By Bill Bonfanti on 3/30/2009 5:02 PM

It was a big weekend at the box office as 3-D animated movie, Monsters vs. Aliens enjoyed the biggest opening weekend of the year so far. Horror film, The Haunting in Connecticut got off to an amazing start, coming in 2nd, while the final new release of the weekend, action flick, 12 Rounds, stumbled out of the gates, landing in 7th place.

Despite opening in early Spring as opposed to the more family friendly Summer season, Monsters vs. Aliens opened in first place with a robust $58.2M, exactly as I predicted. The opening was right in line with this past summers, Kung Fu Panda, which opened just north of $60M. M vs. A was able to reach $58M with the help of higher ticket prices for 3-D venues. The 3-D theatres accounted for about $25M of the overall...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/26/2009 1:15 PM

This weekend 3 new movies are unleashed on audience; one surefire blockbuster, a mid-range hit and a box office dud. Monsters vs. Aliens is the surefire hit and will have no trouble at all taking the top spot this weekend. Even it was to only make a third of what I’m predicting it would still be #1. Based on a true story, spooky frightener, The Haunting in Connecticut will have a decent debut, while action flick, 12 Rounds starring the WWE’s John Cena will have a difficult time attracting an audience.

Monsters vs. Aliens is the latest from DreamWorks Animation (the Shrek movies, Madagascar) and it is poised to conquer multiplexes everywhere this weekend. The last 2 movies from DreamWorks Animation, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, both...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/23/2009 3:16 PM

 

It was a tight race for the box office crown this weekend with 3 new releases vying for the top spot. Nicolas Cage with his latest action flick, Knowing, managed to come in first, beating out Paul Rudd in bromantic comedy, I Love You, Man and Julia Roberts in spy caper, Duplicity, which opened in second and third respectively.



Despite poor reviews, Nicolas Cage powered Knowing to a $24.8M opening, enough to land in the top spot in front of some steep competition.  Knowing performed as one of the best openings (6th best to be exact) of Cage's varied box office career, just below the $25M earned by The Rock way back in 1996. Of course, at todays ticket prices, The Rock would have outgrossed Knowing by quite a bit.  When adjusted for inflation, The...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/20/2009 2:57 PM

This weekend moviegoers are offered 3 new releases; romantic, buddy comedy, I Love You, Man, action thriller, Knowing and spy comedy, Duplicity. These films should take up the top 3 spots at the box office, but the question is which one will find its way to the top? Let’s take a look.

Paul Rudd and Jason Segel star in I Love You, Man, the story of a man out to find the perfect best man for his upcoming nuptials. Both Rudd and Segel are coming off big comedy hits (Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and pairing together should translate into the same comedic box office gold. Both Role Models and Sarah Marshall were rated R, as is I Love You, Man, which should appeal to the same broad audience. Role Models opened to $19.2M and Sarah Marshall opened...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/16/2009 3:06 PM

Dwayne Johnson, the former Rock, had his sixth #1 opening as families flocked to see Race to Witch Mountain. The Last House on the Left posted solid numbers for a horror flick opening in third and raunchy comedy, Miss March failed to excite moviegoers, opening in 10th place. Last weekend’s champ, Watchmen, suffered a big decline, falling nearly 70%, just as I expected.

Race to Witch Mountain got off to a solid start grossing $25M (a little lower than my $27M forecast) and taking the top spot for the weekend. Dwayne Johnson continued to show his appeal as a family friendly star with Race, his second film for Disney. The first, The Game Plan, opened to $23M and found its way to an overall $90M. Race to Witch Mountain’s life at the box office should follow the same...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/12/2009 1:04 PM

This weekend at the movies there are 3 new choices; family film, Race to Witch Mountain, horror remake, The Last House on the Left and raunchy comedy, Miss March. The big question this weekend however, is how well Watchmen will perform in its second outing? 

Race to Witch Mountain is an updated version of the classic Disney film series from the 70’s. The updated version stars Dwayne Johnson as a cab driver who picks up two teenagers who turn out to be aliens and need his help getting back to Witch Mountain. Johnson has carved out quite the career in Hollywood leaving his persona as wrestler The Rock in the dust and with his last film, The Game Plan, successfully has branded himself as a family friendly star. The Game Plan, also a Disney feature, opened...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/9/2009 2:28 PM

Who watches the Watchmen? Apparently just comic book fans and men over 25. Just like the films reviews were polarized, the box office take this weekend can be viewed as a success or a failure depending on your school of thought.

Let me start by saying that I was way wrong with my prediction of $65M. Watchmen grossed $55.6M this weekend. Not even close to my expectations for the film. I overestimated the audience for Watchmen and also didn’t put as much stock into the nearly 3 hour running time and the R rating as I should have. I thought that those two things would be nullified by the ultra wide launch in over 3600 theatres. After seeing the film I do believe that it deserved a $65M (or higher) launch but it is what it is. 

Let’s take a look at the positive side of a $55.6M debut. Overall it was enough to be the biggest debut of the year so far, the third largest March opening in history behind Zack Snyder’s own 300 ($70.9M) and Ice Age: The Meltdown ($68M) and the sixth best opening for an R rated film. Take a look:...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/5/2009 2:13 PM

The event film of the year (so far) arrives in multiplexes this weekend, Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, based on the classic graphic novel by Alan Moore. Of course, Moore has disavowed the movie and has taken his name out of the credits, but he can be kind of persnickety. All eyes are on the Watchmen this weekend as popular consensus has always said that the novel is impossible to translate to the screen. I don’t quite buy that. I don’t believe that anything is impossible to bring to the screen; all you need is a talented, visionary director and the balls to make the film. Just like the tag line for the film, the question this weekend is who watches the Watchmen? 

There is no doubt that Watchmen will open at #1 by a clear mile, but how much is it going to make? The graphic novel has a solid fan base and it will certainly be out in force this weekend. But is anyone else going to see...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 3/2/2009 12:09 PM

I had two questions going into this past box office weekend.  The first was whether the Jonas Brothers had as many fans as Miley Cyrus. The second was whether the classic video game Street Fighter still had that many fans after all these years. Both were answered… let’s take a look at the results.

It turns out that I was right that Miley Cyrus has a bigger fan base than the Jonas Brothers, but I didn’t realize how right I actually was. Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience opened to $12.7M, a far cry from the $31.1M that Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3-D bowed to last year. I had a feeling that Jonas would open to a smaller amount than Hannah Montana, but my $18M forecast was still way off and I thought without a doubt that it would be #1 this weekend. The Jonas Brothers will get a shot at redemption next weekend, but I would think that most of the fan base probably caught the...

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By Bill Bonfanti on 2/27/2009 3:32 PM

If you go to the movies this weekend and you hear a lot of screaming, don’t be alarmed. It is just the sound of teenage girls swooning over the musical stylings of the Jonas Brothers. That’s right, attacking multiplexes this weekend is Disney’s Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, which will easily take the #1 spot at the box office. The only other new release for the weekend is the video game inspired, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which will be lucky to crack the top 10.

Teenage girls and their moms will be packing into theatres to see Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience this weekend, but can the Jonas boys reach the heights of Disney princess, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus? Last year at this time Disney released Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3-D to an astounding $31.1M from only 683 locations. Much has changed over the past year, however, and more theatres are able to show 3-D movies. Jonas Brothers will be debuting in nearly 1300 theatres, nearly double the amount that Hannah Montana premiered in. I don’t think this will be a major factor in the overall gross for the weekend though. Hannah Montana fans packed into every theatre seat available because her 3-D concert was advertised as a one week event. Upon seeing the weekend gross, Disney chose to give it a few more weeks in theatres. Jonas Brothers has no such caveat. If fans don’t make it out this weekend, they know they still have time in the weeks ahead to see the concert. Nonetheless, the fan base will be out in force this weekend, so the real question becomes, who has more fans, Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers? I think the fan base for Miley Cyrus is a touch bigger. I would expect Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience to make much less because of this. .Look for the Jonas boys to rack up about $18M this weekend.

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