ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Nicholson and Freeman Team Up For #1 Hit

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Nicholson and Freeman Team Up For #1 Hit

Dungeon Seige fever fails to sweep the nation.

by Alex Vo | January 13, 2008

Senior citizen superstars grabbed control of the North American box office as the end-of-life tale The Bucket List starring Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman opened nationally after a limited run and took over the number one spot. Ice Cube delivered very solid results for his new comedy First Sunday which debuted close behind in second place giving the marketplace some new blood after a three-week stretch when mostly the same titles held the top positions on the charts. Overall, moviegoers spent over $100M on the top ten films and kept the box office going strong.

Director Rob Reiner scored his first number one opener in over fifteen years with The Bucket List which debuted to a healthy estimate of $19.5M over the Friday-to-Sunday period to lead all films. The PG-13 pic expanded nationwide into 2,911 theaters after two weeks of exclusive runs in only 16 sites and averaged a sturdy $6,712 per location this weekend. The story of two dying men who set out to fulfill their final wishes received mixed reviews from critics but was welcomed with open arms by the paying public. It was the director's first trip to the box office throne since 1992's A Few Good Men which also starred Nicholson.

The Bucket List was one of four films that Warner Bros. placed in the top ten. The studio's four-pack accounted for 38% of all tickets sold for the top ten movies. Add in the cash from its limited run and Bucket has collected $21M thus far. In today's youth-skewing marketplace, it is rare to see a film anchored by two 70-year-old men hit the top of the box office.

Ice Cube proved once again how reliable of a draw he is with comedy with his latest venture First Sunday which opened a close second with an estimated $19M while playing in 700 fewer theaters than Bucket. The PG-13 pic about a pair of petty criminals who plot to rob a neighborhood church broke into 2,213 theaters and averaged a potent $8,586. It was the best average of any film in wide release. If estimates hold, Sunday will give Cube the third best opening weekend of his career after the pair of Barbershop hits which bowed to $20.6M for the first installment in 2002 and $24.2M for the 2004 sequel.

First Sunday looks to be another moneymaker for the rapper-turned-actor as well as for Sony's Screen Gems unit. The $20M production skewed to a 54% female audience while 63% was between the ages of 18 and 39, according to studio research. With late-night talk shows back in production, stars Cube and Tracy Morgan were among the first actors to go back out and promote their films using those valuable marketing vehicles.

Fox Searchlight expanded its hit comedy Juno again adding 523 locations and slipped a spot to third place with an estimated $14M. That represented a drop in gross of only 12% from last weekend and a 31% decline in the per-theater average to $5,719. The cume to date has reached $71.3M and on Monday the ensemble hit will surpass the $71.5M of Sideways to become the top grossing film ever for Searchlight. Juno now looks on course to reach at least $110M domestically making it a highly profitable picture considering its production budget of less than $10M.

The holiday season's awesome threesome followed. National Treasure: Book of Secrets claimed the number four spot in its fourth weekend with an estimated $11.5M. Down 43%, the Buena Vista adventure sequel boosted its cume to $187.3M and stands as Nicolas Cage's top-grossing movie ever.

Fox's kidpic Alvin and the Chipmunks collected an estimated $9.1M, off 42%, for a $187.7M tally to date. Close behind was Will Smith who saw his sci-fi smash I Am Legend drop 48% to an estimated $8.1M for a stellar cume of $240.2M for Warner Bros. Together, the trio has grossed a jaw-dropping $615M and counting just from North America over the last month.

The supernatural thriller One Missed Call dropped down to seventh losing 51% from last weekend for an estimated $6.1M in ticket sales. Warner Bros. has scared up a respectable $20.6M in ten days and should be headed for a finish of roughly $35M. The studio's romantic drama P.S. I Love You continued to score with women not interested in the NFL playoffs and slipped only 36% to an estimated $5M. Cume to date is a solid $47M.

Universal opened the new animated film The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything to the tune of $4.4M, according to estimates. The G-rated adventure from The VeggieTales franchise averaged a decent $3,305 from 1,337 theaters. The debut was weaker than the $6.2M and $6,597 average of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie which bowed in October 2002. Rival kidpic Alvin and the Chipmunks grossed twice as much as Pirates this weekend despite being in its fifth weekend of release.

Two big awards contenders from the Universal family were in a dead heat for tenth place with estimates that were virtually identical. The Keira Knightley period romance Atonement took in an estimated $4.3M, off 15%, for a $25.2M cume to date. Focus continued to expand the film going from 583 to 950 playdates. Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts saw their latest film Charlie Wilson's War fall 47% to an estimated $4.27M pushing Universal's total to $59.5M. War is the second lowest grossing film for Hanks over the past ten years ahead of only The Ladykillers which swiped $39.7M in 2004.

Opening poorly outside of the top ten was the adventure tale In the Name of the King starring Jason Statham which bowed to just $3.3M, according to estimates. Attacking 1,631 sites, the videogame-inspired pic averaged a weak $2,002 and failed to attract sizable interest from its young male target audience. Freestyle Releasing handled the distribution for the PG-13 film.

Two films fell out of the top ten this weekend. The Johnny Depp musical revenge tale Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street dropped 39% to an estimated $3.4M boosting its sum to $44.1M. The $50M DreamWorks/Warner Bros. co-production should end its domestic run with $50-55M. Sony's fantasy adventure The Water Horse fell 47% to an estimated $3.3M for a $35.2M total. Look for a $40-45M finish.

The Daniel Day-Lewis oil baron saga There Will Be Blood remained a muscular contender in limited release. The Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production grossed an estimated $1.9M from 129 sites for a powerful $15,039 average in its third weekend. The acclaimed drama widened from 51 theaters and will roll out to 375-400 locations this Friday in its first major test in wider national play. Total is $4.4M.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $101.1M which was up a sturdy 12% from last year when Stomp the Yard opened at number one with $21.8M; and up 9% from 2006 when Glory Road debuted in the top spot with $13.6M. Both of those years were helped by the Martin Luther King holiday which this year falls a week later on the calendar.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com

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(1-16 of 16 posts) | Reply

lavatory love machine writes:
on Jan 13 2008 03:55 PM

Uwe Boll will probably get 100 million for his next movie, instead of the 60 he got this time

(Reply to this)

Bardego writes:
on Jan 13 2008 05:39 PM

In the Name of the King bombed at the box-office?!?!? *gasp*

(Reply to this)

ilovetacobell writes:
on Jan 13 2008 06:46 PM

I am a little surprised that Bucket List was number one. I knew it wouldn't be First Sunday. I thought maybe Juno would grab the top spot or National Treasure would hold on again. I am not surprised that In the Name of the King did poorly in the box office. I thought it would at least crack the top 10 though.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Bowler writes:
on Jan 13 2008 07:02 PM

I'm not surprised The Bucket List is #1. Everyone who wanted to see National Treasure:BoS has most likely already seen it and The Bucket List is a sentimental flick with two big name celebrities, so you know people are going to see it. I am a bit surprised by the success of First Sunday. I hate the commercials for that movie, saying "The first laugh out loud comedy of the year". That's because it's the FIRST comedy of the year, and the laugh out loud part is debatable.

(Reply to this)

jmo2ski writes:
on Jan 13 2008 07:15 PM

Well this box-office surprised me, but i wonder will freestyle releasings will release Uwe Boll from their company, and who in the hell would pay this guy 60M to make a movie, when all the rest have flopped.

But for a movie to bomb at the box-office on a on a 60M budget, with a somewhat all start cast. OUCH!

(Reply to this)

rgallitan writes:
on Jan 13 2008 07:30 PM

Boll's problem is he keeps making movies for the young male set, but the young male set has the highest probability of KNOWING WHO HE IS. He really needs to try changing demographics. Or possibly changing names.

(Reply to this)

hewpot writes:
on Jan 13 2008 08:59 PM

Uwe Boll!!

(Reply to this)

Floor Man writes:
on Jan 13 2008 09:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#1464965)
"I hate the commercials for that movie, saying 'The first laugh out loud comedy of the year'. That's because it's the FIRST comedy of the year, and the laugh out loud part is debatable."

So true.

(Reply to this)

jasperoosterveld writes:
on Jan 14 2008 01:41 AM

Again a boll movie flopped, what a suprise!

(Reply to this)

GravitaZ writes:
on Jan 14 2008 07:30 AM

The Orphanage must have really bombed. That's a shame, it was a great movie.

(Reply to this)

thereign writes:
on Jan 14 2008 09:24 AM

Uwe Boll keeps getting to make movies because of an insane German tax law that allows filmmakers to write off 100% of the investment if the movie bombs! Producers give Boll money because they know he'll make the film relatively on the cheap, and with distribution rights sold to America and other countries, they'll make their money back on those two levels. So until the German tax law is changed, Satan's l'il boy will continue to unleash these $hitty films on us!

(Reply to this)

TDeWolfe writes:
on Jan 14 2008 10:56 AM

In reply to this comment (#1467660)
If that's true, Boll's next film should be a Producers remake!

(Reply to this)

Bonogamy writes:
on Jan 14 2008 01:09 PM

What kind of video game is Dungeon Siege? Is it really popular enough to justify a movie based on it? An entire culture surrounds Uwe Boll now, enough to keep him employed for years simply out of name recognition. If you knew nothing about Boll, you would view Dungeon Siege for what it is: a poor, lame, misguided and most of all LATE attempt to cash in on Lord of the Rings. The name "Dungeon Siege" sounds like a post-70's D&D video game property so even the game, in my estimation, is a calculated rip-off. Ray Liotta and Burt Reynolds in a sword and sorcery movie? Ick. I expect to see this movie in the 2 for $10 bin at Wal-Mart VERY soon, and that's where it deserves to be.

(Reply to this)

dethburger writes:
on Jan 14 2008 02:31 PM

I guess that there really is no debate that Uwe Boll is the worst director working today, the question is...

...Who's number two.

No one I can think of is even close to this guy...Micheal Bay?

Not even close!

(Reply to this)

sfsilver writes:
on Jan 14 2008 03:57 PM

Same discriminating audience that made Wild Hogs a big hit last Spring. Of course Nicholson and Freeman have a very strong track record for quality work and have built up enormous credibility with audiences (which they diminish and squander with crap like this). I can't get too sad about it because the competition is uninspiring or getting a bit played out. Even Juno is ultimately an indie flick and is likely nearing it's peak (especially given the lack of effective awards season red carpet push with canceled awards shows and no wins at Globes).

(Reply to this)

tabascoman77 writes:
on Jan 15 2008 08:53 PM

I can't believe that Boll's movie got ONE POSITIVE REVIEW.

That really bugs me. The movie is crap and some schmoe gives it a "Fresh" rating just so people can go, "He's that one guy!"

(Reply to this)

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