Craig's MovieBlog

So Was It a Good Weekend or a Bad Weekend?

From showbizdata.com:

The latest Harry Potter movie may have dropped 47 percent in its second weekend; five new films couldn't do as well as two new ones a year ago; one of them, Rent, may have opened like a house on fire, but it quickly fizzled out.  Daily Variety may have reported that for the first time in eight years, only one film earned more than $20 million over the Friday-Sunday period.

And yet, despite all that bad news, if estimates hold, the Thanksgiving box office will rank second only to 2000's as the highest ever for the holiday.

Opening in limited release in Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto, the George Clooney-Matt Damon thriller Syrania took in an astounding $553,372 in just five theaters over the five days. Its three-day take of $372,725 ($74,429 per theater) was the best ever for a Thanksgiving weekend, Variety observed.

Understatement of the Day: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Will Make a Lot of Money

My favorite online ticket service, Fandango, has offered up this data about how well tickets are selling for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and David Card wants even more synergy:

• They're selling 5 Harry Potter tickets every second.
• It's their second biggest seller in terms of advance ticket sales (see below).
• It accounts for 94% of all their weekly ticket sales.
• 80% of tickets sold are for Day 1.
• Several hundred Thursday midnight shows were sold out.

Top Five Advance Fandango Ticket Sellers:

1. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
3. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4. The Passion of the Christ
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban