Weekend 3rd - 6th March 2005
Hitch was the new toast of the Australian charts, following on from last weekend's lead and re-writing the 2005
record books. The Will Smith starring film about a relationship guru who lends a hand to hapless guys in need of date
therapy sounded well with the date crowd, bowing with $3.50m over the weekend. Co-starring Eva Menendez, Hitch's
opening on 370 screens marked the widest opening of the year, out stripping Constantine's previous record in both
widest releases and opening weekends for 2005. Averaging $9,481, is was down on the Reeve's flick's $10,336 of last
weekend.
The opening for Hitch stands as actor Will Smith's fifth best in Australia, behind his sci-fi heavy flicks I, Robot, the MIB's and Independence Day. Even though Smith hadn't headlined a romantic comedy before, it was hardly a risky move. Comedy transcends most secondary themes, be it sci-fi or romance, with his star-power a guarantee that the water was the perfect temperature for Hitch this weekend. The opening was the second best ever for the month of March, next to only the $4.31m of 2001's Miss Congeniality. The opening was very similar to the $3.45m of last year's Starsky and Hutch which went on to collect $13.43m and the $3.54m of 2003's Catch Me If You Can which ended up with $14.85m. Compared to the U.S. pace, Hitch's launch comes in 19% weaker* in Australia. This isn't really surprising, given that Smith's last few films have opened at least some margin weaker*. I, Robot opened 11% down*, while Shark Tale launched 30% weaker* and Bad Boys II bowed 34% shy*. Saying that, the romantic comedy genre usually goes on the finish better* in Australia, even if they prove to be slower out of that gate. Recent films like 50 First Dates, How to Lose A Guy, Along Came Polly and Shall We Dance have all done better* in Australia. Compared to my opening weekend forecast, Hitch's bow came in just below my $3.8m prediction. 
Constantine failed to convert most of its constituency going into its second sermon, as the heaven vs. hell pic
tumbled 57% in its second weekend. The Keanu Reeves starring comic-flick adaptation was always destined to fall hard,
especially when going up against the new largest opener of the year. Collecting $1.29m, Constantine raised its
two-week cume to a robust $5.05 million, quite a good two-week total for a comic property that has had to re-sell itself
completely outside of its established brand name.
The Rachael Weisz co-starrer is now tracking 3.2% ahead of where Alien Vs. Predator was after two weeks, up from the 1.8% smaller opening. The pairing of the two creature properties was off by a much steeper 68% in its second weekend for $0.97m. Constantine is making good ground to pass the final $6.10m of AVP. Tracking 10% behind where The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was after two weeks, Constantine needs to show some good strength to match the $8.04m final of the co-comic adaptation. Compared to the U.S. pace, Constantine is now tracking just 1% behind* in Australia after two weeks. This is out only slightly from an opening last weekend that was dollar for dollar*. The second weekend frame for Constantine was actually 8% better* in Australia, while the first mid-week session of $0.77m was 16% weaker*. 
In third position was the Leonardo DiCaprio starring flick The Aviator. Continuing its trend of ever so small weekly
declines, the Cate Blanchett boasting flick was off only 20%. The five-time award winner failed to convert in all the major
categories except Blanchett's Best Supporting Actress category, which explains why the film's fourth weekend decline was
pretty much in line with previous weeks. Collecting $0.80m through the frame, The Aviator's running cume now stands
at a quite respectable $6.67m.
For DiCaprio, this ranks The Aviator as his fifth best performing film in Australia, passing the $6.16m of 1998's The Man In The Iron Mask. It will shortly pass The Gangs of New York's $7.48 million, from where the next target will be passing the $10m mark. Reaching the $14.76m of Catch Me will be out of The Aviator's reach now that it doesn't have any significant Oscar momentum behind it. Compared to the U.S. pace, The Aviator is now tracking 33% ahead* in Australia. This is up from the 28% positive* lead from last weekend, and the 26% better* margin from the weekend before. The fourth Australian weekend, when compared to the comparative weekend in the U.S. was 58% better* in Australia. The Aviator's weekly showing in the U.S. was a little more uncertain than the usually shaped trajectory that the film has seen in Australia. The film looks certain to pass $US100m in the U.S., but reaching $10m in Australia isn't as clear. 
The eventual Oscar champ Million Dollar Baby converted on its Oscar winnings, jumping 24% over the weekend. Winning
nods for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film and Best Director, the rise again shows that some people need
their hand held when deciding on what movies to see. Collecting $0.67m, Million Dollar Baby has a new total of
$4.84m after five weeks.
Over the weekend Million Dollar Baby became both director and actor Eastwood's third best film, with only In The Line of Fire and Unforgiven's $5.17m and $5.68m left to pass on the acting side. Passing those two won't be a problem, with the $6.52m collected by Mystic River the last hurdle on his director's chart. For Swank, Million Dollar Baby will pass the $5.44m of Insomnia and the $5.73m of The Gift in the next week. Compared to the U.S. pace, Million Dollar Baby is now tracking 25% behind* in Australia, in slightly from the 29% smaller* margin last weekend. The fifth weekend frame in Australia was onyl 7% behind* the comparative fifth U.S. frame, the lowest so far. 
The British comedy Bride and Prejudice fell a little steeper over the weekend, off 41% from what was an excellent
26% second weekend dip last weekend. The re-telling of the famous story Pride and Prejudice collected $0.44m through
the frame for a great three week total of $2.73m.
Compared to the U.S. pace, Bride and Prejudice is tracking an insane 1423% better* in Australia. Taking advantage of Australia's large Indian community and following in the partial footsteps of Bend It Like Beckham, there's no doubting that the degree of Bride's success lies in crossing over to the same general audience than made Beckham a hit. The top 20 films collected $8.67m over the weekend, pretty much on par with what the film collected last weekend. The weekend was also just 0.3% weaker than this weekend last year when The Passion of The Christ was on top again in its second weekend with $2.09m, ahead of The Missing's rather soft opening of $1.24m. The weekend was down 4.2% on this weekend from last year when Maid In Manhattan opened on top with $2.24m, ahead of fellow opener Final Destination 2 with $0.94m. Weekend Coming 10th - 13th March 2005 
A couple of new films open nationwide this weekend. Be Cool, the John Travolta starring re-visit to his Chili Palmer
character from Get Shorty stands the best chance of a new film reaching the top of the charts as Hitch hopes
for a strong second weekend. Out with Rene Russo and Gene Hackman, in with Uma Thurman and Vince Vaughn. Be Cool
summons Danny DeVito back to a story directed by F. Gary Gray (A Man Apart, The Italian Job). After lending
his hand at producing movies in Get Shorty, Chilli's next stage of development in Be Cool naturally sees him
move on to the music industry.
Be Cool opened in the U.S. just last weekend with a very strong $US23.4m. Although it was another addition to the growing list of $US20m plus openers, it was only good enough for second position behind fellow opener The Pacifier, which surprised with a great $US30.5m launch. A rare hit for MGM, the $US53m film's opening was almost double the $US12.7m opening of 1995's original. That flick went on to collect a robust $US72.1m. The opening is very similar to the $US22.0m of Travolta last flick Ladder 49, which ended up with $US74.5m Back in 1996, Get Shorty was a very strong hit in Australia. It was great out of the gates with a $2.01m opening, staying strong for a month with three weeks on top of the charts, eventually closing with $9.03m. There's no doubt that people enjoyed the first film, as evidenced by the enthusiastically embraced Be Cool in the U.S. this last weekend. The film brings with it some of the biggest star power of any film so far this year, although as an ensemble it doesn't reach Ocean's Twelve levels, it's a pic that looks to have the right balance. Thurman is coming off some decent Kill Bill success in Australia and Travolta scored some cred with Ladder 49. Audiences will be happy to the Pulp Fiction duo back in action this weekend, and could power Be Cool to a $2.4m opening this weekend. 
The football drama Friday Night Lights will also try to sneak a few dollars this weekend. Following in the footsteps
of the yearly U.S. football dramas Remember The Titans, Varsity Blues and Any Given Sunday, this
outing stars Billy Bob Thornton and was directed by Peter Berg (The Rundown). Friday Night Lights follows
the story of college team The Permian High Panthers, who are the central focus of a depressed community that hold the
the teams success in the highest esteem.
Friday Night Lights opened in the U.S. last October with a great $US20.3m. The modestly budgeted $US30m film saw only moderate holding power, but none the less scored a great $US61.3m final total. The flick fell short of the $US115m collected by 2000's Remember The Titans and the $US75.5m of 1999's Any Given Sunday, but it did pass the $US52.3m of 2003's Radio and the $US52.9m of 1999's Varsity Blues. In 2000, Any Given Sunday opened with $1.02m on its way to a limp $2.87m. A year later Remember The Titans did a little better with a $1.18m launch, going on to collect a better $4.58m all up. The was probably more a reflection on the feel-good theme rather than the subject matter of football. Friday Night Lights won't be hoping to pass either of those efforts this weekend as it opens with $0.8m. * Based on a US index of 10/1 with currency, ticket prices, population and cinema visits per head. ^ Based on a UK index of 2.1/1 with currency, ticket prices, population and cinema visits per head. |