March 16-18 Boxoffice Report

[Minnesota]

Yet another Monday is upon us and once again we find that the two big movies are 300 and *sigh* "wild hogs"... you'll also notice that Sandra Bullock's new flick Premoniton seems to be doing very well at number 3 on the box office. As per usuall, read, cry,    /  shake fist at hollywood, and discuss with fellow roundtable members.


'300' Stays Atop Box Office

Spartans continued to fend off the box-office competition as the battle epic "300" took the No. 1 spot for the second-straight weekend with $31.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Warner Bros. movie, the story of vastly outnumbered Spartans defending against Persian invaders, shot past the $100 million mark after just a week in theaters, bringing its total to $127.5 million.

Disney's road comedy "Wild Hogs" also crossed the $100 million mark, remaining the No. 2 movie with $18.8 million to lift its total to $104 million.

Sony's paranormal thriller "Premonition," starring Sandra Bullock as a woman whose husband is killed one day but turns up alive and well the next, debuted in third place with $18 million.

The weekend's two other new wide releases had modest openings. Universal's fright flick "Dead Silence" the tale of a maniacal ventriloquist dummy, from director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell, the team behind the original "Saw" horror hit debuted at No. 4 with $7.8 million.

Fox Searchlight's "I Think I Love My Wife," a romance starring Chris Rock as a bored hubby drawn to a temptress (Kerry Washington), premiered in fifth place with $5.7 million. Rock also co-wrote and directed the movie.

In limited release, IFC's Irish historical drama "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" opened solidly over St. Patrick's Day weekend with $75,311 in nine theaters. The top prize winner at last spring's Cannes Film Festival, the movie is directed by Ken Loach and stars Cillian Murphy in the story of two brothers on opposite sides of Ireland's civil war in the 1920s.

Bad weather on the East Coast and the NCAA basketball tournament, combined with traditional partying on St. Patrick's Day, put a bit of a damper on the box office, particularly among young males who are the main audience for "300."

In Boston, with its heavy Irish-American population, crowds for "300" were down 70 percent on St. Patrick's Day compared to the previous Saturday, while the drop in the rest of the country was just 49 percent, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

Even so, overall box office rose, with the top-12 movies taking in $102.4 million, up 10.5 percent from the same weekend last year.

Movie attendance this year is up 3.5 percent compared to 2006 admissions, with hits such as "300" and "Wild Hogs" giving Hollywood an early start on what is expected to be a huge summer season. Among summer's blockbuster sequels are "Shrek the Third," "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

"`300' and the other late-spring hits have put us in a fantastic position heading into the homestretch leading up to summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.



Weekend Box Office Actuals (U.S.)
Mar 16 - 18 weekend

This Wk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 81 82 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Last Wk 1 2 - - - 3 4 5 6 8 7 10 9 16 17 13 26 11 21 14 15 18 20 19 12 22 24 23 27 29 34 32 25 30 36 28 43 39 38 33 35 51 - - 37 46 47 49 45 54 - 52 65 41 77 59 40 - 48 71 - 58 55 56 82 60 73 110 61 64 105 92 78 102 - 81 70 84 87 66 75 83 88 79 67 - 72 91 90 96 - 100 93 - 74 104 101 94 111 76 107 109 98

Title 300 Wild Hogs Premonition Dead Silence I Think I Love My Wife Bridge to Terabithia Ghost Rider Zodiac Norbit Music and Lyrics The Number 23 Amazing Grace Breach Night at the Museum The Lives of Others The Ultimate Gift The Namesake Black Snake Moan Happy Feet Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls The Astronaut Farmer Pan's Labyrinth The Last King of Scotland Because I Said So Reno 911!: Miami The Queen The Host The Messengers Charlotte's Web Deep Sea 3D Blood Diamond Miss Potter Dreamgirls Stomp the Yard Arthur and the Invisibles Notes on a Scandal Avenue Montaigne The Painted Veil Epic Movie Hannibal Rising Volver Magnificent Desolation: Walk The Wind That Shakes the Barley Tortilla Heaven Breaking and Entering Eragon Roving Mars Venus Believe in Me `` Starter for 10 Behind the Mask Little Children The Italian Letters From Iwo Jima The Work and the Glory Into Great Silence The Departed My Brother Babel The Good German Nomad (The Warrior) Days of Glory Rocky Balboa Factory Girl Beyond the Gates Maxed Out Galapagos Blood and Chocolate God Grew Tired of Us Sweet Land El Topo Puccini for Beginners Becket Le Petit Lieutenant Blockade Exterminating Angels An Unreasonable Man Wild Safari 3D Aliens of the Deep Curse of the Golden Flower Islander Iraq in Fragments Comedy of Power Two Weeks Little Miss Sunshine Army of Shadows Borat: Cultural Old Joy Rock Bottom Tears of the Black Tiger Adam's Apples Flannel Pajamas Climates Absolute Wilson T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous Close to Home Glastonbury Space Station 3-D The Cave of the Yellow Dog Bamako Verdict on Auschwitz The Situation The Holy Mountain

Weekend Gross $32,877,328 $19,058,871 $17,558,689 $7,842,725 $5,674,802 $5,192,153 $4,176,658 $3,287,560 $2,766,593 $2,272,317 $2,149,452 $2,111,589 $1,487,705 $839,927 $802,380 $801,452 $715,026 $665,525 $616,334 $574,914 $527,128 $455,277 $359,725 $341,235 $334,363 $319,076 $245,964 $227,756 $219,361 $206,225 $192,882 $186,673 $175,776 $133,579 $119,844 $101,614 $94,568 $89,878 $83,823 $77,795 $77,150 $76,626 $76,190 $73,452 $67,464 $60,211 $59,847 $47,705 $41,811 $40,542 $38,500 $36,164 $35,039 $34,635 $32,550 $30,973 $29,189 $28,613 $21,148 $20,911 $14,250 $12,202 $12,111 $12,110 $11,438 $10,975 $10,203 $10,015 $9,517 $9,308 $7,789 $7,430 $6,400 $6,189 $5,271 $5,183 $5,054 $4,947 $4,694 $4,218 $3,781 $3,384 $2,320 $2,314 $2,184 $1,791 $1,780 $1,760 $1,692 $1,682 $1,305 $1,208 $1,185 $1,045 $792 $737 $589 $562 $526 $525 $498 $367 $105

Cumulative $129,165,656 $104,226,868 $17,558,689 $7,842,725 $5,674,802 $74,967,513 $110,378,574 $29,137,557 $92,438,806 $47,448,875 $33,917,402 $14,457,029 $31,366,800 $246,092,265 $4,591,077 $2,528,371 $1,076,544 $8,744,995 $196,561,994 $31,058,283 $10,371,048 $36,207,983 $16,862,173 $42,304,410 $20,014,736 $55,731,585 $687,454 $35,374,833 $82,506,325 $24,791,585 $56,962,625 $1,415,424 $102,882,170 $61,356,221 $14,867,792 $17,238,407 $430,660 $7,726,316 $39,496,113 $27,503,677 $12,673,030 $17,904,407 $76,190 $73,452 $811,487 $74,931,900 $6,435,779 $3,261,449 $151,811 $177,442 $38,500 $5,369,440 $284,410 $13,602,578 $1,241,316 $100,433 $132,373,442 $28,613 $34,287,296 $1,241,763 $14,250 $256,451 $70,261,813 $1,654,367 $19,292 $39,106 $16,766,810 $3,517,928 $261,845 $1,554,923 $54,222 $64,800 $114,250 $209,420 $7,048 $17,851 $120,380 $12,603,571 $8,851,568 $6,560,634 $32,652 $156,032 $75,937 $45,816 $59,887,868 $728,352 $128,503,736 $234,592 $11,797 $57,670 $1,305 $105,755 $98,509 $65,768 $52,927,893 $13,359 $5,286 $64,989,697 $138,935 $57,502 $10,621 $28,490 $20,791

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source: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/

[ChrisHanel]

Can someone explain to me WTF Wild Hogs is doing still at #2? I'd like to think i'm pretty in touch with what's being pushed by Hollywood marketing wise, yet the only promotion I saw for this was a single Coming Soon poster at the theater. I never caught a commercial, trailer, or advertisement online. Was I just so far our of their target demographic that we never crossed paths? I read after the fact that the critics hated it... is it just pure word of mouth keeping it alive?

[mrbasehart]

With the apparent lack of competition, it's not surprising that 300 is still at the top, though I share Chris' disbelief at the success of Wild Hogs.  Perhaps the movie has reached the supposed untapped market of the over 35s?

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

Perhaps the movie has reached the supposed untapped market of the over 35s?

yeah i think thats the case, it really seems like the sort of thing my dad and my uncle might like.  although its hard to tell, my dad has such unique tastes.  As in he usually hates comedys. 

[Amy]

Yeah, add me to the list of people baffled by the success of Wild Hogs.

Frankly, it's one of those things that makes me think most people are dumb.

[ChrisHanel]

Frankly, it's one of those things that makes me think most people are dumb.

Most people are. To paraphrase a comedian whose name escapes me (probably Lewis Black or Carlin)

"Take the average person. You know what they are? THEY'RE -effing- AVERAGE!!!"

-Chris

[J-Proof]

I'm surprised Wild Hogs is still up there.

I saw it and was solidly entertained, but number two for two weeks now? I dunno about that one... and it's breeched the 100 mil mark, which is pretty impressive for the kind of movie it is.

Wild Hogs has enough sex jokes in it to make most parents sketchy about taking their kids to go see it, but the humor isn't so raw or shocking as to suggest 100 mil nationwide....

Ah well! Yay for the movies! This year is already a good one, says I!

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

for the record i got me some bootleg versions of 300, pans labrynth, season 2 of house, and ghostrider.  I have something to watch this week  yAAAAAYY me.  Ive already discovered this bootleg version of season 2 of house is missing 8 episodes, so you get what you pay for sigh. 

[Compound]

In Boston, with its heavy Irish-American population, crowds for "300" were down 70 percent on St. Patrick's Day compared to the previous Saturday,

I think the message is clear: The Irish hate Sparta.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

its understandable.  after all they have so much to do with each other afterall lol.  And of course 300 was just a political message from right wing hollywood to iran telling them of our hate for them. 

[Pak-Man]

My predictions for next week:

Ninjas beat Spartans.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

pakky thats like predicting the sun will rise lol