***WEEKEND BOX OFFICE NUMBERS***

[Mike]

***FRIDAY'S NUMBERS***

1. LOTR: ROTK - 11,105,000
2. CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN - 8,940,000
3. SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE - 4,501,500
4. COLD MOUNTAIN - 4,389,000
5. PAYCHECK - 3,894,000
6. PETER PAN - 3,440,000
7. MONA LISA SMILE - 3,272,000
8. LAST SAMURAI - 2,703,000
9. CALENDAR GIRLS - 1,624,000
10. BAD SANTA 1,274,000

[Mike]

Wow! Really nice numbers! Everything did well. Go CALENDAR GIRLS! I could smell a sleeper hit, and I hope it is one. Looks pretty good!

[paul]

My god, can't Something's Gotta Give just go away???

I wish Peter Pan was doing MUCH better. :(

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by Homer
The Last Samurai did very well, holding up great compared to last weekend. I am very surprised to see Bad Santa still in the top 10 even after Christmas is over and done with. For anyone that cares, the great House of Sand and Fog grossed 613,000 on Friday, for a cumulative total of 4,134,000. It actually increased from last Friday, its first day in semi-wide release. I hope that it continues to increase and Dreamworks increases its theatre count substantially next weekend. They should release in at least 1,000+ theatres for next weekend. Then it would surely enter the top 10.

HOSAF is doing badly. No way in hell Dreamworks will expand it to 1,000 theaters.

[Lynn Minmei]

Originally posted by paul
My god, can't Something's Gotta Give just go away???

I wish Peter Pan was doing MUCH better. :(

I was one of the peole who saw it on Friday, and the movie sold out in our thatre.

It isn't going anywhere, it looks like.

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by Lynn Minmei
I was one of the peole who saw it on Friday, and the movie sold out in our thatre.

It isn't going anywhere, it looks like.

Yup. Looks to cross $100 million. Should have great legs this month.

[Mike]

Originally posted by Jon Lyrik
HOSAF is doing badly. No way in hell Dreamworks will expand it to 1,000 theaters.

THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is doing decent. It's not doing great, but it's not doing bad either. It should have a per-screen average of $4,000+ this weekend, which is not bad at all. Oscar buzz will help it out. It even looks to increase from last weekend. Eventually, it will be in over 1,000 theaters, but Dreamworks wouldn't do it yet, and that's good, because it would be dumb as hell to widen it so fast. That would only hurt it. It should stay around where it's at for now, and maybe in a couple of weeks add a couple hundred more theaters.

I can't even remember what studio has BIG FISH, but they are morons for putting it in over 2,100 theaters next weekend. That's WAY too many theaters WAY too fast. Oh well, it's their loss. I could see 100 more next weekend, that would be completely fine, but this is fucking ridiculous. It's not like it's a movie that's a big sell on its own, it needs time to build word of mouth and needs to expand slower. I was shocked to see it was adding so many theaters so soon. I can't believe how dumb they are. Sure, it's doing GREAT now in limited release, but put it that wide, and it definitely won't do as well.

[Mike]

Originally posted by paul
My god, can't Something's Gotta Give just go away???

No, it won't. It was obvious before AND after its release that it would make it to 100 Million. There's no doubt that it will easily make it to 100+ Million now. There's no chance it won't.

I still need to see it. Looks great!

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by Mike
THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is doing decent. It's not doing great, but it's not doing bad either. It should have a per-screen average of $4,000+ this weekend, which is not bad at all. Oscar buzz will help it out. It even looks to increase from last weekend. Eventually, it will be in over 1,000 theaters, but Dreamworks wouldn't do it yet, and that's good, because it would be dumb as hell to widen it so fast. That would only hurt it. It should stay around where it's at for now, and maybe in a couple of weeks add a couple hundred more theaters.

No, it IS doing poorly. At it's screen count it should have a PTA of $7,000+ at least, especially for an Oscar contender. Then it would be sensible to release it in 1,000 theaters.

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by Mike
I can't even remember what studio has BIG FISH, but they are morons for putting it in over 2,100 theaters next weekend. That's WAY too many theaters WAY too fast. Oh well, it's their loss. I could see 100 more next weekend, that would be completely fine, but this is fucking ridiculous. It's not like it's a movie that's a big sell on its own, it needs time to build word of mouth and needs to expand slower. I was shocked to see it was adding so many theaters so soon. I can't believe how dumb they are. Sure, it's doing GREAT now in limited release, but put it that wide, and it definitely won't do as well.

I agree it is a bit too fast. It should be about 300 theaters next weekend, then for MLK weekend release it wide at 600-1,000 screens. That would be better.

[dellamorte dellamore]

I'm really surprised that CBTD is holding up so well against ROTK . It's standing toe to toe with it ( just about ) , nice job .

[Jon Lyrik]

Weekend Estimates

1) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King-$30.8; -39%; Week 3
2) Cheaper by the Dozen-$21.9; -21%; Week 2
3) Something's Gotta Give-$12.5; -10%; Week 4
4) Cold Mountain-$11.3; -20%; Week 2
5) Paycheck-$10; -26%; Week 2
6) Mona Lisa Smile-$8.7; -23%; Week 3
7) Peter Pan-$8.5; -24%; Week 2
8) The Last Samurai-$7.5; -10%; Week 5
9) Calender Girls-$4.6; +1050%; Week 3
10) Bad Santa-$3; -33%; Week 6
11) Stuck on You-$2.8; -23%; Week 4
12) The Haunted Mansion-$2.6; -11%; Week 6
--- Monster-$0.25; +190%; Week 2

[Deckard_HR]

"Something's Gotta Give" was an excellent romantic comedy...which was about damn time! Anyway...I'm glad to see "Last Samurai" edging closer to $100M. "Lord of the Rings" needs to keep up momentum to become the highest grossing movie worldwide EVER...beating "Titanic"! Hey...I can wish.

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by Deckard_HR
"Lord of the Rings" needs to keep up momentum to become the highest grossing movie worldwide EVER...beating "Titanic"! Hey...I can wish.

I can safely say it won't happen, but at this rate it is a lock for $1,000,000,000 worldwide and the number two spot worldwide. Here in the US it is a lock for $360 million and will probably make $370-380 million, which gives my $376.6 million prediction I've kept for months more life.

[thompsoncory]

Here are my projections for each film's final gross:

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - $402 million
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN - $164 million
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE - $112 million
COLD MOUNTAIN - $107 million
PAYCHECK - $71 million
MONA LISA SMILE - $83 million
PETER PAN - $49 million
THE LAST SAMURAI - $109 million
CALENDAR GIRLS - $25 million
BAD SANTA - $61 million
STUCK ON YOU - $33 million
THE HAUNTED MANSION - $72 million

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by Homer
House of Sand and Fog really isn't doing terrible, like Lyrik seems to think. Especially when you consider that it cost 16.5 million and will likely make at least that in theatres, if not much more if it gets Oscar nominations. I think that it is a lock for at least a nomination for Kingsley and Adapted Screenplay. It deserves a Best Picture nomination but won't get it despite being an absolutely stunning film.

*sigh* I'll go at it again:

In only 400 theaters the film had a pretty mediocre $4,000 PSA, which is quite bad for an Oscar contender on it's first few weeks, and even worse when it is Christmas. It might get close to it's budget, but it is still quite disappointing considering it's pedigree.

Originally posted by Homer
Big Fish is sure expanding alot next weekend. It might work but I don't really see it appealing to that wide of an audience. It looks WEIRD! Mike, Sony/Columbia is the distributor for Big Fish.

All this talk about release pattern has me wondering something. What is the right release pattern for a film that starts in limited release anyway? I remember that Mystic River spent one week at 13 theatres or so then went wide the next, doing quite well so maybe a quick expansion can and does work.

Yeah, plus Sony are some of the best marketers around. It will make a pretty good amount of money and open fairly well with great legs.