Box Office Wrapup: Penguins Edge Out Bond For #1 Spot
In what was a very close race for box office supremacy, the dancing penguin cartoon Happy Feet narrowly edged out a strong debut for the new James Bond actioner Casino Royale for the number one spot in North America this weekend.
Final numbers will be released on Monday after all Sunday ticket sales are counted up, but the animated adventure is still expected to lead by a slim margin. If estimates hold, the frame will mark only the second time in box office history that two films have opened with over $40M each on the same weekend. The potent pair also helped to push the top ten to its highest level in four months.
The mighty penguins of Happy Feet flexed their muscles and took over the number one spot this weekend opening to an estimated $42.3M. Warner Bros. launched the computer-animated film in an ultrawide 3,804 locations and averaged a stellar $11,125 per theater. The PG-rated pic finds a young penguin named Mumble trying to find his place in the world and features the voices of Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman. The studio is estimating a optimistically slim Saturday-to-Sunday decline of only 14%.
Happy Feet was backed by a massive marketing campaign and beat out the openings of other recent computer-animated kids movies like DreamWorks' Over the Hedge ($38.5M), Disney's Chicken Little ($40M), and Fox's Robots ($36M). However, it did not reach the Pixar territory of Cars ($60.1M) and The Incredibles ($70.5M). But with competing kids movies The Santa Clause 3 and Flushed Away still in the top five, Happy Feet performed as well as expected given the choices that the target audience has. With the Thanksgiving school holidays approaching, the $100M penguin pic should enjoy a robust sophomore frame.
After a four-year hiatus, Sony and MGM restarted the James Bond franchise with Casino Royale and generated an impressive $40.6M over the weekend, according to estimates, settling in for a close second place finish. The Daniel Craig starrer generated the best per-theater average among all wide releases with a potent $11,823 from 3,434 sites. It was the second biggest opening ever for the franchise trailing the $47.1M bow of the last installment, 2002's Die Another Day. Casino was never expected to reach the heights of Die since it had a new and mostly unknown star in the lead and no famous co-star like Halle Berry to add more ammunition. Casino did attract rave reviews from critics which helped to sell the idea of a non-Pierce Brosnan Bond film to an American audience that was unfamiliar with Craig.
Brosnan's first Bond film Goldeneye, which opened on the same weekend in 1995 and was also directed by Martin Campbell, bowed to $26.2M from 2,667 theaters for a $9,826 average. At today's ticket prices, that would translate to an opening weekend average of roughly $13,000. Brosnan's future Agent 007 flicks would each post larger openings so Craig, who is contracted for at least two more films, could follow suit and see even bigger grosses in the years ahead as audiences become more comfortable with him. The next adventure is already slated for a November 7, 2008 launch.
Sony's research showed that Casino Royale's audience was 55% male and 57% 25 and older. Around the world, Bond dominated the box office with even greater results opening at number one in 27 markets with an estimated $42.2M overseas. The U.K. led the field with a spectacular $25.6M bow.
Following its two-week reign over the U. S. and A., Borat dropped to third place collecting an estimated $14.4M in its third weekend of release. Down 49% from last weekend, the Fox comedy has lifted its cume to a stellar $90.5M in 17 days and could cross the century mark by Thanksgiving Day. Budgeted at only $18M (plus the cost of litigating its many current lawsuits), Borat looks to finish in the neighborhood of $125M domestically.
The two new films topping the charts helped to give most holdover films some hefty declines. Disney's The Santa Clause 3 dropped 52% to an estimated $8.2M in its third weekend for a cume to date of $51.6M. After two weeks in third place, the animated pic Flushed Away got hit hard by the dancing penguins and dropped to fifth with an estimated $6.8M. Down a steep 59%, the Paramount/DreamWorks venture raised its sum to $48.8M.
The Will Ferrell comedy Stranger Than Fiction had a tough sophomore frame grossing an estimated $6.6M, off 51%, to give Sony a ten-day total of $22.9M. Budgeted at under $30M, the Marc Forster-directed pic should find its way to $35-40M. The cross-continent drama Babel fell 48% in its second weekend of wide release and captured an estimated $2.9M putting the total at $12M for Paramount Vantage. After scorching results in limited release, the Brad Pitt-Cate Blanchett film is having a hard time competing on a nationwide scale.
The horror sequel Saw III followed with an estimated $2.8M, tumbling 60%, putting Lionsgate's cume at $74.9M. Warner Bros. grossed an estimated $2.6M for The Departed which declined by 50% in its seventh mission giving Martin Scorsese's top-grossing film $113.9M to date.
Creeping into tenth place was the experimental film festival called After Dark's Horror Fest - 8 Films to Die For with an estimated weekend gross of $2.5M. The distributor offered eight different low-budget fright flicks throughout the weekend in 488 locations averaging a solid $5,086. With so many titles, many fans were encouraged to buy more than one ticket throughout the frame. Freestyle Releasing handled distribution.
Debuting poorly outside of the top ten was the jailhouse comedy Let's Go To Prison which locked up an estimated $2.1M in ticket sales from 1,495 locations for a dismal $1,410 average. According to its distributor Universal, the R-rated revenge comedy played mostly to young men with studio research showing that 67% of the audience was under the age of 25 and 59% was male.
Three high profile films premiered in limited release with varying results. MGM platformed The Weinstein Co. political drama Bobby in only two theaters and grossed an estimated $67,000 for a potent $33,500 average. Written and directed by Emilio Estevez, the star-studded film about the day Robert Kennedy was assassinated boasts a cast featuring Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Fishburne, Elijah Wood, Lindsay Lohan, Sharon Stone, Helen Hunt, Demi Moore, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, Ashton Kutcher, and Martin Sheen. The R-rated film expands nationwide on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
Also opening to strong results was Warner Independent's film industry comedy For Your Consideration which debuted in 23 theaters with an estimated $394,000 for a solid $17,130 average. The Christopher Guest-directed film launched in a dozen cities and will widen to over 600 runs nationwide on Wednesday. The filmmaker's last picture A Mighty Wind had wider distribution and opened to $2.1M from 133 theaters for a $15,881 average in April of 2003 on its way to a $17.8M overall take.
Arthouse moviegoers did not have an appetite for Fox Searchlight's junk food industry pic Fast Food Nation which debuted in 321 theaters with an estimated $390,000 for a poor $1,215 average. Starring Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama, Ethan Hawke, and Patricia Arquette, the R-rated film attracted mixed reviews from critics.
Three films dropped out of the top ten this weekend. The magician pic The Prestige took in an estimated $2M in its fifth frame, down 58%, boosting the cume to $49.4M. Look for a final tally of around $54M for the Buena Vista hit.
A pair of star-driven flops that opened last week crumbled in their sophomore frames losing more than half of their audience. Sarah Michelle Gellar's suspense thriller The Return grossed an estimated $1.7M, down 62%, for a measly total of $6.9M after ten days. Russell Crowe's stab at a romantic comedy, Fox's A Good Year, fell 56% to an estimated $1.6M putting its total at $6.4M. An embarrassing final total of about $9M should result for each pic.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $129.7M which was down a hefty 23% from last year when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opened at number one with a jaw-dropping $102.3M; and down 7% from 2004 when National Treasure debuted in the top spot with $35.1M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
Final numbers will be released on Monday after all Sunday ticket sales are counted up, but the animated adventure is still expected to lead by a slim margin. If estimates hold, the frame will mark only the second time in box office history that two films have opened with over $40M each on the same weekend. The potent pair also helped to push the top ten to its highest level in four months.
The mighty penguins of Happy Feet flexed their muscles and took over the number one spot this weekend opening to an estimated $42.3M. Warner Bros. launched the computer-animated film in an ultrawide 3,804 locations and averaged a stellar $11,125 per theater. The PG-rated pic finds a young penguin named Mumble trying to find his place in the world and features the voices of Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman. The studio is estimating a optimistically slim Saturday-to-Sunday decline of only 14%.
Happy Feet was backed by a massive marketing campaign and beat out the openings of other recent computer-animated kids movies like DreamWorks' Over the Hedge ($38.5M), Disney's Chicken Little ($40M), and Fox's Robots ($36M). However, it did not reach the Pixar territory of Cars ($60.1M) and The Incredibles ($70.5M). But with competing kids movies The Santa Clause 3 and Flushed Away still in the top five, Happy Feet performed as well as expected given the choices that the target audience has. With the Thanksgiving school holidays approaching, the $100M penguin pic should enjoy a robust sophomore frame.
After a four-year hiatus, Sony and MGM restarted the James Bond franchise with Casino Royale and generated an impressive $40.6M over the weekend, according to estimates, settling in for a close second place finish. The Daniel Craig starrer generated the best per-theater average among all wide releases with a potent $11,823 from 3,434 sites. It was the second biggest opening ever for the franchise trailing the $47.1M bow of the last installment, 2002's Die Another Day. Casino was never expected to reach the heights of Die since it had a new and mostly unknown star in the lead and no famous co-star like Halle Berry to add more ammunition. Casino did attract rave reviews from critics which helped to sell the idea of a non-Pierce Brosnan Bond film to an American audience that was unfamiliar with Craig.
Brosnan's first Bond film Goldeneye, which opened on the same weekend in 1995 and was also directed by Martin Campbell, bowed to $26.2M from 2,667 theaters for a $9,826 average. At today's ticket prices, that would translate to an opening weekend average of roughly $13,000. Brosnan's future Agent 007 flicks would each post larger openings so Craig, who is contracted for at least two more films, could follow suit and see even bigger grosses in the years ahead as audiences become more comfortable with him. The next adventure is already slated for a November 7, 2008 launch.
Sony's research showed that Casino Royale's audience was 55% male and 57% 25 and older. Around the world, Bond dominated the box office with even greater results opening at number one in 27 markets with an estimated $42.2M overseas. The U.K. led the field with a spectacular $25.6M bow.
Following its two-week reign over the U. S. and A., Borat dropped to third place collecting an estimated $14.4M in its third weekend of release. Down 49% from last weekend, the Fox comedy has lifted its cume to a stellar $90.5M in 17 days and could cross the century mark by Thanksgiving Day. Budgeted at only $18M (plus the cost of litigating its many current lawsuits), Borat looks to finish in the neighborhood of $125M domestically.
The two new films topping the charts helped to give most holdover films some hefty declines. Disney's The Santa Clause 3 dropped 52% to an estimated $8.2M in its third weekend for a cume to date of $51.6M. After two weeks in third place, the animated pic Flushed Away got hit hard by the dancing penguins and dropped to fifth with an estimated $6.8M. Down a steep 59%, the Paramount/DreamWorks venture raised its sum to $48.8M.
The Will Ferrell comedy Stranger Than Fiction had a tough sophomore frame grossing an estimated $6.6M, off 51%, to give Sony a ten-day total of $22.9M. Budgeted at under $30M, the Marc Forster-directed pic should find its way to $35-40M. The cross-continent drama Babel fell 48% in its second weekend of wide release and captured an estimated $2.9M putting the total at $12M for Paramount Vantage. After scorching results in limited release, the Brad Pitt-Cate Blanchett film is having a hard time competing on a nationwide scale.
The horror sequel Saw III followed with an estimated $2.8M, tumbling 60%, putting Lionsgate's cume at $74.9M. Warner Bros. grossed an estimated $2.6M for The Departed which declined by 50% in its seventh mission giving Martin Scorsese's top-grossing film $113.9M to date.
Creeping into tenth place was the experimental film festival called After Dark's Horror Fest - 8 Films to Die For with an estimated weekend gross of $2.5M. The distributor offered eight different low-budget fright flicks throughout the weekend in 488 locations averaging a solid $5,086. With so many titles, many fans were encouraged to buy more than one ticket throughout the frame. Freestyle Releasing handled distribution.
Debuting poorly outside of the top ten was the jailhouse comedy Let's Go To Prison which locked up an estimated $2.1M in ticket sales from 1,495 locations for a dismal $1,410 average. According to its distributor Universal, the R-rated revenge comedy played mostly to young men with studio research showing that 67% of the audience was under the age of 25 and 59% was male.
Three high profile films premiered in limited release with varying results. MGM platformed The Weinstein Co. political drama Bobby in only two theaters and grossed an estimated $67,000 for a potent $33,500 average. Written and directed by Emilio Estevez, the star-studded film about the day Robert Kennedy was assassinated boasts a cast featuring Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Fishburne, Elijah Wood, Lindsay Lohan, Sharon Stone, Helen Hunt, Demi Moore, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, Ashton Kutcher, and Martin Sheen. The R-rated film expands nationwide on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
Also opening to strong results was Warner Independent's film industry comedy For Your Consideration which debuted in 23 theaters with an estimated $394,000 for a solid $17,130 average. The Christopher Guest-directed film launched in a dozen cities and will widen to over 600 runs nationwide on Wednesday. The filmmaker's last picture A Mighty Wind had wider distribution and opened to $2.1M from 133 theaters for a $15,881 average in April of 2003 on its way to a $17.8M overall take.
Arthouse moviegoers did not have an appetite for Fox Searchlight's junk food industry pic Fast Food Nation which debuted in 321 theaters with an estimated $390,000 for a poor $1,215 average. Starring Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama, Ethan Hawke, and Patricia Arquette, the R-rated film attracted mixed reviews from critics.
Three films dropped out of the top ten this weekend. The magician pic The Prestige took in an estimated $2M in its fifth frame, down 58%, boosting the cume to $49.4M. Look for a final tally of around $54M for the Buena Vista hit.
A pair of star-driven flops that opened last week crumbled in their sophomore frames losing more than half of their audience. Sarah Michelle Gellar's suspense thriller The Return grossed an estimated $1.7M, down 62%, for a measly total of $6.9M after ten days. Russell Crowe's stab at a romantic comedy, Fox's A Good Year, fell 56% to an estimated $1.6M putting its total at $6.4M. An embarrassing final total of about $9M should result for each pic.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $129.7M which was down a hefty 23% from last year when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opened at number one with a jaw-dropping $102.3M; and down 7% from 2004 when National Treasure debuted in the top spot with $35.1M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
Related Items
(1-14 of 14 posts) | Reply
 on Nov 20 2006 01:15 AM I read this article, now im on the verge of tears. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 04:08 AM The world is indeed going insane when an animated movie beats Bond at the Box-Office. And I loved Royale too!!! :-( Too bad. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 04:15 AM Happy feet was great. Do not hate until you see the movie. It should be number 1. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 04:36 AM It sucks Stranger than Fiction fell so much it was really good although Queen Latifah kind of dissapionted me in this. Will Farrell and Emma Thompson were great. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 05:11 AM Glad to see Happy feet and Casino Royale doing so well. They deserve those numbers! (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 06:15 AM People, Happy Feet and Casino Royale appeal to completely different demographics. One's success does not mean the other failed, they are utterly irrelevant to each other. Bond opened in November to over $40 million, so far it's been quite successful. And its strong word-of-mouth is only going to increase its staying power. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 07:50 AM More people need to go see Royale. It was so awesome. I loved that ending. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 07:58 AM Hieremias is right in Casino Royale's strong word of mouth. It is currently by far the most talked about movie online according to moviesay.com, while Happy Feet is only third (but then again kids don't really frequent message boards). (Reply to this) |
 on Nov 20 2006 09:02 AM I'm a big Bond fan, and I must say I was mildly disapointed with Casino Royale. Don't get me wong I did like it. What I didn't like is exactly what most people are liking about it. It just didn't really feel like a Bond film in a lot of ways, some of which has to do with it being a prequel, which they explain as the movie goes on. But it wasn't really a good light hearted fun action film, they made it darker and grittier, more like Bourne, which made it blend in more with all the rest of the action films that I see, they just kinda took away what makes Bond different, and I thought that that was to bad. Plus the opening seen which is usually one of the best parts of the film, sucked in this film, by far the worst in any Bond film, I just didn't care for the jumping guy. (Reply to this) |
 on Nov 20 2006 09:17 AM Bond had a running time over 2 hours. Happy Feet just over 100min. That means that more shows of Happy Feet could occur. Also, Happy Feet debuted in more theaters. Bond deserves to be number 1, no doubt about that. I loved it. I saw it twice. I only saw Happy Feet once. I did my part, did you? (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 20 2006 11:37 AM I knew HAPPY FEET was going to be a hit despite the negative vibe from RT members. It's too bad that the IMAX 3D version was canceled. It would've made a killing like POLAR EXPRESS. The word of mouth for Bond will keep it going strong, and I think the same will go for HAPPY FEET. (Reply to this) |
 on Nov 20 2006 03:19 PM IMAX 3D doesn't really generate that many ticket sales actually, since there's only about 200 IMAX screens in all the U S of A. It makes sense that Happy Feet won, since it was released in 400 more theaters, and was 40 minutes shorter than Bond, leading to more ticket sales for more show times. Simple really. They still both did a good job, and I commend their numbers. (Reply to this) |
 on Nov 20 2006 06:49 PM Good for both films. Why people are crying that Bond was beat out by penguins is beyond me. Like Hieremias said, both films did exceptionally well. The fact that one finished behind another doesn't mean that it "failed". Numbers are numbers and money is money. If Casino Royale had opened up to a $50 million opening and finished 3rd to two other movies, it's the money that distributors look at, not the place. You're competing against yourself to build back your budget and get your profits. You're not in a footrace with other movies. I saw both films and they were both amazing. Good for both of them. (Reply to this) |
 on Nov 20 2006 08:31 PM [b]well[/b] if you must know Happy Feet generated $2 million from 79 IMAX screens, so yes it was released in the IMAX format, contrary to some strange rumor...And yeah its great that both films did so well, as both will have great legs and make alot of money this holiday season, though Happy Feet will win in the end, and it was a great movie! (Reply to this) |
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