Craig's MovieBlog

Wanted: Second Biggest #2 Debut Ever

Does that even make sense?  Wanted opened to $51.1 million this weekend, and while it wasn’t enough to beat Wall-E ($62.5 million), it was the second biggest debut ever that didn’t hit #1. 

I love stats like this.  Also, I am a dork.

Here are the top five #2 debuts of all time (via Box Office Mojo)

Rank	Title	Opening	Weekend Winner (Weekend Gross)
1	The Day After Tomorrow	$68.7 million	Shrek 2 ($72.1 million)
2	Wanted	$51.1 million	Wall-E ($62.5 million)
3	The Longest Yard	$47.6 million	Revenge of the Sith ($55.2 million)
4	Alvin and the Chipmunks	$44.3 million	I Am Legend ($77.2 million)
5	Casino Royale	$40.8 million	Happy Feet ($41.5 million)

So That Happened...

This weekend, as Shrek 3 became the 3rd biggest opening ever, and according to Dreamworks/Paramount, the biggest animated film of all time (I'm not so sure about that - did they see the acting in Spider-Man 3?), it also became the 8th film to make over $100 million in its opening weekend.  For what it's worth, I'm sure this list will have 10 films by the end of the summer after Pirates 3 and Harry Potter 5.

Here are the current top box office openings of all time, according to Box Office Mojo:

Spider-Man 3	$151,116,516
Pirates of the Caribbean 2	$135,634,554
Shrek the Third	$122,000,000
Spider-Man	$114,844,116
Star Wars - Episode III	$108,435,841
Shrek 2	$108,037,878
X-Men: The Last Stand	$102,750,665
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	$102,685,961

Looking at these films in a vacuum makes it hard to comprehend how huge they are.  Try and remember that most films don't make this much money if you add up their entire domestic, international, DVD/Video/Cable runs.  Try to remember that Batman changed the world when it had the first ever opening of $40 million way back in 1989.  Spidey 3 made almost 4 times that amount.  Inflation and rising ticket prices do NOT make up the difference.

I can't help but feel as is this is the Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire era of blockbuster movie openings, and I'm already numb to their impact.  I would love for someone with more time and smarter than I am to try and figure out who are the dealers, what is the steroid, who are the owners, and who are the players (all metaphorically, of course).  I'm ready for a Brady Anderson or Luis Gonzales to hit 50 home runs, but in the cinematic world.  Basically, when will a Rob Schneider/Andy Dick film open to $100 million?  Because at that point, I will be done at this restaurant, and I'm asking for my check.

I just have a few rhetorical questions:

• How has it become "boring" for a film to break $100 million on its opening weekend? 
• How in the world has it become commonplace for a film to open on over 4,000 screens? 
• And really, how in the world did X-Men 3 only make $234 million in its entire theatrical run after making $102 million in its first 3 days?!?!?  Fox should be embarrassed.

My one real question is: how did this all come to pass?  Who did the math to figure out the secret formula that would stack the deck completely in the favor of the tentpole films?  How did the stars align so that audiences, filmmakers, theater owners, and studios all arrived on the same page?  I can't even get my kids to follow me in the mall, much less even begin to understand how to align millions of people and organizations so that those gigantic numbers end up on the chart above.

Big Box Office Roundup - Memorial Day Weekend 2006

Didn’t any of you stay home this weekend?  Even if you didn’t go to see X-Men: The Last Stand ($122.9 million), you certainly went to see The Da Vinci Code ($42.4 million) or Over the Hedge ($35.3 million).  According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the top 12 movies this week grossed $187.6 million, the highest EVER for any weekend.  Clearly the big winner this weekend were studio executives and babysitters taking care of your kids while you went out.

Let’s start with the behemoth that is X-Men: The Last Stand.  By taking in $120.1 million for the four-day weekend and $103.1 million for the three-day weekend, it has garnered its fair share of records: The biggest Memorial Day weekend ever (Shrek 2 is now in 2nd with $95.6 million).

5th biggest four-day weekend ever:

	Title	Opening
1	Revenge of the Sith	$158,449,700
2	Spider-Man 2	$130,456,123
3	The Matrix Reloaded	$129,282,716
4	Spider-Man	$125,878,901
5	X-Men: The Last Stand	$120,125,000

4th biggest three-day opening weekend ever:

	Title	Weekend
1	Spider-Man	$114,844,116
2	Revenge of the Sith	$108,435,841
3	Shrek 2	$108,037,878
4	X-Men: The Last Stand	$103,125,000

4th biggest three-day opening ever (not just weekends):

	Title	Opening
1	Revenge of the Sith	$124,237,232
2	Spider-Man	$114,844,116
3	The Matrix Reloaded	$103,227,933
4	X-Men: The Last Stand	$103,125,000

2nd biggest single day and 2nd biggest opening day ever:

	Title	Daily Gross
1	Revenge of the Sith	$50,013,859
2	X-Men: The Last Stand	$45,500,000

Biggest Friday ever:

	Title	Friday Gross
1	X-Men: The Last Stand	$45,500,000
2	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	$40,118,363
3	Spider-Man	$39,406,872

10th biggest Saturday ever at $32.1 million.  Shrek 2 leads with $44.8 million.

8th biggest Sunday ever at $25.5 million.  Shrek 2 leads with $34.9 million.

6th biggest Monday ever at $17.0 million.  Spider-Man 2 leads with $27.7 million.

But besides X-Men, there was other news to report.  First of all, The Da Vinci Code did tremendously here in the States (another $42.4 million, bringing it to $144.9 million and 2nd for 2006) but it did even better overseas, losing very little business this week compared to its opening last week.  It’s about to break the $500 million mark for its worldwide total, and that’s just after being open for only 11 days.  Only 42 films have ever broken that mark in their entire run.

Secondly, Al Gore’s PowerPoint presentation on global warming which became a movie, An Inconvenient Truth, took in the highest average per screen total ever for a documentary, at $70,505 per screen in four theaters for a total of $365,787.  As a comparison, Fahrenheit 9/11 made $23.9 million opening weekend, on 868 screens, for an average of $27,558 per screen.

Finally, I want to get back to the big movies of the weekend for a moment.  Day by day, X-Men dropped and dropped, while Da Vinci and Over the Hedge held relatively steady.  While X-Men definitely won the weekend, and won each day of the weekend, check out this comparative chart that I threw together:

X-Men 3: 2nd Biggest Opening Day EVER

Wow.  I think that Wolverine spin-off has a pretty green light now.

Friday's total of a whopping $44.1 million is the 2nd biggest opening day ever, and the 3rd biggest single day ever.  What's happening to us?  I mean, there won't ever be enough hookers and starlets to satisfy Brett Ratner now.

According to Box Office Mojo, the numbers look like this:

SINGLE DAY GROSSES - OPENING DAY:

1. Star Wars Episode III - $50,013,859
2. X-Men: The Last Stand - $44,100,000
3. Spider Man 2 - $40,442,604
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $40,118,363
5. Spider Man - $39,406,872

SINGLE DAY GROSSES - OVERALL:

1. Star Wars Episode III - $50,013,859
2. Shrek 2 - $44,797,042
3. X-Men: The Last Stand - $44,100,000
4. Spider Man - $43,622,264
5. Star Wars Episode III - $40,693,760

Star Wars Clip from Robot Chicken

I saw this on Better than Fudge, and he's right. - "This. is. genius."

Star Lords (Star Wars/Lord of the Rings mashup)

This new mashup is so well done, and frankly, so bizarre, I'm really not sure what to say about it.

Enjoy.

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