ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Fourth Saw Pic Generates $32M Debut

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Fourth Saw Pic Generates $32M Debut

Lionsgates Saws the competition in half.

by Gitesh Pandya | October 28, 2007

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For the third straight year, the weekend before Halloween was ruled by a $30M+ opening from the Saw franchise proving that the horror series is still the top choice for those looking for a scare. While Saw IV debuted at number one with a brutal box office bow, the romantic dramedy Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell opened impressively in second place and made for a popular counter-programming choice for those not interested in blood and gore. Overall, the North American box office came back to life as the top ten was about even with this same weekend in each of the last two years when by no coincidence earlier Saw installments reigned supreme.

Lionsgate's wildly successful fall movie slate welcomed another hit with Saw IV which topped the charts with an estimated $32.1M launch taking in more ticket sales than the next four films combined. It was the largest debut for any film since the comedy Superbad in mid-August, the best opening for any horror film this year, and proved that the distributor's highly profitable franchise was still a big hit with fans. Premiering in 3,183 theaters, the R-rated torturefest averaged a gruesome $10,088 per site. The performance was a bit below the $33.6M opening of Saw III from this weekend last year and ahead of the $31.7M start for Saw II in 2005. Those films reached $87M and $80.2M, respectively in the domestic market. As the fourth installment in a horror franchise, Saw IV should suffer rapid erosion in the weeks ahead, but a muscular final gross of $70-75M could still result.

Buena Vista delivered a strong start for its comedy-drama offering Dan in Real Life which bowed to an estimated $12.1M from 1,921 theaters for a solid $6,289 average per venue. The Steve Carell vehicle about a widower who falls for his brother's girlfriend posted impressive numbers given its moderately wide release and benefited from the studio's sneak previews last weekend which helped to spread word-of-mouth for a film that was not necessarily an easy sell. Critics had mixed feelings but were generally pleased with Dan.

With Saw IV stealing away the horror crowd, the vampire thriller 30 Days of Night fell sharply in its second weekend dropping 58% to third place with an estimated $6.7M. Sony's $30M fright flick has scared up $27.3M in ten days and looks headed for about a $40M finish.

Disney's family comedy The Game Plan enjoyed a great hold in its fifth frame sliding only 24% to an estimated $6.3M for a $77.1M cume. Lionsgate found itself in fifth with Why Did I Get Married? which grossed an estimated $5.7M, off 53%, giving the Tyler Perry hit $47.3M to date. So far this fall, the distributor has opened four films with debut averages of over $5,000 including two with averages north of $10,000.

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(1-20 of 39 posts) | Reply

Ciaranmv writes:
on Oct 28 2007 05:52 PM

Damn.

(Reply to this)

kissman24 writes:
on Oct 28 2007 06:06 PM

A movie like Saw's opening weekend in-take is based, not on the quality of this film, but on how much people liked the previous installment.

"Saw IV" was the worst of the four. Even though the film had a pretty good opening weekend, it doesn't mean that it's all that good.

(Reply to this)

Bruce Campbell writes:
on Oct 28 2007 06:47 PM

Saw > Saw IV > Saw III > Saw II.

(Reply to this)

XBSHX writes:
on Oct 28 2007 06:56 PM

Saw > Saw II > Saw IV > Saw III

" A movie like Saw's opening weekend in-take is based, not on the quality of this film, but on how much people liked the previous installment.

"Saw IV" was the worst of the four. Even though the film had a pretty good opening weekend, it doesn't mean that it's all that good. "

In your opinion, stop trying to make your opinion appear to be fact.

(Reply to this)

lamer writes:
on Oct 28 2007 07:04 PM

(Raises fist to sky) DAMN YOU GOD!!!!

(Reply to this)

tyler8186 writes:
on Oct 28 2007 07:11 PM

Saw 4> Saw 3
only for the fact that Amanda is not in the movie

(Reply to this)

Bloody Mathias writes:
on Oct 28 2007 08:12 PM

Not surprising at all.

Enjoy these next 104 weeks, guys.
They're the longest the world's gone without a Saw sequel in 3 years.

(Reply to this)

hewpot writes:
on Oct 28 2007 08:12 PM

Saw > Saw II > Saw IV > Saw III
...
I agree with everything XBSHX said

(Reply to this)

Heath Huxall writes:
on Oct 28 2007 08:33 PM

In reply to this comment (#1231024)
Me as well, I thought 'Saw IV' was indeed better than 'Saw III'.

(Reply to this)

Pilgermann writes:
on Oct 28 2007 10:54 PM

If the first SAW is the best, then I'm glad I haven't seen the rest of them. SAW is a horrible horrible film.

(Reply to this)

0LDB0Y writes:
on Oct 29 2007 01:48 AM

I'm really glad that the industry is exposing all these gore and violence to millions of teens and yet we wonder why there's so much violence in this world.

If I ever see someone get decapitated in real life, I seriously would think "eh, seen it. Whatever" and go eat a hot dog.

(Reply to this)

jasperoosterveld writes:
on Oct 29 2007 02:54 AM

Un ****ing believable. What a waste of money.

(Reply to this)

WorldDude writes:
on Oct 29 2007 03:52 AM

Saw IV was great; glad to see the series still just as popular as ever

(Reply to this)

dOiNk writes:
on Oct 29 2007 03:53 AM

In reply to this comment (#1232148)
oldboy, grow up, you seriously have no freaking idea what you're talking about

but back to saw 4, movie was better than i expected. Once again some nice twists, kickass traps, and more story to jigsaw (which i love because tobin bell rocks)

(Reply to this)

GravitaZ writes:
on Oct 29 2007 04:42 AM

All the Saw haters are going to have an aneurysm by the time Saw VI is getting released.

(Reply to this)

Gimy writes:
on Oct 29 2007 06:01 AM

ok, i'm an idiot...i know. i took a date to see that piece of sh3t and guess what? she got a kick out of me saying what was going to happen before it did. listen, the movie sucks. its BELOW MEDIOCRE entertainment but there's really nothing else that comes out. and honestly, it was better than halloween. that doesn't say much but sh3t, that movie made me run out of the theater and want to kick the sh3t out of rob zombie. i just wish people would stop cramming this garbage up our 2ss and saying its a GOOD flick. its not, they all suck. EVERY saw sucks. i cried laughing at the first one because the acting was soooo bad. they're badly done, POORLY written and the only reason people go see them is because it comes out during halloween and i'm borderline forced by friends to see the hunk of sh3t. this one had NOTHING. its sads. no gore, no laughing, no b33bies, no entertaining quality whatsoever. it was the worst one yet!

thank god the Saw people are stupid enough not to milk this series for what its worth, WHY take a year off...is beyond me. i know it only takes 6 minutes to write the entire movie, so whats your point of delaying it? the monkey who pens the script off doing a Planet of the Apes sequel or something??

(Reply to this)

bt1091 writes:
on Oct 29 2007 06:47 AM

In reply to this comment (#1232254)
it was good...deal with it

(Reply to this)

Gimy writes:
on Oct 29 2007 07:03 AM

bt, you have no taste in movies. you should watch more than one horror a year...and you'd realize there's alot better flix out there. all i wanna know is why you cats think its "good". were you scared? were you, gulp, SURPRISED by any of it? i don't get it. swear to god, the only props i can give is the transition sequence between scenes when he throws the cat through the glass and the dude comes in the door. THAT, was coo. honestly, that was the only good thing about the movie. so fans, tell us morons who can't see the greatness in this series, whats good about it...

(Reply to this)

thereign writes:
on Oct 29 2007 08:50 AM

In reply to this comment (#1232254)
BRAVO, Gimy! BRAVO!!!!

You have said what's on the mind of those of us everywhere who(PROUDLY) HATE this f***ing bullsh*t franchise!

YES!!!

(Reply to this)

dOiNk writes:
on Oct 29 2007 09:00 AM

lol, gimy you sound like such a little girl... the saw franchise is good, get over it. it has better writing and is definitely more entertaining than 3/4 of the horror movies that come out. Why you people insist on bashing every little thing instead of just relaxing and enjoying a decently thought out movie is beyond me.

(Reply to this)