Top 10 for August 25-27, 2006 Summary: Final numbers are in.
With the start of the NFL football season just around the corner Disney's well-timed football drama Invincible -- inspired by the true story of a bartender who played for the Philadelphia Eagles -- easily led all films with $17 million in its opening weekend, averaging a solid $5,839 from 2,917 theaters. Starring Mark Wahlberg as the 30 year-old bartender, Invincible received solid reviews from critics, finishing nearly identical to Disney's 2002 sports drama The Rookie (also inspired by a true story), which opened to $16 million on its way to $75.6 million domestically. The debut was slightly below 2004's Olympic hockey drama Miracle, which took in $19 million on its way to $64 million domestically. With word of mouth seemingly strong, and football season quickly approaching, expect Invincible to have a strong domestic run at the box office.
Slipping 41% in second was Will Ferrell's comedy blockbuster Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby with $8.1 million, pushing its four week cume to $127.6 million. Budgeted at a modest $73 million, the Sony release is on pace to surpass the studio's own Click ($136 million) as the biggest comedy of 2006.
Jumping up two more spots to third was Fox Searchlight's indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine, which took in $7.37 million after doubling its theater count to 1,430 theaters. Averaging another strong $5,244 per theater, the $8 million budgeted R-rated comedy has enjoyed very strong word of mouth, and looks headed for at least $50 million domestically. In five weeks the film has amassed a profitable $23 million.
Warner's dreadful summer hasn't gotten any better with the release of their low-brow comedy Beerfest, which debuted with $7 million in fourth. Launching in a wide 2,964 theaters, the R-rated comedy managed just $2,372 per theater. The debut was similar to the Broken Lizard comedy troupe's 2002 cult-comedy Super Troopers which took in $6.2 million on its way to $18.5 million domestically.
Universal's college-comedy Accepted fell just 35% in its sophomore frame to $6.3 million, pushing its ten-day take to a solid $21.1 million. Budgeted at $23 million, look for the film to finish with $35 million domestically. Last week's champ Snakes on a Plane wasn't as fortunate, slipping a precipitous 59% to $6.16 million, bringing its ten-day take to $26.6 million.
Universal's drama Idlewild, featuring the musical and acting talents of hip hop tandem Outkast, debuted in eighth with an estimated $5.9 million, averaging a top ten best $6,055 in just 973 theaters. The film played mainly in heavy urban areas, and should continue to perform strongly in the coming weeks.
New Line's children's offering How to Eat Fried Worms debuted outside the top ten with an estimated $4 million, averaging just $2,112 in 1,870 theaters. Yari Film Group's well-received period mystery The Illusionist took in an estimated $1.8 million in 144 theaters, averaging a strong $12,688. In limited release, the Ed Norton starrer has grossed $3.2 million, and will be released nationwide this Friday.
Out of the top ten was Disney's summer juggernaut Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which slipper just 23% to an estimated $4 million this weekend. That puts the $225 million budgeted sequel at a staggering $407.6 million domestically, surpassing Spider-Man's $403.7 million for #6 on the all-time list. Worldwide the Johnny Depp starrer has amassed a jaw-dropping $972 million, surpassing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone's $968.6 million, and looks certain to become just the third film in history to surpass $1 billion.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $75.8 million, down 2% from last year's comparable frame when The 40-Year-Old Virgin remained No. 1 with $16.3 million.
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