In hindsight Marley and Me had broader family appeal. Bedtime Stories was for the kids, but Marley made a play for the adults too. You can’t fault the Fox marketing department for that method, it clearly worked. It was also the biggest box office weekend since July when Dark Knight opened. Actually, it was the third biggest weekend in the past two years – completely wacky after that three week string of terrible results.
#1 movie predicted correctly: 0 Week In A Row
I clearly underestimated the box office overall. It seems like this weekend everyone finally gave in and said “Let’s spend some money!” This one won the per theater average too, at 10k per (unless you count Revolutionary Road‘s three theater average), so this wasn’t a cheap victory.
Result: 51.6 million (My rank: #2, $32.5m off)
Wow. I’m amazed Button pulled this off. Regardless of what you think of the movie itself the running time was a real hurdle that the film had to overcome. It did, clearly appealing to older audiences too. The million dollar question: how does it hold up next weekend? Follow up question: doesn’t that $150m production budget make this a financial loser unless the DVD banks big?
Result: 39.0 million (My rank: #3, $18.9m off)
I wasn’t too far off here, just way off on the titles above. Sandler is still a box office draw… for children.
Result: 38.5 million (My rank: #1, $3.7m off)
4. Valkyrie
This number looks good. But in context it’s not. Because the box office was huge overall, but spread too thin for anyone to make any real money. So no matter how this is spun I’ve got to call Valkyrie a financial loser too, even if it did crush my prediction.
Result: 30.0 million (My rank: #4, $10m off)
5. Yes Man
A 10% drop from last weekend means the word of mouth was amazing! No, only kidding. It means that everyone went to the movies this weekend instead of sitting around and talking to their families.
Result: 22.3 million (My rank: #6, $5.0m off)
6. Seven Pounds
It’s at $39m overall on a budget of $55m. Which means it will need to hit $140m or so to make a profit. Conclusion: It will not make a profit.
Result: 18.2 million (My rank: #7, $2.6m off)
As it turns out families weren’t that desperate. They still managed to largely skip this title.
Result: 11.4 million (My rank: #5, $7.0m off)
I love the new marketing on this one. “Only one new movie makes the Earth stand still!!” And then some pathetic quote from a nobody. Classic work fellas, thanks for the laughs.
Result: 10.6 million (My rank: #10, $3.2m off)
9. The Spirit
Crushed. The good news? Frank Miller won’t have to worry about applying for directing jobs anymore!
Result: 10.3 million (My rank: #8, $.3m off)
10. Four Christmases
Curses, Doubt didn’t make the top ten for the four day weekend, though it did for the three day weekend. It just got lost in all the static of so many releases I suppose.
Result: 7.2 million (My rank: Not Ranked)
