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Weekend 23rd - 26th October 2003
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Two films enjoyed an entry into the top five over the weekend, the best of them being the George Cloony and Catherine
Zeta-Jones comedy, Intolerable Cruelty. Directed by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, the film follows lawyer
Miles Massey, who defeats the cunning and beautiful Marylin Rexroth at a divorce hearing for his client. However a
fascination with her develops as she moves to plan B and remarries another rich guy with the same intentions. Opening with
$1.91 million, Intolerable Cruelty's deployment on a medium-wide 228 screens netted the film an ok average of $8,407
per screen. Including $464K from previews last weekend, Intolerable Cruelty's total sits at $2.47 million.
For Clooney, Intolerable Cruelty's debut is certainly not one of his best, but it is one of best for the last two
years. Since 2001, when Ocean's Eleven exploded with $5.40 million, Clooney's offerings have returned only bits and
peices at the box office. Released in 2003, Solaris opened with only $118K, while Confessions of a Dangerous
Mind fared only marginally better with a $331K launch. Mind has gone on to collect around $1.3 million in Oz,
while Solaris faded quickly with not much more than around $350k. So despite the draw that Clooney may have, its
draw that only works of he's in the right project. As to whether Intolerable Cruelty can be considered a success,
its a lot better than his previous two tries, although if Intolerable Cruelty can classify as a romantic comedy,
they usually do good business with B list actors anyhow.
Although her track record looks better than Clooney's at the moment, Jones will probably score more gold in her next
project with Tom Hanks than she will with Intolerable Cruelty. Apart from her voice work not attracting any
attention in Sinbad, the launch is very similar to January's $1.85 million earned by Chicago, the $2.17
opening million of 2001's America's Sweethearts and the $2 million of 1999's The Haunting. While her Oscar
winning flick went on to have great holding power, both Sweethearts and The Haunting fell quickly to end
up with a soft $8.02 million and a poor $5.59 million respectively. Holding power for the film has been less than great
in the U.S., so some weak holds along with lines of Sweethearts may net it around $7 million or so.
Compared to the U.S. pace, Intolerable Cruelty has done well, enjoying an opening weekend that comes in a hot 53.0%
better* than its relatively small U.S. opening from three weeks ago. For the star power the film boasted, its opening
total in the U.S. was certainly below expectations. Even though the opening in Australia is better*, its only after its
previews are added in, that is develops some weight to the argument that its current figure after the close of the first
offical weekend, is not at least partially disappointing.
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Also opening was the long-awaited horror team-up, Freddy Vs Jason, although judging by its opening weekend
performance in Australia, there were far less fans awaiting the picture than had been in the U.S. As two of the biggest
legends from the 80's horror scene, Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Jason Voorhees from Friday
the 13th, the two New Line properties were always headed for a showdown. With not too much more to the story than
these two guys facing off and with some teenagers thrown in for some normalcy, Freddy Vs Jason opened with $1.31
million over the weekend, somewhat down on what may have been expected. Opening on a medium 188 screens, the averaged an
ok $7,010 per nightmare.
Of course, its not unusual for the film to have opened with the soft showing that its seen in Australia. As has become the
norm, and as its distributor obviously knew, horror films usually never reflect the kind of success that they enjoy in the
U.S. Recent Examples include Resident Evil opening 43.5% weaker*, 28 Days Later opening 30% weaker*,
Darkness Falls opening 64.6% weaker* and Dreamcatcher coming in 26.6% weaker*. The opening for Freddy Vs
Jason comes in very close to last February's $1.36 million opening of Star Trek: Nemesis which concluded with a
very poor $3 million. Other horror films like The Ring, Queen of the Damned and The Exorcist also
launched with around $1.3 million, although Freddy Vs Jason is likely to perform more like The Exorcist's
$3.2 million than The Ring's $7.3 million.
Compared to the U.S. pace, Freddy Vs Jason's opening comes in a distant 63.8% weaker* than it gathered in the U.S.
Failing to make the same sort of killing in Australia, Freddy Vs Jason's opening in the U.S. was nothing short of
spectacular. As to why the film has failed to reflect the same kind of business it enjoyed in the U.S., come down to
a cycle. Distributors don't spend as much money advertising these films, as they know the return won't be as great in this
market than for more bankable product, in turn the sparse advertising campaign means less people go out and see it, only
to validate that original perception. Unfortunately its not a miss-guided one, even high profile horror flicks like the
concept flick Hannibal and the word of mouth fuelled The Ring failed to live up to their U.S. precedents. As
to why? There's just clearly not as many horror fans in Australia as there is in the U.S.
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Narrowly missing out on second place and having to dip to third was last weeks champ Kill Bill: Volume 1. Starring
Uma Thurman and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the film follows the adventures of The Bride. Shot by her boss Bill on her
wedding day, and with the other wedding guests dead, she wakes from a coma five years later to seek revenge for those
deaths and the loss of her unborn baby with the lives of the assassins that did it to her. As the first chapter in a two
part series, Kill Bill: Volume 1 opened last weekend with a decent $2.26 million, collecting a good screen average
of $8,313 from each of its 272 theatres. Very few distributors are comfortable to go with a wide release that's been hit
with an R rating, and as to whether Kill Bill's graphically hilarious gore warrants it or not, its easily the best
performing R rated film this year, with the $198K opening of February's The Rules of Attraction being the next most
successful of the seven released so far this year.
Collecting $1.29 million in its second weekend, Kill Bill was off by an ok, but still steep 43%, ok given that it
does have that R rating which could be a substantial impediment. Totaling $4.42 million after two weeks, Kill Bill
is performing much like last years Manhunter remake, Red Dragon. Opening very similar to Dragon's
$2.20 million last weekend, and with both films down 43% in their second weekends, Kill Bill's second was almost
on par, up 3% on Dragon's second try. After two weeks, Kill Bill is tracking 6.2% behind due to
Dragon's $0.51 million worth of previews. Red Dragon went on to total $7.62 million in Australia.
Compared to the U.S. pace, Kill Bill is tracking just 2.3% ahead* after two weeks of play. This is a slight dip in
the 2.5% lead* at had at the close of its first weekend. The second weekend itself in Australia was 4.4% better* than the
second frame in the U.S., due to a second weekend decline of 43.8% that was almost identical, but slightly larger than
Australia's 43%. The fact that Australia's pace has been able to match the U.S. performance is quite good, considering
that the Australian R rating is somewhat harsher than the U.S. R rating, more akin to the dreaded NC-17 stamp. Kill
Bill was off a steep 49% in its third weekend in the U.S., so the Australian pace has a good chance to increase further
its lead this coming weekend.
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In fourth place was the very well performing British comedy Calendar Girls. Starring John Alderton, Linda Bassett,
and Helen Mirren, the Nigel Cole directed film follows a group of women who got together to make a nude calendar in order
to raise funds for research into Leukemia. Inspired to do something more after one of the groups husbands died from the
disease, the calendar became a worldwide hit. Collecting $0.66 million in its third weekend, Calendar Girls was off
only 25% and has seen its total rise to a very respectable $3.88 million.
Released two weeks ago, Calendar Girls opened in fourth place with a fine, although not notable $0.93 million.
Deploying on a low 130 screens, its average was a good $7,213, the best in the top ten. The film was only 4% in its second
weekend, jumping up to second place. Word of mouth for the flick has been very good. Although it opened similarly to the
Brit flick Bend It Like Beckham, it has gone on to slow down a bit faster. Calendar Girls may probably
finish up just above the $8.2 million that 2002's Gosford Park collected. Currently after three weeks Calendar
Girls is tracking 15.3% ahead of where Park was at the same point, although that film was up by 22% in its
third, it was off by 41% in its fourth, so Girls should be able to keep its current lead.
Calendar Girls has yet to be released in the U.S., but has done supurbly in its native U.K. Opening last September,
Calendar Girls' opening comes in 30.2% weaker^ in Australia than what it earned back home through its first frame.
The film rose by 5% in its second weekend in the U.K., and was then down by only 5% in its third, reflecting some amazing
word of mouth. After three weeks Calendar Girls is tracking 48.1% behind^ the comparative U.K. pace.
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The chart veteran Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl is still doing some decent business in
fifth place through its seventh weekend. Collecting $0.66 million, the Gore Verbinski directed adventure tale was off only
28% and has seen its total rise to a very swell $23.29 million. Starring Jonny Deep and Geoffrey Rush, the film has become
each actors and the directors biggest hit, standing in position 30 on the all time chart in Australia and is the years
third biggest hit to date after BVI mate Finding Nemo and Reloaded.
Compared to the U.S. pace, Pirates of The Caribbean is tracking 10.7% behind, keep relatively even for the last
three weeks adjusted. After opening better and losing ground in its second weekend, Pirates did well in comparison
through the holiday period. However they're over in Australia now and there may only be a million more or so to come for
Pirates over the next few weeks, whereas in the U.S. its holding power was consistantly good 16 weeks later.
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The top 20 films collected $8.2 million, up a slight 4.4% on last weekend but was down 8.8% on this weekend last year when
soon to be unstoppable My Big Fat Greek Wedding commanded pole position in its first weekend with $3.35 million,
ahead of fellow new entry Red Dragon which scored $2.2 million. However the weekend was up 7.3% on this weekend
from two years ago when the top spot was ruled by local comedy The Man Who Sued God with $1.53 million, ahead of
Don't Say A Word's $1.34 million second place opening.
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Weekend Coming 30th October - 2nd November 2003
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A few new films challenge the holdovers this weekend try to make a bit of money for themselves, although only one of them
may have a fair chance at securing the top position. The thriller Runaway Jury opens two weeks after was has been
a mixed showing in the U.S. so far. With a quite large cast including John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel
Weisz, the Gary Fleder (Don't Say A Word, Kiss The Girls) directed film follows the tainted trial of a major
gun manufacturer. A juror on the inside and his accomplice attempt to blackmail one of the lawyers in the trial or swing
the verdict in the opposite direction. With its huge cast, the Fox film opened lower than expected, but has since seen some
good holding power.
The expensive $US60 million film opened two weeks ago in the U.S. with $US11.8 million but dipped by only 28% through its
second frame to total $US24 million. Although the film wont prove to be profitable for the studio until well down the track
when all ancillaries are totaled in, it may yet have a decent cinema life. Thrillers like this tend to do ok in U.S., with
other such as Don't Say A Word and A Civil Action doing well. The opening is down however on Cusack's last
flick Identity that scored $US16.2 million and Gene Hackman's $US18.7 million of Behind Enemy Lines. Those
films went on to collect $US52.1 and $US58.8 million respectively, marks that Jury will surely not reach.
In Australia, as with Horror films, standard thrillers such as Runaway Jury almost always do less business* than
they do in the U.S. With the film only having done mildly in the U.S., it doesn't bode well for any sort of break-out
performance locally. For example Don't Say a Word finished up 14.8% weaker* here and The Recruit finished
27.6% weaker, while for Cusack, Identity wound up 15.4% weaker*. Runaway Jury has a shot at finding the top
place of a weak box office, depending on how Intolerable Cruelty holds up, although it could be a casualty of some
negative word. Runaway Jury may open with $1 million this weekend.
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Also opening is the kids flick Holes, which upon release in the U.S. become a huge and unexpected success. Starring
Sigourney Weaver, Shia LeBeouf and Jon Voight, the film follows a wrongly convicted kid who is sent to a desert camp.
Legend tells of a treasure that is buried in the area, determined to find the treasure, the camp warden uses the camps
kids to dig holes in area in the search for it. Directed by Andrew Davis (Collateral Damage, Under Siege) the
Disney film was released in the U.S. back in April.
Produced for a very cost effective $US20 million, Holes opened to a great $US16.3 million. Holding power for the
film was also fairly good, if not great, which allowed the film to go on and earn a hot $US67.4 million. Beating out
the $US66.9 million of Warner Bros' Kangaroo Jack, Holes counts third behind the $US110.9 million of
Spy Kids 3D and Finding Nemo's $US339 million in 2003's family stakes. It's also currently Disney's fifth
best film of the year, currently the market leader.
The film may prove to not have all that much of an audience in Australia, much like the Spy Kids movies and
Kangaroo Jack failed to replicate the U.S. business. Although the second installment of Spy Kids did a bit
better than the first, the first film had created awareness for it. Holes may suffer the same fate as Jack
and struggle to find an audience for its less than identifiable premise. Holes should however be able to open with
a little more than Jack's $422K and find around $0.7 million this weekend.
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Also opening is the latest entry from martial arts funny man Jackie Chan. The Medallion follows a detective who
happens to be killed in a car accident. However luckily for him he was in possession of a magical medallion that transforms
him into an immortal warrior. Directed by veteran Chinese director Gordon Chan, the film is the latest in a seemingly
increasing trend to poorly performing Chan films.
The film opened in the U.S. in August to a poor $US8.1 million, going on to close up shop with $US22.1 million. Last years
The Tuxedo was considered a disappointment by some, but that went on to earn $US50.5 million, while the film before
that, Shanghai Knights collected a better $US60.4 million.
In Australia, The Tuxedo did some good business, opening with $1.7 million and going on to make $4.8 million.
Shanghai Knights also collected a decent $4.4 million, and while they aren't huge amounts, The Medallion
will more than likely fail to get close to either mark. A few Chan loyalists may turn up for this flick, but The
Medallion may only turn up around $0.5 million this weekend.
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* 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. |
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