ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Wrapup: "13" Hits #1 But With Worst "Ocean"'s Opening

Box Office Guru Wrapup: "13" Hits #1 But With Worst "Ocean"'s Opening

by Gitesh Pandya | June 10, 2007

Hollywood served up more of the same dishes and moviegoers said enough is enough and found their weekend entertainment elsewhere. The latest star-studded heist sequel "Ocean's Thirteen" managed to open at number one, but with the weakest debut of the franchise.

"Surf's Up," the second animated penguin movie in seven months, attracted a mild debut while the horror sequel "Hostel Part II" was butchered on its opening weekend. Overall, the marketplace generated the worst showing for the second weekend of June since 2003.

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Al Pacino made off with the North American box office crown with "Ocean's Thirteen" which debuted on top with an estimated $37.1M. Averaging a solid $10,401 from 3,565 locations, the Warner Bros. release bowed a bit below the openings of the previous installments in the heist franchise. 2001's "Ocean's Eleven" debuted to $38.1M and a $12,393 average while its 2004 sequel premiered to $39.2M and a $11,901 average. Both opened in early December.

"Thirteen"'s top spot debut marked the sixth consecutive weekend when a threequel ruled the charts. Given higher ticket prices, additional theaters, the more high-profile summer launch, and the publicity generated from the much-hyped world premiere at Cannes, "Ocean's Thirteen" was expected to open stronger by some in the industry. However, competition for adults was stronger with this chapter with holdovers "Pirates" and "Knocked Up" grossing a combined $41M. Plus the non-stop assault of sequels may have made some moviegoers sick of paying to see the same characters in the same situations again and again. Reviews were mostly upbeat for the PG-13 caper pic.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" tumbled another 52% in its third frame and dropped down to second place with an estimated $21.3M pushing its cume to $253.6M. Both previous Captain Jack films, 2003's "The Curse of the Black Pearl" and 2006's "Dead Man's Chest," did better in their third weekends with $23.1M and $35.2M, respectively. The latest Disney pic now stands at number 38 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters after 2001's "Monsters, Inc." which grossed $255.9M. At its current rate of decline, "At World's End" now has no guarantee of reaching the $300M mark which was always seen as an easy milestone before the film's release. As with the "Spider-Man" franchise, the third chapter should become the lowest-grossing installment in the series domestically.

But just like with the webslinger, international business is on fire for the latest "Pirates" which grossed an estimated $51.3M overseas this weekend, down 50%. That puts the overseas tally at $493.5M and the global gross at a colossal $747M.

Universal's hot comedy "Knocked Up" delivered a solid hold in its second weekend thanks to strong word-of-mouth. The R-rated pic collected an estimated $20M, off 35%, for a ten-day cume of $66.2M. By comparison, director Judd Apatow's last film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" opened weaker and dipped only 24% to $16.3M in its second weekend for a total of $48.6M in its first ten days. "Knocked Up" is proving that a film that is good and original can attract a large paying audience and should go on to gross more than "Ocean's Thirteen" this summer despite having a smaller budget and no bankable stars. A final gross of about $120-130M could result for the pregnancy comedy quadrupling its $30M production cost.

The penguin toon "Surf's Up" opened in fourth place with a mediocre launch. Sony's big summer family pic took in an estimated $18M from an ultrawide 3,528 theaters for a decent $5,102 average. The PG-rated film tells of a young penguin who competes in a surfing competition and was made in a mockumentary style. The debut was weaker than last year's animated releases from the studio - "Open Season" ($23.6M) and "Monster House" ($22.2M). "Surf's Up" also bowed to less than half of the $41.5M that last November's penguin pic "Happy Feet" took in on its debut frame. Sony saw a six-week gap between the openings of the summer megatoons "Shrek the Third" and Pixar's "Ratatouille" and positioned its entry right in the middle.

Close behind in fifth was rival toon "Shrek the Third" with an estimated $15.8M in its fourth frame. Off a reasonable 44%, the Paramount release has grabbed $281.9M to date putting it at number 29 on the all-time domestic list. A final gross of around $320M seems likely. The latest ogre now stands as the second biggest DreamWorks film ever after "Shrek 2" ($436.7M) and the third largest hit in Paramount history after "Titanic" ($600.8M) and "Forrest Gump" ($329.7M).

Yet another horror failure followed in sixth place. Lionsgate's "Hostel Part II" opened to an estimated $8.8M from 2,350 theaters for a weak $3,723 average. That was less than half of the $19.6M bow that the first "Hostel" generated in January 2006 on its way to a solid $47.3M domestic gross. The R-rated sequel once again examines the torture of American students in Slovakia, only with female victims this time. "Part II" even opened weaker than other recent horror sequels like "28 Weeks Later" and "The Hills Have Eyes II" which both bowed to just under $10M each. With so many fright flicks flooding the multiplexes recently and moviegoers ignoring most of them, Lionsgate has to be a bit worried about getting genre fans back into theaters for the fourth consecutive Halloween with its "Saw IV."

The Kevin Costner thriller "Mr. Brooks" fell 50% to an estimated $5M and placed seventh with a $18.7M total. "Spider-Man 3" dropped 45% to an estimated $4.4M in its sixth mission giving Sony $325.7M to date. That keeps the third webslinger adventure at number 17 on the all-time domestic list just behind "The Lion King"'s lifetime cume of $328.5M. A $335M final seems likely.

Enjoying the smallest decline in the top ten once again was Keri Russell's comedy "Waitress" which dipped only 18% to an estimated $1.7M pushing the cume to $12M for Fox Searchlight. Paramount's "Disturbia" rounded out the top ten with an estimated $550,000, down 51%, giving the thriller $77.8M to date.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $132.5M which was down 8% from last year when "Cars" opened at number one with $60.1M; and off 1% from 2005 when "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" debuted in the top spot with $50.3M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com

Related Items

Movie:	Surf's Up
	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
	Knocked Up
	Shrek the Third
	Mr. Brooks
	Waitress
	Ocean's Thirteen
	Disturbia

(1-20 of 34 posts) | Reply

Obi-Wan Kenobi 10 writes:
on Jun 10 2007 02:33 PM

Boo hoo Pirates dissapoints so does Ocean while two bad movies Shrek and Spidey are doing okay.

(Reply to this)

skletonkee writes:
on Jun 10 2007 03:50 PM

[b]The Death Of Hack Man Roth?[/b]
Let it be so : pray :

(Reply to this)

neoes writes:
on Jun 10 2007 03:53 PM

That would be pretty bad if Pirates didn't hit $300 million after a $114.7 million opening, wouldn't it? I don't think Oceans disappointed. WHta did he expect, $50 million? It was right on line with projections. I am happy about the success of Knocked Up, and the failure of Hostel 2 (hahahahah)

(Reply to this)

synergyred writes:
on Jun 10 2007 03:55 PM

I actually enjoyed Oceans 13. It doesn't capture the magic of the first, and is quite all over the place in the beginning, but once the movie reaches it's second act things tighten up and the movie becomes quite entertaining. Much better than the complete and utter dissapointment that was Oceans 12.

Glad to see Knocked up is doing well, same with Waitress. The poor results of Hostel 2 suprirse me a bit. I guess audiences in general are getting a little sick of the the torture porn genre. Honestly, I would shed no tears if this sub-genre dies out quickly. It just seems silly to me.

(Reply to this)

CMPunk>you writes:
on Jun 10 2007 04:49 PM

[b]Yeah, great thinking.[/b]

Let it be the death of "torture porn" (what nerd made that up anyways?) so we can go back to ALL PG-13 "horror" movies like The Grudge!

Can't wait. Congratulations, you're kind will be the death of true horror movies.

(Reply to this)

Metafact writes:
on Jun 10 2007 04:52 PM

In reply to this comment (#868782)
I agree, neoes. There's only about a $1 million difference between the three films in the franchise. This guy made it sound as if Ocean's Thirteen bombed or something. Instead, this film beat Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with a solid $37 million. I'm sure Soderbergh isn't crying over those results.

Knocked Up is a film that's doing well solely on its own merits. I wish that happened more often.

The failure of Hostel: Part II could signal the death throes of the torture-porn fad that permeated horror films for the past five years? Hooray! Now, CMPunk>you might enjoy masturbating to mindless gore for 90 minutes, but us normal people prefer quality horror like The Descent, 28 Days Later, and (possibly) 30 Days of Night.

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Boss Fan writes:
on Jun 10 2007 05:18 PM

In reply to this comment (#868784)
I hate PG-13 "HORROR" like "The Grudge," as you pointed out, but if you really think shit like "Hostel" is "true horror," well, that's just sad. Fuck movies like "Hostel"! They are all the same tired, lame, explotive junk that are not scary, but just gory. Since when is a lot of gore smart, original or scary?!

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aaroninwv writes:
on Jun 10 2007 05:45 PM

[b]Response to CMPunk>You[/b]
You said "Can't wait. Congratulations, you're kind will be the death of true horror movies." Hostel is true horror? And the only 2 horror films ever made were Hostel and the Grudge? If you think Hostel is true horror, and that all horror movies were the Grudge before Roth graced us with his brilliance, then you need to do an advanced search here on RT for the genre. Try The Descent for one. The only similarity between a true horror film and a sh**** film like Hostel is gore. True horror is so much more than that.

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Reeven writes:
on Jun 10 2007 06:31 PM

I actually thought The Descent was dissapointing was weak, but it is still miles beyond the shite that is Hostel. Anyone who thinks Hostel is true horror needs to look a little furthur than what Sam Raimi's company has produced over the past few years.

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nalindra writes:
on Jun 10 2007 06:39 PM

[b]Solid start![/b]
If u see all other ocean's movies debuted with similar results.Evn after eleven twelve only managed 39 million.Considering thirteen having to come after a dissapointing twelve I think the opening of 37 million is real solid.Ocean's always had a loyal fan following and since its aimed for a specific age group I think the movie did pretty well.I for one enjoyed 13 and it wasn't boring at all.

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SplendidIsolation writes:
on Jun 10 2007 07:54 PM

Hostel 2 didn`t flop that badly. The budget was only about 11 million.
Roth is not dead, and trailer trash is still imminent.

(Reply to this)

South_park300 writes:
on Jun 10 2007 08:05 PM

I think Eli Roth would do a good job directing someone else's script. I am one of the few that liked Cabin Fever, but i hated both Hostels, whatever you'll take that for. Nothing happens in the first half of both Hostels, so between the 2, he only made one movie haha

Hostel is true horror? Nope. That title goes to Norbit

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smartmoviekid writes:
on Jun 10 2007 08:10 PM

whoa whoa nobody here thought Hotel 2 was any good? people here think it was awful? come on! first off, i thought it was better than the first, and second off, blame saw, not this for inventing the "torture porn" genre. I thought Saw was the first, but I also believe Hostel made the genre more believable and even realistic. To the topic, im not surprised with the results, even though i thought Hostel would make more money, like 10-14 million, like the first one. I guess all the other fare was set for a more broader audience like Kids for shrek and 35-45 year old men and women for oceans 13, along with couples for knocked up. This is the same thing that happened to Grindhouse, if anyone remembers that film. It just opened at the wrong time.

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coochiexyz writes:
on Jun 10 2007 10:35 PM

let this be a lesson to all producers and directors. the public is tired of lazy filmmaking. we're tired of eating the same meatloaf over and over again. enough with the sequels, remakes, re-imaginings, and adaptations of old tv shows. and i don't care who has beaten whom in international or domestic box-office records. it's time for new ideas and move on.

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Jun 11 2007 05:47 AM

I sort of agree with the above poster. Heck, it's even evident in the charts. Notice how Waitress and Knocked Up, two totally original ideas, are not losing as much money from week to week as these sequels?

That said, though, Hostel was decent and I expect Hostel: Part II to be decent as well. Eli Roth is a great director, but great directors don't always make great movies. I loved Cabin Fever, but Hostel just didn't draw me in in the same way, even though I think Roth is awesome.

(Reply to this)

Gimy writes:
on Jun 11 2007 05:48 AM

how many of you cats REALLY saw hostel 2? i'm guessing...NONE of the toolboxes that say its crap. listen, IT IS HORROR. and...i honestly can't believe you guys would want pg13 "horror". thats like an nc17 disney movie starring hilary duff...it makes ZERO sense. horror is meant to scare and be uh...HORRIFIC. not pg13. hostel 2 was actually pretty good, not near the first but...the reason it did so "poorly" is because bad marketing(i NEVER saw a trailer on tv, nor a RECENT trailer in the movie theater) and it wasn't that widely released.

i'm sorry but if you're a male and you thought descent was any good or christ, SCARY...you need to check your testicles 'gain. it was A CHIC FLICK. i thought it was actually funny. the problem? its already been done. go rent some actual horror movies and stop trying to rip stuff you haven't seen.

btw...knocked up? KIND of...overrated. funny but not hilarious. i was a lil' disappointed in it...

(Reply to this)

High School With Money writes:
on Jun 11 2007 05:53 AM

Oh boy. I can just hear the news pundits' jizz-stained keyboards clacking now: [b]2007 WORST SUMMER EVAH! CRUM CUME CAME TO $2 AND A BALL OF LINT LESS THAN 2006! PRESS HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN COVER THIS "STORY" FOR AT LEAST TEN YEARS![/b]

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Jun 11 2007 06:35 AM

I find it interesting that people horror doesn't need to be gory, but that it shouldn't be PG-13. Am I the only one who sees the disconnect here. Why does PG-13 automatically invalidate a movie as being horror? Yes, a lot of the recent PG-13 horror films have sucked, but blame that on the story and the direction, not the rating. Would The Grudge really have been any better with an R rating? And waht about movies like Poltergeist and Sixth Sense, both of which were pretty scary and rated PG-13. And what about one of the scariest ever, Jaws, which was rated PG?

I'm just saying.

(Reply to this)

kendrith1975 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 07:35 AM

In reply to this comment (#868786)
[b]my rationale of why OCEAN's THIRTEEN's debut regar[/b]
After a slew of THREEQUELS that all opened impressively in first place and then tumbled down to earth in their subsequent weekends, the debut of OCEANS' THIRTEEN is not really bad, considering that it has to follow OCEAN's TWELEVE which was not well liked. I agree that it is still considered a disappointment mainly because it is only barely doing ok out of the gate, and with so many threequels underperforming, it is very tempting to dismiss Hollywood's lack of originality (or I should say over-production, but hey, if they don't do more movies, people in this industry will be out of jobs!!). We will see if its better than expected reviews (and to some extent good word of mouth from some of my fellow posters here) will help propel it and ultimately lead to a final gross that is in between the $180 million from the original and the $125 from its sequel.

(Reply to this)

Merlin235 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 07:59 AM

it's interesting to me that Shrek 3 might be the highest grossing of the three May threequels. It is still about $23 million behind what Spidey 3 had at this time in it's release, but is making about 1/2-1million more per day than Spidermay 3. It seems Pirates, at least domestically, won't be able to catch either of them.

(Reply to this)

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