| Title (Letting the days go by) |
Weekend Total (let the water hold me down) |
Per Screen (Letting the days go by) | Total (water flowing undergound | |
| 1 | Superbad | $18,000,000 (-45.5%) | $6,105 | $68,572,000 |
| 2 | The Bourne Ultimatum | $12,361,000 (-37.8%) | $3,359 | $185,143,000 |
| 3 | Rush Hour 3 | $12,250,000 (-42.6%) | $3,594 | $109,013,000 |
| 4 | Mr. Bean’s Holiday | $10,121,000 | $5,904 | $10,121,000 |
| 5 | WAR | $10,000,000 | $4,391 | $10,000,000 |
| 6 | The Nanny Diaries | $7,811,000 | $2,971 | $7,811,000 |
| 7 | The Simpsons Movie | $4,400,000 (-35.6%) | $1,692 | $173,437,000 |
| 8 | Stardust | $3,954,000 (-30.0%) | $1,690 | $26,455,000 |
| 9 | Hairspray | $3,450,000 (-23.4%) | $1,711 | $107,456,000 |
| 10 | The Invasion | $3,140,000 (-47.2%) | $1,131 | $11,515,000 |
I am 31 years old and live in California. I have been out of school for almost a decade now, so seasons and school getting out or going back in mean dick to me. I go to movies when they are good. And so, it appears, it is much the same with the rest of the country, because – after being presented with three half-earted films – they stuck with what worked, and that was Superbad, Bourne and Rush Hour.
Mr. Bad is inching close to $70 mil, should have it by Monday (or by actuals, hard to say), and will clear the hundred hurdle with some ease. In fact, it should do better business than Hairspray or Chuck and Larry, which are cresting around $110. But the question is: will people keep coming back, or will it die like everything else? September 7th offers The Brothers Solomon (which might not be the biggest piece of shit ever, but then again, maybe I won’t… er it isn’t) and Wednesday presents Balls of Fury. But the competition is suck.
Speaking of sucking, Rob Zombie’s Halloween should, without too much doubt, take the top slot next Sunday. But how much can that film do? A twenty opening weekend, with a heavy Friday gross and a steep drop after? The Weinsteins can’t be too happy about that. And then this weekend with The Nanny Diaries they hoped to have this summer’s The Devil Wears Prada and ended up with this summer’s Just My Luck. As much as I, like many heterosexual men, would feel privledged and honored to grope Scarlet Johansson, this whole stardom thing seems illusive for her (Note: being a star means having a built-in audience that makes your films successful), and it could be because couples don’t like going to movies where the males of the relationship will profess openly their desire to grope said starlet. But Scarlet seems to have smartly cut a corner for herself in medium-budget Hollywood films and the new “indies,” making her the 21st century equivalent of Parker Posey. It’s too bad Parker isn’t the 21st equivalent of herself, but them’s the breaks.
Resurrecting the Champ ate shit, but at 1600 screens, I’ll pretend it wasn’t a wide release and declare Mr. Bean the winner of the three newer wider titles, which is no surprise as some people still watch PBS, BBC-A and are known for being fucked up, talking like a fag, and their shit being all retarded. But you know, they can still lead kick ass lives. I make this joke, but Bean is mostly pratfalls of the Tati variety, it’s charming and harmless. British, but not brainy. This will be seen as a winner, but there was no pressure for it to do awesome as it’s already cleaned house internationally.
War supposedly delivers hot pipping servings of Awesome, with a side dish of Hell, Yeah and with a super-sized serving of STFU. International business should hopefully make it profitable, but the quick bucks have been collected.
The story here is that Bourne is still holding strong and should get past $200, making it the biggest title of the franchise, and proving that people like good action movies, and audiences are hip to the dumping grounds of summer. Rush Hour 3 is also doing well, but it should stop short of making money. Stardust is in theaters long enough that it could actually get to thirty, which – when you consider how horrible The Invasion is doing – should at least prove that people don’t actively hate it, they just missed it. And sometime within the next seven to fourteen days, Disney will get Ratatouille to $200.
The dregs used to last until October, where things were usually either awesome or misguided, but within the next couple weeks some of the big Oscar guns are on the horizon, and we’ll be getting new films from Paul Haggis, David Cronenberg, and Ang Lee. Or you will if you live in New York or LA.