Top 10 for February 2-4, 2007 Summary: Final numbers are in.
Despite two big counter-programming debuts in the normally anemic Superbowl weekend the marketplace slumped another 13% from last year's comparable frame, as potential audiences instead opted to watch a sloppy, soggy Championship game along with a curiously phallic halftime number from Prince and guitar. Leading the way were the openings of Sony's supernatural thriller The Messengers with $14.5 million, and Diane Keaton's comedy Because I Said So with an estimated $13 million. Oscar hopefuls and the blockbuster comedy Night at the Museum also held well despite overall weakness in the marketplace.
Sony Screen Gems' low budget thriller The Messengers played decently with teens this weekend, posting a $14.7 million debut and averaging a top ten best $5,820 in 2,528 theaters. Budgeted at $16 million, the film's demographic skewed not surprisingly toward the 21 and under crowd, and slightly female. It is the third Superbowl weekend in a row in which a horror film topped the charts, following last year's When a Stranger Calls ($21.6m) and 2004's Boogeyman ($19m). All three films carried relatively miniscule budgets, and will likely encourage other studios to target the weekend for their own low-budget horror thrillers. Sony, however, has already locked up next year's Superbowl weekend with its horror remake Prom Night.
Opening in a close second was Universal's counter-programming fare Because I Said So with $13.12 million, averaging a strong $5,195 in 2,526 theaters. Starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moor, the poorly reviewed film skewed heavily female (a staggering 82%), and should see a dramatic drop in sales in the coming weeks.
Last week's champ Epic Movie slipped 56% to $8.41 million, pushing its ten day take to $29.55 million. At its current pace, look for the spoof comedy to finish with $40-45 million domestically. Fox's suprise blockbuster Night at the Museum slipped another incredible 29% in fourth, pulling in an estimated $6.8 million. In seven incredible weeks, Museum has grossed $225.4 million, and could very well be on pace to become the second highest grossing film released in 2006 (currently Pixar/Disney's Cars with $244 million). It also became the first film since 2004's The Passion of the Christ to finish in the top five for seven straight weekends.
Universal's actioner Smokin' Aces slipped 57% to $6.385 million, pushing its ten-day cume to $24.95 million. Budgeted at a modest $17 million, look for the film to finish with just over $30 million domestically.
Oscar hopeful Dreamgirls slipped 40% to an estimated $4 million, pushing its 8 week cume to $92.7 million. Clearly slowing down from its strong early run, the film may need a handful of Oscar victories to give it the kind of longevity Best Film winner Chicago ($170m) experienced back in 2002.
Picturehouse added 259 theaters to the run of its Oscar hopefully Pan's Labyrinth (nominated Best Foreign Film), and the film finished eighth with an estimated $3.7 million. In six weeks, the $19 million budgeted film has grossed $21.7 million.
Despite two solid debuts, the top ten films grossed an estimated $66.5 million, down a hefty 13% from last year's comparable frame when When A Stranger Calls debuted at No. 1 with $21.6 million.
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