens as quickly as possible is now in the exhbitors' interest of the moment, riding higher per-screens with new movies to more food sales. front loading also helps avoid word of mouth for movies that aren't as well received as the ads are. But now the war is all ads. When people talk, like this weekend, about the quality of the movie mattering to, say, Friday numbers, they are lying to themselves and others with abandon.

Ironically for a well-liked movie like the dark knight, traditional word of mouth will likely mean even less because the phenomenology of it - the hype over box office will drive audiences in the next week more than reviews ever do.

Measuring is public sport. Always will be. But the opening numbers have become less and less relevant in the analysis of the life of a film as they have become bigger and bigger. They are everything... and they are nothing. The bigger the opening, the less relevant. The smaller the opening, the more relevant. It's perverse, but it's true. 8 of the top 15 openings this year won't do 3x opening.

Hey Dave, care to revise your earlier statement that TDK won't break $300 mill?

I think Wall-E will still pass Kung Fu Panda, but just barely. And while I think Wall-E is a better film, this shouldn't be surprising, because you could also make the argument that KFP is a more audience-friendly, more satisfying film (note the distinction).
But worrying that it'll make more is like complaining that Howl's Moving Castle didn't make more than Shrek 3.

As the box office has become generally more and more frontloaded I'd say the opening weekend has become more important and more relevant than ever before. The fact that so many films make less than three times their opening makes the opening itself loom ever larger. In the current environment most summer films (outside of animated films) that open to less than $35 million won't make it to $100 million.

Well yeah, that was the goal - to put the control over the gross as much as possible into the hands of the marketers and not as much under the control of pesky word-of-mouth.

To blackcloud: "About a Boy" opened on a Friday, emphasis upmarket/arthouse as with "Mamma Mia!"

ANNOUNCER: "Now playing the role of David Poland will be 'Pissing In Your Cereal' Jackson."

Aladdin, PIYC Jackson never admits his mistakes! That would make him way too... human... for his own good.

Dave,
Are you saying that Ledger isn't likely to get the Oscar nod because of the content of his performance or because of the vagaries of the Oscar voters and what types of performances are considered for the awards?

I think there were some issues with the arc of Two-Face and trying to jam in too much, but I can't remember the last time I was so riveted by a performance. Truly magnetic, and it was amazing how he still seemed to be a presence even when he wasn't on screen. It has got to be the best performance in terms of achieving what it aimed to do that I've seen this year, perhaps ever.

"Dave,
Are you saying that Ledger isn't likely to get the Oscar nod because of the content of his performance or because of the vagaries of the Oscar voters and what types of performances are considered for the awards?"

Are we know at the point where we just put thing into David's mouth or did I completely miss the post where he disccussed Ledger's chances?

I meant to say "now" not "know".

Dying is pretty much one of the only ways 'villain in a superhero movie' would get consideration from the Academy.

It's more than a supervillian movie. So now you know why you fail. It's a great movie. The greatest all time thanks to the power of the IMDB! All of you choking on it... FOR THE WIN!

Thank you for the Studio & Exhibitor relationship elaboration, David.

And yes, I'd like a quote on that bridge. ;)

IO, holy shit, you aren't kidding. 23,000+ votes makes it number 1. It's a solid A movie...but the best of all time? A win for the fanboys. I'm sure once it levels out it'll stick around the top 30 for sure. Maybe even the top ten, which would be quite the feat.

...just got back from a 2-week vacation where movies weren't an, er, option, and the thing I'm most jazzed about are a couple of the books I finally got around to reading during my self-imposed sabbatical.
Couldn't put "The Lovely Bones" down and finished it within 24 hours. I can't remember the last novel that had that kind of impact on me--and I don't ever remember weeping (audibly) while reading a book before. Cannot frigging wait for the Peter Jackson film version next year; just hoping that Jackson's recent massive-scaled movies haven't ruined his ability to work "small" (e.g., his 1994 masterpiece "Heavenly Creatures" which, I pray, will make an apt future companion piece to "LB" in the Jackson ouevre someday).
Does anyone else who's read the book agree that Shyamalan would have been a more obvious choice for director if his last few movies hadn't tanked? The whole Ryan Gosling/Mark Wahlberg thing puzzles me, though. As terrific an actor as Gosling is, it seems astounding to me that Jackson didn't realize he was too young to pull off the Jack role without layers of distracting aging make-up. Weird. Wahlberg should be fine (as long as it's not a repeat of his novocaine-esque "Happening" performance); Mark Ruffalo would have been my first choice, however. He's a "sensitive" actor who really knows how to play weak characters without losing his cojones.
The other book that truly rocked my world was Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." As a huge fan of John Hillcoat's "The Proposition," he seems like a brilliant directorial choice. Not entirely certain about the kid actor in the film's most difficult and demanding role (he was blah at best in "Romulus My Father"), but Viggo Mortensen should knock the dad role out of the park: could this finally be his Oscar?

i know this is a movie blog, but every time i hear someone commend themselves for reading THOSE TWO BOOKS, I want to throw up in my mouth and donate it to charity.

...Especially when considering the adaptations to screen (not much faith in either i'm afraid).

I definitely get the Shyamalan thing, especially with that awful ending that totally works in that M. Night self-righteous pandering sentimentality he always uses to deepen the back story that really didn't require more than 2 seconds of film time.

There is no way that LB will be even on the same plateau of quality as heavenly creatures. Is it possible for Jackson to work small? Well, even with this picture he has managed to work in an almost entirely digitally constructed world for what seems is going ot be half the movie. This movie should be small, but it doesnt feel that way on paper right now. And the road? God damn if the sunnabitch is ready to prove himself even further after the proposition (though i can't wait to see him try, even though that kid fucking sucks). I feel some acting nods are all those movies will be able to pull.

sorry that im so sour, but that watchmen trailer looks like a fucking bazooka joe comic... fuck snyder!

movieman, before I get to the box office, I agree with you about Kodi Smit-McPhee. I wasn't that keen on his performance in Romulus, My Father, but most people went apeshit over it so I think we're in the minority in regards to that. That bit where he screams "IT'S MEEEEE!" just gives me the irrits. Nevertheless, that kid is already big news. Romulus with Eric Bana, Wolverine as Hugh Jackman's younger self and The Road an Oscar movie with Viggo. Craziness, really.

On to the box office.

What else is there to say about The Dark Knight, really? Unless there's some major erosion then biggest opening weekend ever is lookin' solid, no?

But how bout those Mamma Mia! numbers? A possible $28mil weekend for a musical starring a bunch of OLD PEOPLE (*snicker*) and featuring the music of OLD PEOPLE (*snicker again*) is damn impressive.

I know nobody gives a damn whenever I mention the Australian box office, but Mamma Mia! debuted at #1 with $5.5mil. That's the equivalent of a $55mil open in America. But then Australia is ABBA-crazy, is always a safe zone for musicals (even The Producers was a hit here) and the stars visited here, which usually means solid numbers.

Speaking of the latter I was within half a metre of the one and only goddess that is Meryl Street. HALF A METRE, FOLKS!!! Yeah, she nearly signed my copy of Angels in America too, but she turned around just before she got to me. Unlucky!

Yowza, Rossers! I'm a little stunned to discover someone who actually hated "Lovely Bones." Whenever I was reading it in public--which I did a lot during that 24-hour stint because I simply couldn't put it down--someone would come up and say, "I LOVED that book!," with a misty, faraway look in their eyes.
Yes, Kodi Smith-McPhee, Kam: thank you. Definitely wasn't feeling the lad in "Romulus." Hopefully Hillcoat will be able to get something special out of him--although "extraordinary" is what the role demands.
One book that I utterly despised during my vacation was "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" by self-described dickhead Tucker Max. I can't believe that somebody (Todd Phillips perhaps? I'm drawing a momentary blank) is actually planning to turn this smirking pseudo porn into an R-rated film. Not even Judd Apatow could make a silk purse out of this stinking sow's ear.
Loved "Gonzo" (an even better doc than the director's Oscar-winning "Taxito the Dark Side") and "Tell No One." (P.S.= How long before someone buys the U.S. remake rights to the latter? Ed Norton would be ideal casting in the Francois Cluzet role btw.)

movieman... did not hate it by any means, but I must say the conclusion with her friend and her long lost love to be overly calculated. This is of course a strong feeling that was exascerbated by the greatness of the first 100 pages, even though it would be easy (me doing it for a large portion of the book) to confuse tears with quality. Really good book up until the last third or so (and this is why i think the movie will not work).

of course, nothing can top mccarthy (hope you didn't think that i think the road is garbage just because im sick of everyone talking about for what 2 and half years now?) but i am not feeling too much faith in the movie adaptation.

Hate hate hate that kid though... Really think he will be doing an awful job but its better than freddy "my eyes will get smaller when i have a dissabilitating meth addiction in 10 years) Highmore. Yeesh.

Does anyone else have an opinion on that Watchmen trailer? It seems that people are liking it but it really just looks like a cartoon. Yes, Ive seen the frame to graphic novel cell pictures, and I can't say that Watchmen needed a literal visual depiction. And Dr. Manhatten looks like something from the power rangers.

and i got all these snacks...

There was some movie a while back that shortly after it opened was pretty high on the IMDB list and got noticed here because of it - I think it was either 300 or Cloverfield. Whichever it was, neither of those movies are now on the IMDB top 250.

So that's Dr. Manhattan? Pretty trippy. Hope the rest of the picture works around that stuff. Rorschach looks great, of course.

oh look....movieman's back from rehab (i wondered where you'd gone off to)....i really, really disliked 'lovely bones' (and, you konw they're gonna screw up the movie....)

's telling Nikki $48 million for Saturday, and a 3-day haul between $153-155 million.

Make that "WB's telling."

OK, here is a question...

Geeks love it, film geeks love it, fans of awesome crime movies love it... but is the Spider-Man brigade getting what they were expecting?

It's way more Heat/Departed/Miami Vice than it is Iron Man/Batman.

ALSO I THINK HELLBOY 2 IS GETTING OWNED BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IT'S GOOD, THE WHOLE MOVIE LOOKS LIKE IT'S SHOT ON SOME CHEEEEEEEEEEEEAP-ASS SOUNDSTAGE.

Hey, Guillermo, trying shooting ON LOCATION instead of some FAKE-ASS BUDAPEST BACKLOT.

Whole movie looked like it was shot in the bathroom of my studio apartment from 1998.

Lex: that's the old world. We are in the post-Dark Knight world. If they want their Spider-Man and Marvel flicks... let them have it. Make mine DC.

After seeing this film again, I am more assured to throw criticisms of this movie out the window, declare it tremendous on it's own merits alone, and declare what I declared after that bad day in January. It's Ledger's. If anyone but Ledger wins it, that thing in the Kodak theatre is a shame.

Oh yeah... comic-book movie? Titanic. Your point?

IO, I'M ON YOUR SIDE, SON.

FUCKING MASTERPIECE. AWESOME. TOTAL AND COMPLETE OWNAGE, like seeing STAR WARS, JAWS, HEAT, PULP FICTION OR DAYS OF THUNDER for the first time.

"WB's telling Nikki $48 million for Saturday, and a 3-day haul between $153-155 million."

Kris, if this is true than it is both a very impressive number and a very telling one. Since Spiderman 3 had a better Friday to Saturday consistency this could be an indicator of steep drops to come. Assuming, the grosses continue to drop on Sunday (and this seems like a very safe assumption), the movie may yet fall below the all time 3-day record (again, IF it grosses below that movies Sunday gross - which looks a bit unlikely).

All, that in itself is not important of course, but does give a lot to chew on (and I'm kind of exhausted right now).

Bottom line is: LEGS.

SPIDER-MAN IS A BITCH. FUCK THAT DOUCHEBAG.

BATMAN OWNS HIS FUCKING DOUCHE ASS.

TOBEY MAGUIRE = ZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERO CHARISMA.

CAN'T BELIEVE ANYONE LIKES THAT SHIT BETTER THAN DARK KNIGHT OWNING ASS AND HARDCORE AND GRIM AND FUCKING AWESOME AND METAL AND OWNAGE BECAUSE THE WORLD SUCKS AND FUCK EEEEEEEEEEEEVERYONE.

SPIDERMAN IS FOR BITCHES WHO LIKE TO SMILE.

DARK KNIGHT IS FOR GODS.

DARK KNIGHT = BEST MOVIE IN THE HISTORY OF THE FUCKING WORLD. GET OWNED.

EXCEPT FOR DUNST.

SHE OWNS.

AND YOU KNOW BRUCE WAYNE WOULD TAP THAT ASS LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER.

YEAH GET ON THAT SHIT PUSSY OWNS FUCK YEA

Wait LexG, I thought you meant it was like watching Heat for the SECOND time?

Cheap shot, I know but I just couldn't resist.

Lex: all you had to do was type "DAYS OF THUNDER", and now you have completed me. HHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ha ha. Heeeeeeee he he. Oooooooooooo hooo.

OWN SOME MORE PEOPLE IO

FUCK YEAH

TDK IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER.

Let a Michael Mann mark make this statement: it's better than anything Mann has ever done. This is the line. If you want to cross it. I will throw my Miami Vice complete series box at you. I AM THAT CRAZY!

IO, THE KEEP OWNS YOU. FUCKING MASTERPIECE...

THEN AGAIN, SO IS TDK.

I could listen to Michael Mann discuss the ins and outs of Rally Racing and be thoroughly entertained, but this does not change what has happened this weekend. The movie that all but ME under-estimated on this blog, had a STAR-WARSesque WEEKEND! A BATMAN FILM! A film from a franchise that has never gotten over a certain hump at the Box Office. This weekend, has practically jumped over that hump, and taken this franchise to another level.

This is simply unexpected. I had no idea that this was coming. I love Begins and have watched it 20 times. I knew that people found it on cable and DVD. I knew that Nolan decided to take it up a notch, and it still fucking shocks me. It literally is a "watching ROCKY/JAWS/ANH-SW/ET" for the first time. It's... awesome.

If you want to pull a knife on the awesome, then I will have to ask you why you would do it.

David! Seriously!

Crying to Mommy cuz you're not getting your way, KCamel?

Lot of integrity there.

"Are we know at the point where we just put thing into David's mouth or did I completely miss the post where he disccussed Ledger's chances?"

He mentioned that he thought Terry Gilliam was closer to the mark on his view on the Ledger's Oscar chances, and Terry Gilliam thinks it's a big joke. I have a hard time believing that. Sounded like sour grapes from a once visionary director who's made some shitty movies lately.

Ugh. I have to agree with Rossers on "The Lovely Bones" - I just, in general, find any story involving someone looking down from "heaven" to be trite and kind of played. I also thought the climax was really lame.

I am really sad about The Watchmen trailer - maybe I would have thought it looked interesting if I didn't know anything about the graphic novel and its themes (or had never seen the turdtastic "300"), but it just looked all wrong. Everything in the trailer is sleek and glossy and that is sooooo not what The Watchmen is all about.

Even if the dropoff turns out to be steep TDK has a lock on the domestic crown for the year. Very few saw that coming a month or two ago. The worldwide crown looks to be in Harry Potter's back pocket. I don't see anything else making the $900 million plus that Potter 6 is likely to generate.

Days of Thunder sucked. Talledega Nights is the movie Days of Thunder should have been.
"Now let's go get thrown out of an Applebee's"

Can anyone recommend other forums where adults can go and talk about movies? This one has really devolved.

FYI: this opening for TDK sets it up to achieve - in unadjusted terms - the highest domestic gross ever for a Warner Bros film.

Gee, Scooter; I didn't know that I'd been missed! I wasn't at rehab, though. And two weeks wouldn't have been nearly enough time to cure me of all my addictions/demons/etc., lol.
I'm really kind of surprised that my "Lovely Bones" comments have generated so much controversy. I was under the impression that the book was generally well-reviewed at the time of its release, and knew that it had developed a passionate following.
For me, it had the same emotional impact as the final scene in "Titanic"--and for all of its 328 pages. But, maybe I'm just a closet softie at heart.
When you see and review over 500 films a year (and teach college when you're not at a theater or behind the keyboard of your laptop), it's a little tough keeping up with all of the books you've been meaning to read. Even with the half dozen or so I tackled on vacation, there's still a stack of books taunting me in my office (including Richard Price's "Lush Life" and Andre Dubus' "The Garden of Last Days"). Oh well, maybe the next time I'm sequestered in the Alaskan wilderness (or some place equally desolate) without a movie theater in sight I can finally get around to them.
No feedback on my "Tell No One" or "Gonzo" enthusiasm?

I saw Tell No One last year. With a French girl. And she was embarrassed that this movie was representing her country in my company.

Didn't "Tell No One" win a bunch of Cesars (French Oscars)?
Your friend sounds like a contrarian, Mutiny.
I would be proud if the Oscars awarded their top prize(s) to stellar genre fare like this a little more often.
The film has been enthusiastically received in the states, and I'd be shocked if remake rights aren't snatched up before Labor Day.
The fact that it was actually based on an American book only makes it that much more interesting.

She considered it nothing more than a popcorn movie.

Myself, I thought it was pretty much a slick bunch of crap. And I wasn't surprised to see Europa (Luc Besson) behind it. Although any movie in which Marie-Josee Croze gets nude I'll sit through at least once.

That said, I really am quite baffled at the high praise it's received upon its US release.

"Very few saw that coming a month or two ago..."

*raises hand*

Well Kristopher... that makes two of us!

"He mentioned that he thought Terry Gilliam was closer to the mark on his view on the Ledger's Oscar chances, and Terry Gilliam thinks it's a big joke."

I don't think you really understand what either one of them meant. Read it again. Hint: it's not about dismissing Heath's Oscar chances.

I remember Tell No One getting a lot of ho-hum reviews when it was released here last year, actually.

...well the U.S. reviews for "TNO" have been generally outstanding, and it's turning out to be among that increasingly rare breed in these parts: a bonafide foreign lingo hit.
I thought it was an exceptionally well-made and entertaining thriller with terrific performances (including screen vets Nathalie Baye and Jean Rochefort in surprisingly smallish roles).
I'd love to see this remade in the states...and as well as "Insomnia" was six years ago. (Yes, that's still my favorite Chris Nolan movie.)

same here, movieman (re: 'insomnia', my fave nolan movie as well). 'dark night' opens here later this week and the buzz is getting deafening; i'm almost scared to go see it now because it's been so hyped up, and when i have heightened expectations is when i usually end up disappointed. sometimes i wish i lived in a bubble.

I think TNO fits nicely into that category where American critics misread something as artistic because it's subtitled.

I saw it a while ago, so I'm a bit hazy. But I remember thinking at the time that it was incredibly naive and ridiculous plotting -- maybe on the level of sophistication of network TV in this country.

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