DELLAMORTE'S BOX OFFICE WRAP UP – 8/29/08

This just in: A pine-y, yeast-y aftertaste. Wit a subtle hint of nectarine mixed with hazelnuts.

Five Hundred. Million. Dollars. That’s what The Dark Knight has made theatrically. Warner Brothers delivered big time after some weak summers, and showed that (even with Speed Racer tanking) they had a reall winner. A thoroughbred. After seven weeks it’s crossed the half billion mark. Shit’s amazing. But with sumer over it means Warners will not feel any pressure to keep it going, so a grand total of around $525- $530 is likely. I would be surprised to see it drop too hard next week as only one film is opening, but by 9/12-19, it’ll start getting crowded out. But who cares. Shit ton of money.

There were four films that opened this weekend, and the best of the bunch was Babylon A.D. which stars Vin Diesel and cost $70 Million to make. Even with nothing opening next week, it’ll probably drop like a stone. The director went public to complain about Fox fucking him, and the film came out Labor day weekend. Fox had to finish their summer like that, didn’t they? Those enemies of good taste. Those princes of Maine.

Worst off was College, which did a little over $2.5 Million, and came in at #15. It probably shaved at least a million off of Disaster Movie, which was shooting this summer, and seemed to be a collection of jokes made by guys who watched trailers for films that came out this summer. Scary Movie 3 had to have its ending reshot when they realized that no one liked Hulk,  so it’s likely there’s a couple references in the film that just stink. Anyway, my read is that these films work better in January where they come after all the heady Oscar pics, and slightly more intelligent blockbusters have had their runs. Summer is the time for brain dead entertainment, and so this likely failed because there was nothing novel about it. Or maybe Lionsgate just rushed this one too fast (the film was shooting in June, so post on this was likely compressed). Still, it bombed, and for that, an angels gets his wings or some shit. Surprisingly, Traitor did rather well. And that’s because people love Don Cheadle. How do you not love Cheadle? He’s so Cheadley. With a $20 budget and an $11 opening weekend, the film should be in good straights to turn a profit, so it’s a solid two base hit.

But holding the number one slot for the third week in a row is Tropic Thunder. That’s good for a film that cost as much as did, and will likely get to $110-120 Million. It’s all about the DVD sales, which will likely be good as it was a late summer hit.  And as much as I hear people dropping “Full Retard,” it’s had quite a bit of cultural saturation. Again, if the film cost half as much, it’d be one of the bigger hits of the summer, but with a near-$100 budget, it’s much more modest. Where Pineapple Express – falling way short of $100 – is hugely profitable, and will likely top out around $90, which (to be fair) is three times its budget.

The House Bunny is on the cusp of $30, and if it can limp all the way to $45, that’s huge for a film like that. Maybe even $50. But it didn’t drop like a brick so word of mouth is at least pleasing, and the DVD should do some business. Who would think it’d do better than Paul W.S. Anderson’s Death Race? That should feel the brunt of Bangkok Dangerous next week, and it’s just not pretty. Not pretty at all.

What is attractive are European Holidays, and with a singalong Mamma Mia! managed to go up in business, which means maybe $140 isn’t out of the question, while Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona is turning into a modest hit for the Woodster. Bully, Bully I say.