March 25, 2008

Box Office Update 3/21-3/23: Horton Hears a Repeat

Last weekend Horton Hears a Who dominated the box office, and while it slipped 45% this weekend, it still won the frame by a decent margin over the latest Tyler Perry film. I cannot say that I am surprised that it won again, as the Easter holiday is ripe for family viewing. There is no finer family film, currently in wide release, than Horton Hears a Who. It is funny and is sure to entertain the young ones, while also being smart enough to give the accompanying adults something to watch. You won't fall asleep in this one!

Hot on the heels of this week's repeat winner are a trio of new releases. Topping the week's new class is the latest from Tyler Perry, Tyler Perry's Meet the Brown's. I have not seen the film, but he is fast building a reputation in Hollywood. Despite being continually underrated by most critics, he makes popular film after popular film. I cannot say that I have had much interest in seeing his films, but it would be a mistake to underestimate his appeal, his draw, or an audience that may be under-served by the majority of what Hollywood is offering. I suspect this film will show some decent legs in the weeks to come.

Coming in third place, a good ways back from the top two films is the latest in Asian adapted horror, the lackluster Shutter. It is just more of the same for the fast becoming stale cottage industry. There is very little to enjoy in this joyless affair. It is rather predictable and contains much of what is plaguing all of these remakes. You would be better served just renting The Ring or The Grudge, or better yet, seek out the originals.

Right on the heels of Shutter is the latest Apatow camp creation, Drillbit Taylor (aka Superbad: The Prequel). The film is not nearly as funny as the last few from this corner of the comedy world, but it still delivers an funny good time. It taps into the awkwardness of being a freshman, the dreams of popularity, tempered by perpetual geekdom. The emotions feel genuine even while the film bubbles over into excess, including the high concept of hiring a bodyguard.

There was one other new film entering the top ten this week, the Spanish language Under the Same Moon. This is a film I have not gotten a chance to see, but I hope to at some point in the near future. It looks like a sweet tale of love and family as a young boy works his way from Mexico to California in search of his mother.

As for the rest of the films? Most showed decent holds from last week, impressive considering the holiday weekend. The most impressive would have to be The Bank Job, and while it is not exactly burning up the box office, it has been steadily bringing in audiences since it opened a few weeks ago. It dropped a mere 17% this week. Not too shabby. Back up at the top of the list, Horton Hears a Who seems poised to become the first film of 2008 to top the $100 million mark.

Next week will see the release of the latest spoof Superhero Movie (which seems to have halfway decent early word, although I am not holding out much luck), the blackjack-centric 21, the Simon Pegg comedy Run Fat Boy Run, and the war drama Stop Loss.

Four movies dropped off the top ten this week: Doomsday (11), The Other Boleyn Girl (12), The Spiderwick Chronicles (14), and Semi-Pro (15).

This WeekLast WeekTitleWknd GrossOverallWeek in release
11Horton Hears a Who$24,590,596$86,010,5172
2NTyler Perry's Meet the Browns$20,082,809$20,082,8091
3NShutter$10,447,559$10,447,5591
4NDrillbit Taylor$10,309,986$10,309,9861
5210,000 B.C.$8,934,064$76,401,3023
63Never Back Down$4,827,250$16,790,3612
74College Road Trip$4,697,683$32,073,0033
86The Bank Job$4,191,773$19,521,6723
95Vantage Point$3,805,541$65,300,7845
10NUnder the Same Moon$2,770,000$2,770,0001

Box Office Predictions Recap
While I only got the top film placed correctly, my only bad guess was Drillbit Taylor, for some reason I thought it was going to do considerably better. Anyway, the same statement can be said concerning my gross predictions. Most were pretty close, save for the nearly $9 million differential between my Drillbit guess and the actual. Oh well, there's always next week. Still, I am pretty happy with how everything turned out. Save for Drillbit of course.

Here is how the field matched up:

ActualPredictionTitleWknd GrossPrediction
11Horton Hears a Who$24,590,596$25 million
42Drillbit Taylor$10,309,986$19 million
23Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns$20,082,809$17 million
34Shutter$10,447,559$9 million
55

10,000 BC

$8,934,064$8 million
76College Road Trip$4,697,683$4.5 million
67Never Back down$4,827,250$4 million
98Vantage Point$3,805,541$3.5 million
89The Bank Job$4,191,773$3 million
1110Doomsday$2,249,880$2.5 million

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