Thursday, December 29, 2005

Christmas Box Office Numbers

Box Office Receipts for December 23-26:

1. King Kong - $33.2 million
2. Chronicles of Narnia - $31.7 million
3. Fun With Dick and Jane - $21.5 million
4. Cheaper By The Dozen 2 - $15.3 million
5. Memoirs of a Geisha - $10.1 million
6. The Family Stone - $10.0 million
7. The Ringer - $7.7 million
8. Rumor Has It - $7.5 million
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $6.4 million
10. Munich - $6.0 million

In a much closer race than expected, King Kong holds the top spot for a second straight weekend. However, a 34% drop in revenues over the previous weekend is a strong signal that Kong is not the next Titanic. Kong's domestic revenues (as of Wednesday) are at $135 million and it's going to be a close call to make its $207 million production budget.

The far more impressive story is the legs Narnia has. It's $31.7 million weekend is only 0.5% off its previous weekend, indicating that it's getting repeat viewers and/or outstanding word of mouth. It's also regained the box office lead on both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Box office receipts as of Wednesday are just over $183 million, putting the movie into the black (production budget was $180 million). The film is currently 9th best for 2005 and should pass Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Madagascar this weekend to move into 7th.

6 of the 7 wide releases this weekend made the top 10, with Wolf Creek sitting at #11. On a per-screen basis, Munich was a clear winner, collecting $11,355 from each of its 532 screens. Fun With Dick and Jane also did quite well, averaging $7,045 per screen on 3,056 screens. Memoirs of a Geisha was well-received by the masses, earning $6,075 per screen on 1,547 screens, expanding from 52. Sitting in 14th, Brokeback Mountain continues toi draw a lot of interest, averaging $13,599 per screen on 217 screens.

Another film that seems to be headed for the financial dung heap is The Producers. A pitiful $3,388 per screen led to a weekend total of $3.3 million. That's a long way off their $45 million production budget.

Until next week. Happy new year!
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