Top 10 for May 12-14, 2006 Summary: Final numbers are in.
What was supposed to be two dueling box office heavyweights propelling the marketplace to record levels turned into a
disappointment for the industry, as overall ticket sales for the weekend fell to its lowest level in four years.
The rogue wave that analysts had projected would topple last week's champ Mission: Impossible III
wound up sinking itself, as Wolfang Petereson's disaster remake Poseidon succumbed to poor reviews
and a poor marketing campaign from Warner Bros., finishing in second place with $22.1 million.
Meanwhile, after a lower-than-expected opening weekend, Tom Cruise's actioner Mission: Impossible III
fell by a decent 47%, bringing in an $25 million.
After taking a relative beating in the press for not posting a more massive opening weekend (the "paltry" $47.7 million
debut was below industry expectations), Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible III sequel once again went
against industry expectations by topping the charts for the second straight weekend, beating out Warner's big-budget Poseidon
while pushing its ten-day take to a solid $85.4 million. Its 47% drop to $25 million was better than 2000's MI: II, which
fell 53% to $27 million in its second weekend. However, with a sizeable head-start -- thanks to a Wednesday debut and
monster $70.8m Memorial Day weekend -- MI: II's two-week haul came in at a staggering $130 million, finishing with
$215.4 million total. The original Mission: Impossible took in $181 million in 1996. With heavy competition from
here on out (Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge next weekend, X-Men 3 the week after)
look for MI: III to finish with a disappointing $140 million domestically.
Though industry analysts had projected a much larger opening this weekend for Poseidon, the $160 million budgeted
disaster pic managed just $22.1 million (revised up) in 3,555 theaters, posting a $6,232 average. In reality, almost all signs pointed to a potentially disastrous weekend for the Warner Bros. remake of the 1972 Oscar-winning The Poseidon Adventure. Reviews were largely negative for director Wolfgang Peterson's third water disaster epic (following his acclaimed 1982
film Das Boot and 2000's The Perfect Storm), and the film had been tracking poorly in the weeks leading up to
its release. Throw in a confusing marketing campaign that didn't seem to appeal to any single demographic,
and what you've got is Peterson's worst opening since 1995's Outbreak. The director's last film Troy
debuted with $46.8 million, while The Perfect Storm had a $41.3 million bow in June of 2000.
Although disaster pics have essentially been a sure-thing over summers past -- with the likes of The Day After Tomorrow,
Twister, Armageddon, and Deep Impact -- it was simply not the right environment for Poseidon.
Perhaps Warner is hoping Peterson's international pull can help save another one of their potential big-budget busts. After all, despite pulling in a disappointing $133 million domestically, 2004's Troy nearly tripled its haul overseas with $364 million.
Once again showing the best holdover numbers at the box office, Robin Williams' family comedy RV fell
a slight 14% in its third weekend to $9.95 million. Budgeted at $50 million, the Sony pic has now grossed a strong $42.8 million.
Among other holdovers, Ice Age: The Meltdown fell just 24% to $3.15 million, pushing its seven week cume to $187.4 million. Overseas, the $80 million budgeted animated comedy has amassed an incredible $410.1 million, pushing its global take to just under $600 million.
Debuting outside of the top ten was Buena Vista's soccer drama Goal! The Dream Begins, which took in a disappointing $2 million on 1,007 theaters, for a weak $1,989 average.
Overall, the top ten films grossed an estimated $77.7 million, down 15% from last year's comparable frame when Monster-in-Law debuted with $23.1 million.
It was down 23% from 2004 when Troy opened with $46.9 million.
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