The Independence Day holiday frame saw a rare tie for first place as
Paramount and Fox both reported a $42.5M estimate for the Friday-to-Sunday span
for their summer sequels
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, respectively. Final grosses to be
reported on Monday will determine the true box office champ. Universal’s
gangster drama
Public
Enemies opened in third with strong results as studios provided many
different moviegoing options which ticket buyers were excited to see.
The robots of
Transformers dropped a steep 61% in the second weekend giving Paramount
an eye-popping $293.5M total after just 12 days. That puts Michael Bay’s
tentpole pic at number 30 on the all-time domestic blockbusters list tied with
1999’s The Sixth Sense. Ticket prices, of course, were much lower a
decade ago when Haley Joel Osment was seeing dead people. Fallen also
leaped past Pixar’s Up to become this year’s largest grosser and will top
the $300M mark on Monday or Tuesday.[rtimage]MapID=1188000&MapTypeID=2&photo=102&legacy=1[/rtimage]
Saturday’s Fourth of July holiday hit Transformers and all movies hard
since outdoor activities take people away from the multiplexes. With Friday
being a day off for most people, ticket sales for the top ten surged to $63M.
Saturday fell a sharp 36% to $40M while Sunday is expected to bounce back with a
23% jump to $50M. Compared to the Optimus Prime pic’s daily grosses from last
weekend, Friday dropped 51%, Saturday tumbled 73%, and Sunday is estimated to
fall by 57%. Revenge of the Fallen could find its way to a jaw-dropping
domestic final of $380-390M.
Fox also reported a $42.5M Friday-to-Sunday estimate for its new 3D animated
picture
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with a healthy $67.5M in ticket sales
since opening on Wednesday. The PG-rated film averaged $10,368 from 4,099 sites
over the three-day weekend period. Despite three years of ticket price increases
and extra surcharges theaters are collecting for the 3D presentation, the toon
basically needed five days to gross what its predecessor Ice Age: The
Meltdown did in its first three days. That film bowed in March 2006 with
$68M from 3,964 theaters on its way to $195.3M. Pixar’s 3D flick Up
grossed a similar $68.1M in its first three days.[rtimage]MapID=1194515&MapTypeID=2&photo=17&legacy=1[/rtimage]
Mature audiences spent some cash too this holiday weekend. Johnny Depp’s
gangster drama
Public
Enemies attracted a solid turnout opening in third place with an
estimated $26.2M over the weekend and $41M over the five days since its
Wednesday launch. The Universal release averaged a strong $7,850 from 3,334
locations over the weekend. The performance was on par with past R-rated
star-driven summer dramas from director Michael Mann. Collateral bowed to
$24.7M in 2004 while 2006’s Miami Vice opened to $25.7M. Both launched on
a Friday so comparisons are not exact. Final grosses for those two reached $100M
and $63.5M, respectively.
Co-starring Christian Bale, Enemies earned good but not stellar reviews
from critics. With so many films playing to kids and teens at the moment, the
studio connected with older adults looking for serious fare over the holiday
weekend. Men made up 53% of the audience while the CinemaScore grade was a so-so
B.[rtimage]MapID=1205374&MapTypeID=2&photo=45&legacy=1[/rtimage]
Two comedies aimed at adult audiences followed with the best holds in the top
ten. The Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds pic
The Proposal
dipped only 31% to an estimated $12.8M boosting the 17-day tally to $94.2M.
The Hangover
broke the $200M mark over the weekend. The raunchy comedy collected an
estimated $10.4M, off only 39%, pushing its total to $204.2M.
Pixar’s Up upped its
total to a sensational $264.9M following its estimated $6.6M take in its sixth
frame. With Ice Age marching into multiplexes and stealing away 3D
screens, the flying house flick lost 831 playdates but dropped a reasonable 50%.
The film became the second biggest hit ever for the animation leader and trails
only Finding Nemo which banked $339.7M in 2003. Up also rose to
number 40 on the all-time blockbusters list ranking just behind Shrek
which grossed $267.7M in 2001.[rtimage]MapID=1195997&MapTypeID=2&photo=28&legacy=1[/rtimage]
The Cameron Diaz-Abigail Breslin tearjerker
My
Sister’s Keeper fell 58% in its second weekend to an estimated $5.3M for
seventh place. The Warner Bros. release has grossed $27M in ten days and could
find its way to a decent $40M. Sony’s hostage thriller
The
Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 fell 54% to an estimated $2.5M lifting the cume
to $58.5M.
Two comedies dabbling with history tied for ninth place with an estimated $2.1M
each. Sony’s Year One
tumbled 65% and has taken in $38.1M to date while Fox’s
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian dropped 42% for a $167.8M
cume.[rtimage]MapID=1206892&MapTypeID=2&photo=18&legacy=1[/rtimage]
The top ten films grossed an estimated $152.9M which was up 2% from last year
when Hancock
opened in the top spot with $62.6M ($103.9M in 5 days); but down 5% from 2007
when
Transformers debuted at number one with $70.5M ($155.4M over 6.5 days).
Author: Gitesh Pandaya, Box Office Guru
