ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Beowulf Rules As Overall Box Office Stalls

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Beowulf Rules As Overall Box Office Stalls

The animated flick takes over as box office receipts continue to slide.

by Gitesh Pandya | November 18, 2007

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Paramount reigned supreme at the North American box office as its animated adventure tale Beowulf seized the number one spot in its opening weekend while the studio's other toon Bee Movie finished in second place in its third frame. But the overall marketplace remained troubled posting ticket sales that were more like October numbers than like the typically robust figures seen in November. In fact, the top ten films combined for just over $92M making it the worst showing in nine years for the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The 3D computer-animated actioner Beowulf collected an estimated $28.1M over the Friday-to-Sunday period becoming the top choice of movie fans this weekend. Attacking 3,153 theaters, the PG-13 film averaged a strong $8,912 per location for Paramount which scored its seventh number one hit of 2007. The Robert Zemeckis-directed picture used motion capture technology to tell the story of a Viking warrior who saves a kingdom from demonic beasts. Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie contributed their voices and likenesses. Reviews were generally favorable.

Beowulf was the widest opener ever for a 3D film with over 700 of the venues offering the adventure in the high-tech format. The Real D format accounted for 638 of the locations (20% of the total) and roughly $8M (28%) of the weekend gross. Several dozen Imax sites also played the 3D version while traditional theaters played the 2D one. According to studio research the audience was 60% male and was split evenly between those over and under the age of 25.

Warner Bros. co-financed the $150M project and opened Beowulf in several international territories day-and-date with the domestic bow. The ancient epic grossed an estimated $17M overseas from 2,500 screens in 13 markets for a global opening of $45.1M. It enjoyed solid second-place debuts in the United Kingdom and Germany and rang up number one bows in many Asian markets like Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore. Beowulf invades France, Russia, Spain, and Mexico later this week and attacks Australia, Brazil, and Japan on the following weekend.

Paramount also claimed the silver medal with another toon, the Jerry Seinfeld hit Bee Movie, which dropped 44% to an estimated $14.3M in its third outing. After 17 days of release, the PG-rated kidpic has amassed $93.9M from just under 4,000 theaters and could be headed for $130-140M by the end of its domestic run.

The one-two punch of Beowulf and Bee marked the first time in three years that animated films occupied the top two positions at the box office. The last occurrence was over the November 12-14, 2004 frame when The Incredibles remained number one with a mighty $50.3M in its sophomore session and Zemeckis' The Polar Express opened in second with $23.3M. Only two other times this year has one studio claimed the top two films. Warner Bros. ruled the March 23-25 weekend with TMNT and 300 while a few weeks later Paramount reigned with Disturbia and Blades of Glory.

Despite the studio's killer B's leading the box office, the overall marketplace was in bad shape which does not bode well for the end of what has been a record year. The top ten films have now failed to break the $100M mark over back-to-back weekends during the normally busy month of November. This has not occurred during this month since 2000. Also, the weekend before Thanksgiving is routinely used by Hollywood studios to launch some of their biggest holiday season blockbusters. Beowulf generated the worst opening for a number one film over this high-profile frame in nine years. Clearly the box office is lacking strength right now and moviegoers are losing excitement over the current menu of films that studios have served up. To make things worse, the next two weekends lack any film expected to see explosive sales.

American Gangster shot up another $13.2M in ticket stubs, according to estimates, and raised its 17-day cume to $101M. Off 45%, the Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe hit became the 21st film of 2007 to break the century mark and the fifth for Universal which leads all studios. Warner Bros, Fox, Buena Vista, and Sony have all claimed three such blockbusters each this year with Paramount close to joining them when Bee Movie crosses the barrier later this week. Gangster should head towards $130-140M domestically.

In Europe, the Ridley Scott-helmed crime saga began generating heat with number one openings in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, and Switzerland for an international weekend haul of $14M from 1,471 theaters in 14 markets. In the U.K., Gangster went head to head against the debut of Beowulf and beat it by 13%.

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(1-20 of 25 posts) | Reply

hewpot writes:
on Nov 18 2007 06:06 PM

wow no country owned on 140ish theaters

(Reply to this)

Mr. Bowler writes:
on Nov 18 2007 06:13 PM

Kinda surprised by the amount Beowulf raked in. I would have thought it would be more, closer to $35 mil. Not surprised Bee Movie is still 2nd. Beowulf was the only big movie release since Bee Movie and American Gangster.

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Bloody Mathias writes:
on Nov 18 2007 07:24 PM

Yikes, at this rate 2007 will fall behind 2004's ticket sales.
With The Mist, Hitman and Enchanted coming out next, 2007 may get back on track.

(Reply to this)

Bondesque writes:
on Nov 18 2007 09:15 PM

WOW!! beowulf is going to burn. i would personally pay to watch it though. it looks like it has potential but it will have to gross 400 million to break even. at this rate, and with the decline in DVD sales, that is going to be a tall order. i mean, 300 opened with 70 mill. i thought this would do atleast 40mill. robert zemeckis shouls really go back to mainstream films. but i think hitman is going to do better because it has a more established fan base and will consequently have a stronger opening weekend. but honestly, i getting pretty tired of hollywood. i mean look at their line up. filled with remakes, spinoffs and vid-game adaptations. hollywoood really needs some new blood man. really.

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Mr. Kong writes:
on Nov 18 2007 09:52 PM

Beowulf was great.

I want to kill myself for not seeing it in 3D

(Reply to this)

Paralyzer writes:
on Nov 18 2007 10:41 PM

the slump continues maybe movies are finaly dieing out

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dracus writes:
on Nov 19 2007 02:40 AM

I can only imagine how much money Beowulf would make if most people had a chance to see it in 3-D.

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Gimy writes:
on Nov 19 2007 05:30 AM

wha? the theater i go to ONLY had it in 3d, regular wasn't even an option. sucks to be you guys then...i'm seeing it tonite or tomorrow.

para...the movies aren't dying out, the quality writers and actors are. too few good ones nowadays. there will always be movies, just sh3tty ones apparently. remakes, overactors, bad actors, redo's...prequels...unnecessary sequels, thats becoming the NORM. just a bunch of chumps and one hit wonders who never go away.

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Vitamin M writes:
on Nov 19 2007 06:52 AM

Beowulf in 3D at the IMAX is freaking amazing. I was blown away. I had seen Superman Returns at the IMAX and it contained some 3D and was mildly interesting but Beowulf is groundbreaking. But besides the amazing animation and astounding 3D it's also a really good film.
Go see it now.

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Shatter24 writes:
on Nov 19 2007 07:23 AM

Beowulf would likely have done better if there were more 3-D theatres available.

The dramas coming out this time of year, American Gangster in '07, The Departed in '06, show that quality and good acting (along w/ originality) does still count at the boxoffice.

I am looking forward to The Mist coming out soon, but I expect Hitman to be both a disappointing film and pull in a disappointing draw (I'd be shocked if it made more than $35 million total). Sorry fan boys.

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fuj_ball writes:
on Nov 19 2007 08:54 AM

It knocked my pants off. No, actually I took my pants off. To be more comfortable. You know, watching the movie. But... it's hard to pay attention with your pants off. So... what was it about?

(Reply to this)

aknddon3 writes:
on Nov 19 2007 09:34 AM

Please say that it stayed true to the epic poem because that was a great story and if he ruined it that would suck.

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abcdefz1 writes:
on Nov 19 2007 09:49 AM

Ebert says they basically just kept the names. :D

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Nov 19 2007 11:01 AM

No Country is expanding to about 800 screens, which is right were my city usually is, so I have about a 50% chance of getting it, damn I hope we do. P2(B-) was better than it should have been, pretty good acting,dircting,writing, and music, helped elevate it from it's basic premise. Into the Wild(B) was to long, overly filled with impending doom, and he was kinda a moron, but the film was well done and pretty entertaining. The Darjeeling Limited(B) was a solid entertaining Wes Anderson movie, but disapointing when compared with The Royal Tenenbaums.

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fuj_ball writes:
on Nov 19 2007 11:56 AM

In reply to this comment (#1288457)
Very little is even remotely similar to the actual poem. This movie does for epic poems what Explorers did for space travel.

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Bob* writes:
on Nov 19 2007 11:57 AM

so that means that american audiences can watch an animated movie for adults without entering in panic?! awesome!

It will come to mexico this weekend..I'll run and see it! =D

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Bloody Mathias writes:
on Nov 19 2007 04:28 PM

What's up with people complaining that it didn't stick to the poem? Are their anglo-saxon 4th century poem fans around today? Seriously. It's not a comic book, it's an ancient poem that no one cares about today. Who cares if they changed it?

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Ciaranmv writes:
on Nov 19 2007 05:28 PM

In reply to this comment (#1289920)
I'll tell you who, Bloody Mathias: even though I don't particularly enjoy the poem's language, I think that to ignore the story's message and its original intent is disrespectful to an extent. If they're gonna bring something that people have read and appreciated to the screen (whether it's "Beowulf" or "Lord of the Rings"), they should at least make an effort to stick to the original premise somewhat. I don't care if they improve on scenes or elaborate on character development like Peter Jackson did as long as the original premise is intact. They did the same thing on "Spiderman 3"! And for every comic book fan out there, I bet you there is another film and literature lover who is about fed up with Hollywood's bastardization of beloved texts by making Grendel's mother an alluring vixen with high heels. They portray her more like a 'Grand Auto Theft' hooker in this than any all-powerful demon.

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I Am Remote writes:
on Nov 19 2007 06:02 PM

People actually liked "Beowulf"? Wow. Alright.

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aknddon3 writes:
on Nov 19 2007 06:29 PM

SOrry but Beowulf was an amazing poem, by far better than Lord of the Rings.

(Reply to this)

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