Craig's MovieBlog

King Kong Slipping at Box Office Already?

I don't care what you read in the press... someone at Universal is getting fired over this:

Wednesday estimates from Box Office Mojo...
1. The Chronicles of Narnia - $4,940,386
2. King Kong - $4,870,320

Seriously, King Kong was not only just the 8th biggest debut of 2005, but its opening even did worse than the second weekends of Return of the Sith and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Don't get me wrong, King Kong will make plenty of money, but there were people talking Titanic numbers.  Forget that - we're probably talking War of the Worlds money.  Not shabby, but not record breaking.

The Chronic of Narnia Rap - Lazy Sunday

Best rap song ever... and the funniest thing Saturday Night Live has done in years.  Just brilliant.

UPDATE: I'm hearing rumors that NBC is forcing YouTube to take down the video, so here it is in Google Video. Also, you can download it for free on iTunes, even if you don't have an iPod Video.

Sorry kids - I can't find it on MSN Video.

12/12 - Box Office Report

That sound you heard this weekend was Disney CEO Bob Iger whooping it up at the launch of a brand new franchise: The Chronicles of Narnia.  It will be interesting to see if the money carries through to all the books, as I remember my interest waning progressively after reading each novel, unlike Harry Potter.  Anyway, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe made $67.1 million and became the 3rd biggest opener of the year, the 23rd biggest debut ever, and the 2nd biggest December opening of all time.

Syriana had a nice debut of $12.0 million on just 1752 screens, but is heading into heavy competition as Brokeback Mountain and Memoirs of a Geisha go broader.  Finally, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at $244.1 million is still $30 million ahead of its predecessors, but has fallen a bit off the pace.  It will probably end up as the 2nd biggest Harry Potter film and is currently the 37th biggest film ever.

Rank	LW	Week #	Title	Weekend Total	% Change	Cumulative Total	Screens	Per Screen Average
1	New	1	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe	$67,064,000	--	$67,064,000	3616	$18,546.46
2	19	3	Syriana	$12,030,000	2,207.2%	$13,529,000	1752	$6,866.44
3	1	4	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	$10,315,000	-48.1%	$244,119,000	3728	$2,766.90
4	3	4	Walk the Line	$5,750,000	-39.7%	$77,003,000	3034	$1,895.19
5	4	3	Yours, Mine and Ours	$5,150,000	-37.6%	$40,917,000	3210	$1,604.36
6	2	2	Aeon Flux	$4,625,000	-63.5%	$20,282,000	2608	$1,773.39
7	5	3	Just Friends	$3,900,000	-30.4%	$26,464,000	2464	$1,582.79
8	8	5	Pride and Prejudice	$2,491,000	-43.3%	$26,385,000	1335	$1,865.92
9	7	6	Chicken Little	$2,256,000	-48.8%	$127,230,000	2326	$969.91
10	6	3	Rent	$2,000,000	-55.0%	$26,912,000	1971	$1,014.71
11	9	5	Derailed	$1,268,000	-44.9%	$34,720,000	1128	$1,124.11
12	17	3	The Polar Express (IMAX)	$946,000	12.9%	$3,832,000	66	$14,333.33