Top 10 for February 9-11, 2007 Summary: Final numbers are in.
Eddie Murphy tried to recharge a sluggish box office with the 14th No. 1 debut of his career, as his new comedy Norbit took in 34.1 million, by far the largest opening this year. In a distant second was the Hannibal Lecter prequel Hannibal Rising with $13 million. Oscar nominees and the blockbuster comedy Night at the Museum all held well, but it still wasn't enough to keep the box office from falling below last year's comparable frame for the sixth straight weekend.
Shrugging off extremely poor reviews, Eddie Murphy's comedy Norbit dominated the weekend with an impressive $34.1 million. Budgeted at $60 million the Paramount/DreamWorks release became Murphy's biggest live-action opening since 2000's Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, which also included Murphy in a fat suit and opened to $42.5 million. The debut was a nice rebound from his last major live-action picture, the big budget disappointment The Haunted Mansion, which bowed to $24.7 million on its way to $75.8 million domestically back in 2003. The film is the polar opposite of Murphy's Oscar nominated turn in DreamWorks' Dreamgirls, which consequently finished in the No. 9 spot with an estimated $3.1 million.
Despite an expensive Superbowl ad and heavy marketing in the week leading up to its release, Hannibal Rising finished in second with $13 million, averaging $4,446 in 3,003 theaters. Produced by The Weinstein Co. and distributed by MGM, the Hannibal franchise has seen a significant decline in profits since 2001's hit sequel Hannibal, which debuted with a February record $58 million. 2002's Red Dragon debuted with $36.5 million. With poor reviews and likely bad word of mouth, look for steep declines in the coming weeks.
Holding well was last week's No. 2 film Because I Said So, which slipped just 31% to an estimated $9 million, bringing the Universal releases 10-day take to $25.6 million.
Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum remained in the top five for a remarkable eighth straight weekend, slipping an insignificant 10% to an estimated $5.8 million in fifth. The Fox comedy has now grossed an incredible $232.1 million, and seems to be a shoe-in to surpass Cars' $244 million as the second highest grossing film released in 2006.
Among Oscar hopefuls, Best Foreign Film nominee Pan's Labyrinth fell just 4% to an estimated $3.5 million, pushing its seven week cume to $26.5 million. Eddie Murphy's Dreamgirls fell 23% to an estimated $3.1 million, pushing its cume to an incredible $97.1 million. Miramax's Best Picture nominee The Queen slipped just 5% to an estimated $2.5 million, pushing its nine week take to $49 million.
Out of the top ten but also enjoying a nice uptick was Best Picture nominee Babel with $1.75 million, pushing its 16 week take to $32 million. Clint Eastwood's Oscar nominated Letters from Iwo Jima took in just $1.66 million in its eighth week of limited release, and will have a hard time finding a larger audience unless it's able to nab an Oscar prize. Its total stands at just $9.8 million.
Despite the huge opening from Norbit, the top ten films grossed an estimated $86.5 million, down a hefty 12% from last year's comparable frame when The Pink Panther opened on top with $20.2 million. It was down a identical amount to 2005 when Hitch opened to $43.1 million.
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