August 2 , 2004

It was a weird weekend at the box office…

Last week I did a piece about how disappointment is defined in Hollywood and this weekend's box office results fit the question perfectly.

The estimated $50.1 million start for The Village seems very nice. But it is only the eighth best start of this summer in twelve weekends so far, lagging slightly behind such less anticipated films as The Bourne Supremacy and eventually-disappointment-tagged films like Van Helsing.

Now, you can argue that The Sixth Sense was the ninth highest opener of the summer of 1999 and ended up being the #2 film of that summer. Or you could argue that this opening is only 15% off of Signs, which projects to a $193 million domestic gross. Or you could argue that the estimated Friday number was around $20 million and that the weekend was, in the end, a disappointment.

Meanwhile, The Manchurian Candidate is estimated by MCN's Len Klady at $19.6 million while the studio number was $20.2 million. The difference, beyond the actual number? The perceived ability of the film to hit the magical $100 million mark. Last summer, the only film to hit nine figures with a start of less than $20 million was The Italian Job, which struggled its way to the goal after a $19.5 million launch. This summer, the low starter in the $100 million derby was Fahrenheit 9/11, which started with $23.9 million.

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle started with a million or so more than Office Space, though there is little doubt that the film's opening was a bit of a disappointment for New Line. They like the movie a lot, they pushed really hard, they promoted with great coolness and still… The Notebook opened to about two and half times the gross. Even if H&K fails to pass the $15 million mark domestically, the upside in the Home Entertainment world (DVD/Video) should be more than enough to make the film profitable. But dude, where does that leave the sequel?

The Bourne Supremacy should hit $100 million tomorrow, but still, an estimated 55% second weekend drop has it and I,Robot running down a very similar box office path, with Bourne just ahead. That has the film topping out at somewhere around - give or take - $150 million domestic. Now, the best performing Bond film ever, Die Another Day, grossed "just" $161 million domestic. So you won't find anyone at Universal complaining. But that $53 million start looks like it will turn out to be a bit of a fake out.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has to be feeling relatively good about Catwoman, which is probably the worst major release of this summer. Despite a second weekend drop estimated in the 60s, the film now looks like it will make over $40 million and perhaps as much as $50 million. Unless the international markets go wild or Pitof has a nude Halle Berry DVD extra up his sleeve, the film will end up losing money. But in the era of Gigli and Pluto Nash, this is a win for the studio.

Much in the same boat is Paramount's The Stepford Wives, which did not crash as hard as expected, while Disney's King Arthur will do similar numbers (give or take $5 million) and be seen as one of the summer's biggest disasters.

There is one film that everyone can agree smashed into the rocks of fate… Universal's Thunderbirds, which managed just $2.8 million. Of course, we all knew that this one was over when they announced that Jonathan Frakes would be at the helm. Sometimes perception is reality.

READER OF THE DAY: TAIWAN STEVE writes as only he can: "I enjoyed "Catwoman" from begining to the end. I don't think it's a crape.

Halle Berry dressed in tight! Wow! How can You resist her? Unless You are a gay. And Even a gay can appreciate her cutom.

And the CGI special effects, are cool, too. If you can accept Spidey created by CGI based on Tobey fight Dr. Oct also created by CGI based on Alfred, I mean you know it's fake while you watch them fighting at the top of New York subway train on screen, It's supposed to be fine to watch Catwoman created by CGI based on Halle jump all around.

The story is not such bad, If you check all comic movies, they are all make on basic formula. A normal guy meets some kind of accident, then turn out to be a guy who has some ESP, He decides to make it as good. Only this time, it's an African American girl. Why do People have a problem with that?

I think most people who don't like "Catwoman" just simpley are mael chauvisism, they are too macho to see a woman who has super power to save the world, make things right. If Warner Bros. changed the title "Catwoman" into "Catman", I believe everybody will say "I just can't wait" even before they know any detail about it, as they react to "Spider-Man", "Batman begins" and "Daredevil" or "The Hulk".

The only problem in the movie is the villian Sharone Stone. She can be much more tough, smart, evil. Too bad there's no enough storyline about her, the final conflict can't be such highlight of the movie.

I am looking forward to see "Catwoman Returns". or "Batman VS Catwoman". It will be much more fun to bring Michelle back to meet Halle."

And NOT SPIELBERG writes: "Down here in Wellington, NZ, we've had a two-week onslaught of film dubbed the NZ Film Festival, an odd collection of a hundred-odd films that are a lot more novel in New Zealand than they would be on the beaches of the Mediterranean. So for example we get a 'first' look at Fahrenheit 9/11 (sold out in all showings and now selling out commercial cinemas), Zatoichi, Some Kind of Monster and Hero (presented at the Embassy Theater, restored to Peter Jackson's specs for the ROTK premiere and now one of the crispest, cleanest, brightest and LOUDEST venues for film I've been in).

So what's the news? Well, besides a healthy dose of New Zealand films (primarily In My Father's Den) that I didn't get to see but that got a stellar reaction, there a couple of heads-ups. First, there's a new print of Battle of Algiers (depressingly timely) that foretells a resurrection for a truly mind-boggling achievement: a narrative film with all the impact and immediacy of a documentary. It's never been so hard for me to believe that a film had not a foot of newsreel footage.

But the one for you to look out for is Shaun Of The Dead. (Is that the best title in ages or what?) A print has been drifting around Wellington for a couple of months, including PJ-instigated showings for Wetazoids, so there was already a lot of pre-buzz for the festival showings, but the director showed up and the film brought down the house. What can I say without spoiling it for you, except Seize the first opportunity to see it. The invention, the story, the gags make it all irresistible and completely satisfying. There's one gag that is so perfectly engineered that with the quietest of sound cues and about 1% of screen space gets the biggest laugh of the whole show. You'll know it when you see it."

E ME: Is it the good turtle soup or merely the mock?