Top 10 for July 28-30, 2006 Summary: Sunday estimates are in.
A pair of cops finally broke up Pirates of the Caribbean's three-week reign atop the box office as Michael Mann's Miami Vice knocked off the record-smashing blockbuster with an estimated $25.2 million debut. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest fell just 42% to $20.5 million, breaking more records on its run to a staggering $358.4 million. Fox's John Tucker Must Die finished a strong third with $14 million, while Warner's animated offering The Ant Bully flopped in fifth with an estimated $8.1 million.
Universal's big budget gamble Miami Vice took in a strong but not exactly overwhelming $25.2 million to lead all films this weekend, averaging an impressive $8,339 in 3,021 theaters. Budgeted at $135 million, the R-rated Jamie Foxx-Colin Farrell starrer debuted inline with industry estimates, and nearly identical to director Michael Mann's and Jamie Foxx's previous R-rated thriller Collateral. Co-starring Tom Cruise, Collateral opened to $24.7 million in August 2004, finishing with $101 million domestically. Reviews were mixed for their latest collaboration, which could spell trouble for the film's long-term prospects. The debut is a personal best for director Mann and second best for Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, whose Jarhead bowed to $27.7 million last November.
Slipping to second with an estimated $20.5 million was Disney's box office juggernaut Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, but not before leaving yet another record in its wake. The sequel has now amassed $358 million in just 24 days and became the fastest film in history to break $350 million (23 days), surpassing 2004's Shrek 2 which accomplished the feat in 26 days. The $225 million budgeted Johnny Depp starrer also became the most successful film in Disney history, surpassing Finding Nemo's $339.7 million back in 2003.
The film now sits at #11 on the all-time domestic list behind The Passion of the Christ's $370.3 million, and seems a sure bet to cruise past $400 million within the next three weeks.
Perhaps the biggest surprise this weekend was the strong showing by Fox's low-budget teen comedy John Tucker Must Die, which finished in third with an estimated $14 million. Budgeted at a modest $18 million Tucker averaged an impressive $5,498 in 2,560 theaters, thanks to a heavy television marketing campaign. The film saw a hefty 24% drop in ticket sales from Friday to Saturday, which most likely indicates poor word of mouth and a diminishing audience base in the weeks to come.
Sony's computer-animated Monster House fell a hefty 48% to an estimated $11.5 million in its second week of release, pushing its ten day take to $43.9 million. Budgeted at $75 million, the film isn't holding nearly as strong as 2004's The Polar Express, which fell 32% in its sophomore frame and remained strong throughout the holiday season. With an already crowded marketplace for animated films continuing to fill up next weekend with Paramount's The Barnyard Movie, look for Monster House to finish its domestic run with a disappointing $70 million.
Warner Bros. continued its disappointing summer with a sluggish opening to its computer-animated family pic The Ant Bully, which finished in fifth place with an estimated $8.1 million. Averaging a very weak $2,670 in 3,050 theaters, the film was plagued from the start by direct comparisons to two other computer-animated ant-themed movies, 1998's Antz (from DreamWorks) and A Bug's Life (from Pixar-Disney). Carrying a budget of around $50 million, look for Ant Bully to finish with less than $30 million domestically.
M. Night Shyamalan looks headed toward the first flop of his career as the Warner release fell a precipitous 61% in its second weekend to an estimated $7 million, pushing its ten-day take to a weak $32.1 million. Struggling with poor reviews and lackluster word of mouth, the $55 million budgeted film may not even reach $45 million domestically.
Out of the top ten were two of the summer's biggest films, Pixar's Cars and Warner's Superman Returns. Cars added another $2.4 million to its coffers, pushing its eight-week total to $234.6 million. It ranks as the 7th biggest computer-animated film of all-time and still has a shot at surpassing Toy Story 2's $245.8 million domestic take. Warner's Superman Returns added $3.8 million this weekend, pushing its five-week take to $185.8 million. Look for the $260 million budgeted superhero pic to finish with a disappointing $195 million by the end of its run.
In the world of limited release, Sundance darling Little Miss Sunshine pulled in $357,000 in just seven theaters for a massive $51,000 per theater average. The critically-acclaimed comedy will expand to 60 theaters this Friday and over 600 theaters on its national release date of August 18th.
Al Gore's global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth became just the fourth doc in history to break $20 million, finishing with an estimated $773,000 this weekend. Its ten-week cume now stands at $20.2 million.
Led by Miami Vice and Dead Man's Chest, the top ten films grossed an estimated $107.3 million, up a slight 2% from last year's comparable frame when Wedding Crashers was tops with $20 million.
Report by
Join us in the box office messageboard to talk about
the weekend or how next week's slate will fare.
