Watchmen Tops at Box Office With $55.2M Opening March 10, 2009 1:45 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News.Tags: Watchmen
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Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen, opened over the weekend with a solid $55.2 million from 3,611 theaters on 7,500 screens, helping the box office improve a healthy 11% over the same time frame last year. The film opened on Friday with $24.5M before dropping 25% on Saturday to $18.4M and 33% on Sunday to $12.3M.
While still a respectable bow, the picture fell slightly below opening weekend expectations of $60-70M.
The film performed better in IMAX venues. Opening in 124 of the large-screen theaters, Watchmen generated a second-best ever $5.4 million, accounting for nearly 10 percent of its weekend gross on less than three and a half percent of the film’s total theater count. (The Dark Knight holds the record — $6.3 million at 94 sites).
In fact, while Watchmen failed to match Snyder’s last film — March record holder 300 which grossed $70.9M in 2007 — Watchmen’s IMAX gross was significantly above 300 ($3.6M from 62 such venues).
In foreign markets, the film took $27.5 million from 5,097 theaters in 45 territories. Thus far, Watchmen is at $82.7M worldwide, slightly more than its estimated $150M production budget.
Sources: Box Office Mojo and Variety
Watchmen Takes Weekend With Strong Debut March 8, 2009 3:26 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, Warner Brothers.Tags: Watchmen
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According to studio estimates, Warner Brothers adaptation of the Alan Moore comic/graphic novel Watchmen pulled in a very respectable $55.7 million this weekend. The film took in $25.14 million on Friday, dropped to $19 million on Saturday and is expected to pull in another $11.52 million through tonight (Sunday).
Now, it’s true that the movie failed to match Snyder’s last, 300 (which grossed a March record $70.9 million in 2007) and WB had reportedly been hoping for $60 million or so, but this performance is still very impressive.
That’s all especially true when you factor in the age and difficulty in adapting the source material to the big screen with care, the fact that this is not a sequel of any kind and most especially the R-Rating and very long length (2 hours and 43 minutes). It’ll be very interesting to see where the movie lands in the coming weeks, but there is no doubt that the long length limited its opening weekend performance even though it played in 3,611 theaters, a record for an R-Rated film. Then again, it’s total screen count of 7,500 is no where near a record–again, this is all due to the film’s long length.
Looking a bit more on the positive angle, while some may feel the movie’s total gross was a little on the disappointing side, there should be no disappointment with the IMAX folks. Playing at 124 IMAX theaters (~3% of its total theater account), Watchmen drew an impressive $5.5 million (~$44,000 per theater average) of its business from the large-screen format, accounting for a hefty 10 or so percent of its overall weekend gross. In fact, it was the second-largest IMAX launch ever behind The Dark Knight which took in $6.3 million at 94 sites (accounting for just a little under 4% of its total gross) and unlike Watchmen had 24-hour showings to help boost its gross:
“This solidifies in our mind that we’re the choice for the fan boys, and we love having them,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment for IMAX
Source: Box Office Mojo
Watchmen: $25.1M Opening Day March 7, 2009 11:46 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News, Warner Brothers.Tags: Watchmen
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Watchmen grabbed an estimated $25.14 million on Friday. That figure includes the $4.55 million that the film grossed from midnight Thursday grosses. That’s actually slightly lower than Snyder’s last film, 2007’s 300 which grabbed $28.11 million in its first day ($2.5 million of which from Thursday midnight).
While 300’s March opening weekend record of $70.89 million isn’t out of reach, many analysts expect the film to drop off and fall short of that tally, instead finishing the weekend at around $55-60 million.
Make no mistake, that’s still impressive. The issue here seems to be the film’s long run time. At 2 hours and 43 minutes, it’s a full 46 minutes longer than Snyder’s 300. In addition to the fatigue concern, there’s the simple fact that it won’t be able to be played in as many screens as most other, shorter, blockbusters.
Look for further updates on the film’s gross throughout the weekend.
Midnight Watchmen Screenings Take In $4.6M March 6, 2009 1:58 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News, Warner Brothers.Tags: Watchmen
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Watchmen grossed $4.6 million from Thursday midnight runs. That’s nearly double the midnight gross for Snyder’s previous film 300, which took in $2.5M in March 2006. The film played in more than 1,595 theaters across the country and did so well in IMAX that the exhibtor sold out all 124 showings and added 3am showings. IMAX adds that much of the weekend is already sold out.
Watchmen opens wide today in a record — for an R-rated film — 3,611 theaters. Most analysts expect the film to gross somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-70 million, more than likely near the higher end of those projections, meaning it may beat the weekend gross of Snyder’s 300, which holds a March record of $70.9 million in its opening weekend.
Source: Variety
The Dark Knight Reaches $1 Billion Worldwide February 23, 2009 5:45 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News.Tags: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Titanic
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Warner Bros. has announced that after a re-release late last month, The Dark Knight has finally crossed $1 billion in worldwide gross. The studio made the announcement last Thursday, but did not reveal which day the movie reached the mark.
The film’s current tally sits at $1,001,176,117 ($533.2M domestically and $468.0 from foreign markets). It joins just three other film’s that have reached the mark; Titanic ($1.84B), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12B) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.07B).
Source: Box Office Mojo
The Dark Knight Re-Launch: $667,397 January 26, 2009 5:51 pm
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Without the help of high-profile Oscar nominations such as Best Picture, Best Director or Best Writing, the re-launch of last year’s highest grossing film, and the second highest grossing film of all-time, The Dark Knight, was modestly successful. The film played in 350 theaters (+344 from the weekend prior) and grossed $667,397 (#26) for a PTA of $1,907.
The film’s new domestic cume now stands at $531.71 million with worldwide box office at $997.71 million.
The Dark Knight Re-Release Set for January 23rd December 4, 2008 11:50 pm
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Warner Bros. has announced that they will be re-releasing The Dark Knight nationwide on January 23rd, effectively guaranteeing that the film will become the fourth of all time to take in more than $1 billion in worldwide box office.
The Dark Knight‘s box office currently stands at $530.3 million domestically and $465.9 million internationally. The re-release will come just six weeks after the DVD and Blu-ray launch of The Dark Knight this Tuesday, December 9th.
Dan Fellman, president of Warner’s domestic distribution, made the announcement Thursday. “We wanted to provide one more opportunity for moviegoers to experience it on the bigscreen as it was meant to be seen,” he added.
The Dark Knight hits DVD/Blu-ray on December 9th. Preorder now on Amazon: $23.99 for the Blu-ray, $20.99 for the two-disc DVD, $14.99 for the single-disc DVD or $47.99 for the Limited Edition with Batpod for Blu-ray.
Source: Variety
The Dark Knight Re-Release Plans Dropped [UPDATE: Re-Release Set for January 23rd] December 2, 2008 3:07 pm
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UPDATED ON 12/04/2008: The below report turned out to be false. WB has announced that The Dark Knight will be returning to theaters on January 23, 2009. That all but guarantees that the film will surpass $1 billion. Click here for more.
SuperHeroHype is reporting that Warner Bros. has dropped their plans to re-release The Dark Knight in IMAX theaters. In September Warner Bros. Pictures domestic distribution president Dan Fellman had indicated that talks were taking place with IMAX theaters about returning the film to some IMAX theaters. It was unclear whether the film would also reappear in conventional theaters.
The decision likely means The Dark Knight will fall short of $1 billion worldwide. It’s current cume sits at $996.2 million–$530.3 million domestically and $465.9 million from overseas markets.
The Dark Knight hits DVD/Blu-ray on December 9th. Preorder now on Amazon: $23.99 for the Blu-ray, $20.99 for the two-disc DVD, $14.99 for the single-disc DVD or $47.99 for the Limited Edition with Batpod for Blu-ray.
Warner Waiting on Nolan for “The Dark Knight” Sequel + TDK Passes $500M Domestic, $900M Worldwide September 1, 2008 11:59 pm
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In an article from The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. revealed that the studio is waiting on director Christopher Nolanto come up with a “story and a plan”:
“There are a lot of us who emotionally would love to do it,” producer Charles Roven says. “But it’s really Chris’ call. Chris is the kind of filmmaker who just doesn’t think about the next movie before he has completely finished the movie he is working on.”
For now, Nolan is taking a well-earned vacation.
Says Roven, “When he comes back, we will see how he feels.”
Meanwhile, The Dark Knight drew a third place $8.62M (up one spot from the week prior) and now stands at $502.29M domestically. It’s only the second movie in the history of North American box office to reach $500M and the fastest to ever do it (45 days–Titanic hit $500M in 91 days). The movie’s expected to add another $2.41M on Monday ($504.7M).
In terms of overseas grosses, the movie has taken in $417M overseas, pushing its worldwide cume to $921.7M.
With only an estimated 18.3% drop from last weekend and the film performing better than expected during the weekdays, my estimate has been revised upward to between $518-527M.
Source: THR
“The Dark Knight” Passes “Star Wars”; Now #2 Highest Grossing Film of All-Time August 19, 2008 7:17 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News, The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder.2 comments
After placing first for four straight weekends, The Dark Knight fell to second place this weekend with $16.4M, edged out by the hilarious movie-within-a-movie comedy Tropic Thunder which took first place with $25.8M.
However, and more impressively, The Dark Knight passed up Star Wars ($461M) to take second place on the domestic all-time chart. Through Sunday, its gross stood at $471.1M and is now at $473.2M when including Monday’s grosses. The film moved its way into the number two spot on Saturday.
How appropriate is it that Star Wars fell out of the number two spot on the weekend when a new Star Wars film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, was released? ‘The Clone Wars’ in fact could only manage a third place $14.6M.
I’m currently projecting the final domestic gross of The Dark Knight at between $502-513M.
The rest of the top 10 follows after the jump.
Four Consecutive First Place Weekends for “The Dark Knight”; Now Third Highest Grossing Movie of All-Time August 10, 2008 11:14 pm
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The Dark Knight held off comedy Pineapple Express over the weekend, taking in an estimated $26.03M from 4,025 theaters to take first place for the fourth consecutive weekend. That’s a drop of just 39% from the weekend prior. The film’s total domestic gross now stands at $441.54M, good enough to put it into third place on the all-time list, just below #2 Star Wars ($461M). As I noted last week, I’m going to continue tracking the performance of The Dark Knight and my estimate has widened slightly to $496-547M total domestic box office (Although Titanic’s $600.79M record is unlikely, it’s not entirely out of the question just yet. It’s really going to depend on how the movie performs over the coming weeks).
In terms of overseas box office, the film has tacked on an additional $263.1M, growing its worldwide cume to over $700M at $704.64M.
Pineapple Express, meanwhile, grossed $22.4M over the weekend, but the film actually opened on Wednesday so it’s taken in $40.47M over its first five days of release. A good sum for an R-rated comedy.
Click through the jump for the rest of the top 10.
New Record for “The Dark Knight” August 6, 2008 6:30 am
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The Dark Knight broke yet another record on Monday, fastest movie to $400M. The film accomplished the feat in just 18 days (resting at $400,038,494 by the end of Monday), destroying the prior record held by Shrek 2 which took 43 days to hit the mark.
Additionally, The Dark Knight has added $203.7M from overseas markets pushing its worldwide gross to $603.74M with several key markets yet to open.
My revised estimate for the film’s total domestic gross now stands between $493M and $552M, which would place it second all time ahead of Star Wars ($461M), but below the all-time domestic grosser Titanic ($600.79M). We’ll know in the coming weeks if The Dark Knight truly has the legs to beat Titanic.
It currently ranks as the #8 highest-grossing film of all time. Ahead of #9 Revenge of the Sith ($380.27M) and slightly below #7 Spider-Man ($403.71M) which it should pass on Tuesday. Click here to check out the entire list.
“The Dark Knight” Adds $65.6M From Overseas Markets July 28, 2008 2:06 pm
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Over the weekend, The Dark Knight not only dominated the domestic box office, but it dominated the international box office as well. Variety reports that the blockbuster took in $65.6M from 7,143 theaters in 43 markets, pushing its overseas cume to $126.3M.
Added on its domestic receipts, the film has a worldwide gross of $440.5M in 12 days. This all while still not opening in several key markets including France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Spain (August openings).
“The Dark Knight”: $314.2M In Just 10 Days (Biggest 2nd Weekend Ever) July 27, 2008 7:20 pm
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The Dark Knight is continuing to tear up the box office as the movie took in an astounding record-breaking $75.63M over the weekend (according to estimates) bringing its 10-day cume to an extraordinary $314.25M, making it the highest grossing movie of the year. In addition to countless other records, it also now claims the records for the best 10-day, 9-day, 8-day, 7-day and 6-day (I reported on the others in a prior post) grosses. It’s $314.25M tally is a remarkable $55.88M ahead of where prior 10-day record holder Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was and that movie ended up with $423.32M over its entire box office run so just imagine where The Dark Knight will end up. It also became the fastest movie to hit $300M, doing so in 10 days (six days faster than ‘Dead Man’s Chest‘).
Overall, the movie has grossed $355.55M worldwide, and that includes just $41.3M overseas from just three territories (it’s just now opening internationally, and won’t open in several large territories for several more weeks).
It’s showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, making many wonder if the film could possibly challenge Titanic’s domestic ($600.79M), international ($1.24B) and worldwide ($1.84B) records.
“The Dark Knight” Breaks Another Record: Quickest Ever to $200M July 23, 2008 3:41 pm
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Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight broke yet another record on Tuesday, as it became the the fastest movie ever to cross the $200 million mark, doing so in just five days. That crushes the prior record held by three films; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. All three films took eight days to reach the $200M mark.
The Dark Knight hit the mark thanks to $24.49M Monday and $20.87M Tuesday performances, pushing its domestic total to an impressive $203.77M. Even more impressive is the fact that when Wednesday tallies are included, the film will have grossed in just six days more than its predecessor, Batman Begins, grossed in its entire theatrical run ($205.34M)!
Including the limited numbers we have from overseas grosses, The Dark Knight has taken in $245.07M worldwide ($203.77M domestically and $41.3M overseas).
In just under one week in release, The Dark Knight has already broken 14–major–records (it’s probably broken more, but who’s going to count them all?). Here they are:
- Widest release (4,366 theaters)
- Midnight Opening ($18.49M)
- IMAX Midnight ($640,000–included in $18.49M figure)
- Opening Day ($67.16M)
- Single Day ($67.16M)
- Single Day – Friday ($67.16M)
- Single Day – Sunday ($43.60M)
- Opening 3-Day Weekend ($158.41M)
- Opening 3-Day Weekend IMAX ($6.21M–included in $158.41M figure)
- July Opener ($158.41M)
- PG-13 Opener ($158.41M)
- 4-Day ($182.90M)
- Fastest to $200M (5 Days – $203.77M)
- 5-Day ($203.77M)
And guess what? It’s already made more money in five days than the record holder for 6 days and 7 days, so those two records are also beaten.
“The Dark Knight” Has Now Sold the Third-Highest Advance Ticket Sales of All Time July 16, 2008 3:03 pm
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In yet another sign that the film is gearing up for an enormous opening weekend, Christopher Nolan’s dark follow-up to Batman Begins, is currently outselling three of the Top-10 Performing Films of All-Time at the same point in the sales cycle. MovieTickets.com is reporting that The Dark Knight has already sold out over 150 performances in Los Angeles and New York alone. To put this in perspective, that’s more than three times as many advance tickets as current weekend leader Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and more than twice as many as Spider-Man 3.
Source: /Film
Sex and the City: $27 Million on Friday May 31, 2008 3:32 am
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Shattering expectations, Michael Patrick King’s big-screen adaptation of the HBO series Sex and the City opened on Friday with an impressive $27 million, and is estimated to have a $55.7 million weekend. Most analysts had pegged the film to score around $30-40 million over the weekend so these results are quite surprising.
“Iron Man” Kicks off Summer 08 With $38 Million on Thursday/Friday May 3, 2008 5:13 pm
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The summer movie season is officially off the ground, as Paramount’s Iron Man debuted to a very strong $38 million through its Thursday sneak peaks and Friday Box Office. The breakdown went as follows: $5.2M on Thursday and $32.8M on Friday.
Strong Opening Day Performance for “Saw IV” October 27, 2007 6:34 pm
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Opening day box office totals for Saw IV reveal that the film took in an estimated $14.3 million from 3,183 theaters, a figure very close to the record $14.47 million taken in by Saw III last year.
“Resident Evil: Extinction” Scares Its Way Into the Top Spot on Friday September 22, 2007 4:20 pm
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Sony/Screen Gems’ third and final film in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: Extinction, led a pack of four new releases in the top 10 with an estimated $9.50 million from 2,828 theaters on Friday night.
Weekend Box Office — September 14-16, 2007 September 17, 2007 4:00 pm
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Warner Bros.’ The Brave One led another slow week with $13.47 million from 2,755 theaters.
Year-to-year the top 10 box office was up by 5.9%. (more…)
“The Brave One” Leads Friday Box Office September 15, 2007 12:35 pm
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Warner Bros.’ Jodie Foster revenge tale vehicle The Brave One opened the weekend with a first place $4.55 million (estimated) from 2,755 theaters on Friday.
Harry Potter Now Highest-Grossing Film Franchise September 11, 2007 8:16 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Harry Potter, Movies, News.1 comment so far
Warner Bros. is today touting that their Harry Potter franchise has become the highest-grossing film franchise, with grosses surpassing $4.47 billion. A figure high enough to eclipse the six Star Wars films and all 21 James Bond films.
Weekend Box Office — September 7-9, 2007 September 9, 2007 4:15 pm
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Lionsgates’ 3:10 to Yuma led an expected weak pack of new releases over the weekend, with a so-so weekend take of $14.04 million from 2,652 theaters. The western (budgeted at $55 million), which stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, grossed an amount that was for the most part in line with predictions.
Year-to-year the top 10 box office was up by 25.6%. (more…)
“3:10 to Yuma” Leads the Pack on a Weak Friday September 8, 2007 3:45 pm
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With the summer season officially over, Lionsgates’ 3:10 to Yuma led an expected weak Friday with an estimated $4.55 million from 2,652 theaters.
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