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Summary:
Final numbers are in.
A mighty band of Spartans fended off the rush of three new competitors, easily dominating the box office for the second straight weekend. Warner Bros.' $65 million budgeted war epic 300 fell 56% to an estimated $31.18 million, pushing its ten day cume to an incredible $127.4 million. That makes the R-rated actioner the highest grossing film released in 2007, surpassing the $110.2 million domestic take of Sony's comic adaptation Ghost Rider. Despite the steep-but-predictable decline in its sophomore frame, the Zach Snyder-directed pic looks headed towards at least $185 million domestically, which would make it one of the top 10 highest grossing R-rated films of all-time. Internationally, 300 has amassed $24.6 million from an early Asian launch, and plans to invade the European market this coming weekend.
Buena Vista's comedy hit Wild Hogs fell another slight 32% to an estimated $18.8 million in its third weekend, pushing its 17-day cume to $104 million. Despite universally poor reviews the motorcycle road-trip comedy has shown very strong legs, thanks in part to being one of the few wide-appeal comedies in the marketplace. Look for the John Travolta starrer to cruise past $150 million domestically.
Newcomers populated the remaining top five spots, led by Sandra Bullock's thriller Premonition, which debuted with an estimated $18 million in third. Averaging a strong $6,358 from 2,831 theaters, the $20 million budgeted Sony release became the biggest opening ever for star Sandra Bullock, surpassing her
2002 film Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which debuted with $16.17 million. With mostly negative reviews from critics and an audience largely carried by women, look for steep declines in the coming weeks.
Universal's horror entry Dead Silence debuted in fourth with an estimated $7.8 million, averaging a solid $4,305 in 1,805 theaters. Also budgeted at a modest $20 million, the R-rated horror pic from the director of Saw will have a hard time breaking even during its theatrical run.
Fox Searchlight's poorly-reviewed comedy I Think I Love My Wife debuted weakly in fifth with an estimated $5.7 million, averaging just $3,218 in 1,776 theaters. Starring Chris Rock, the film should find a quick exit out of the top ten.
Enjoying the smallest decline in the top ten once again was Disney's children's book adaptation Bridge to Terabithia, which fell just 24% to an estimated $5.1 million. In five weeks, the film has grossed an impressive $74.9 million, and should finish with $85-90 million domestically.
In its second weekend of limited release, Fox Searchlight's book adaptation The Namesake took in $692,000 in 41 theaters, averaging a strong $16,874 per theater. In two weeks, the well-reviewed Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) film has grossed $1.1 million, and will expand into more theaters this Friday.
Thanks to another big weekend from 300, the top ten films grossed an estimated $98.6 million, up 10% from last year's comparable frame when V for Vendetta debuted with $25.6 million.
Report by Stephen Wong
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