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MONDAY AM: Paramount’s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull keeps piling up the box office gross domestically and internationally. After a 19-year hiatus, the fourquel mega-hit became the 10th biggest Friday-through-Sunday in the U.S. of all time, the 5th biggest international opening of all time, Steven Spielberg’s biggest opener (passing War Of The Worlds), and George Lucas’s second best opener behind Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith. But there’s been very mixed morning-after watercooler talk about whether the actioner was even worth watching — leading many Indy faithful to complain that Spielberg and Lucas just phoned it in. (However, my sources maintain the filmmaking duo thought they’d made a good pic. Go figure.) Monday’s North American box office gross is expected to be $25M. That makes the total domestic box office gross $151M for the 5-day Memorial Weekend (including Thursday’s opening haul of $25M, Friday’s $31M, Saturday’s $37M, and Sunday’s $33M as well as Monday’s $25M), $126M for the 4-day holiday, and $101M for FSS. The foreign estimate through Monday is expected to be $160 million — shattering the record for the Hollywood studio’s best overseas opening previously held by the opening of Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds ($102M). So, with North America’s $151M total take through Monday, that’s a $311M worldwide total.
In second place for the 3-day weekend was Disney/Walden’s sequel The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian whose gross fell 58% from a week ago to $23M for FSS from 3,929 venues and $28.6M for the 4-day holiday for a new cume of $96.6M. It’s nowhere near as successful as the original domestically, as I pointed out last week when it opened. But it’s now taken in $49.3M overseas from 13 territories which represents an 11% increase over Narnia 1. The 3rd spot was another Paramount actioner, Marvel’s Iron Man, with $20.1M for FSS from 3,915 runs and $25.6M for the 4-day holiday for a giant new cume of $257.8M.
See my INDY MEMORIALIZED! for the Top 10 chart. (And please don’t insert SPOILERS in your comments…)
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I wasn’t impressed, but they still have 2 more kicks at the can, if Lucas is true to his word.
I agree with the critics, the best came first.
That’s a good sign.
I still miss Henry and Marcus.
I can’t see how they will ever fill that gap.
SM
Does the film’s “success” mean that Lucas is going to continue with a TV series? Oh wait, been there, done that.
One word “dissappointing”.
The sets really looked like a newbee directing, not what I would have expected from the mighty Speilberg.
I want my ten bucks back. I also want the two hours of my life back. I couldn’t believe how bad this film was. Was Spielberg sleepwalking or did he just want the paycheck? I feel like a sucker. I left the theater feeling depressed, as though Lucas had sucked my blood. Ugh.
I disagree with Michael S. Watched the movie out of LA with a crowd of people mainly over 21 and they were excited…happy…thrilled to spend their money and be in the company of old friends. The music alone is enough to make you feel uplifted. In times like these, the idea that ANYBODY is a leader is so unusual…and if that leader has to be Indiana Jones, so be it. Nobody complained – there were happy people in those seats. Isn’t that the goal?
You’re such a whiner, Michael S. What did you expect? Raiders II? Its Indy, and its fresh and exciting.
I loved it, so get bent.
Welcome back Indy. 270M is far better than nothing. 20 yrs of wait and bam, you are at the top again.
Caught the show and love it. Going for 2nds this weekend.
It was no Raiders, but then neither were the last two. This movie fit in perfectly with Temple of doom and Last Crusade. It is funny that critics have been complaining about the use of cgi as the Indiana Jones films have always had state of the art effects. Personally I really enjoyed the movie with a few reservations, but hell – that’s Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones! Who can’t love that?
Come on people. It’s Indiana Jones. It’s meant to be a fun, turn your mind off kind of movie. My wife and I thought it was wonderful, and apparently a lot of other people liked it too. Why do you think they flocked to the theater? As for our review, you can check out A HREF=”http://framebyframe.godlaughs.net/2008/05/21/indiana-jones-is-back/” TARGET=”_blank”>”Frame By Frame: A Family-Friendly Guide to the Movies Blog.”
Dr. Rus
Shame they couldn’t get John Rhys-Davies back since the guy who plays Marcus passed away (I didn’t miss Connery).
The only character back is Marion, and she seems like she hasn’t acted in a while, there was zero chemistry between her and Ford. Definitely feels disconnected from the earlier ones.
While this movie is doing well, I think stories like this are overhyping how well it’s doing. It’s a sequel to a huge trilogy, of course it’s going to open big. But I’m not that impressed by the numbers, it’s on the low end of predictions (and I bet actuals are lower than estimates for sunday and monday) and it seems likely to drop big next week. Probably won’t top the summer as some people still seem to think.
I liked it. I thought it was very true to the tone of Raiders and Last Crusade. Harrison’s still got it and I keep getting pleasantly surprized by Shia.
I personally do kinda wish he hadn’t gone all the way where he went with the Chrystal Skull– she said cryptically so as to avoid spoiling anyone — but the effects were cool. My daughter loved it. It deserves every penny of box office it gets.
Excellent movie. Very light, very relaxing and a lot of fun. The nicest thing – it has the same spiirit as the previouse Indianas, so you feel like it is real continuation. And Ford looks almost the same. Really sorry for those who wasn’t able to enjoy it.
it’s so weird! every article on this site about indy has comments like the ones above- just absolutely spewing bile and hate. and yet, if you look at rotten tomatoes, it’s 79% fresh. If you look at box office mojo, 57% of the readers rate it an A with another 37% rating it a B. Just who are these internet comment haters? And why don’t the critics or the public agree with them? I’d say it’s because it’s actually a perfectly fine movie. No, it’s not as good as Raiders, but how COULD it be? It’s not 1981 anymore, people, and we’re not 9 years old at this point. Raiders was lightning in a bottle- don’t destroy this flick just because it didn’t live up to unrealistic expectations. God, fanboys and haters just make me sad.
People should stop complaing that the movie was so bad. It had its crapy moments but it was still an enjoyable installment.
About halfway through the film, I turned to my friend (a film director, a big film snob)… we both said, surprisingly, “this is solid.”
Critics and nitpickers should sit back and enjoy it. An imperfect film, but we both thought it was totally enjoyable. It’s popcorn entertainment, well done.
Where Speed Racer in that list of tent poles box office dollars, Nikki?
This was by far one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. George Lucas has now tainted TWO franchises that I once enjoyed. And Spielberg should be ashamed to have made this film.
Batman and Robin come to mind as complete stinkers that relate to how bad this one is.
To ‘elvisizer’,
It’s not the high level of expectation, it is such a blatant reach for the lowest common denominator. Sad to see that Spielberg is now a Lucas follower of cynical, cyclical business-think. The student has become the master: The ‘tinkerer’ is now leading the ‘filmmaker’ into revenueland. Usually you see this type of profiteering from the studios, to see their tattered indie legacy trampled, that is just sad and I pity both.
“t’s so weird! every article on this site about indy has comments like the ones above- just absolutely spewing bile and hate. and yet, if you look at rotten tomatoes, it’s 79% fresh. If you look at box office mojo, 57% of the readers rate it an A with another 37% rating it a B. Just who are these internet comment haters?”
From a small band of sad Internet nerds who has an agenda to kill the good word of mouth this film has, with out the common sense to know that if word of mouth as as bad as they are trying to say this film has, the film would not have made the money it did this weekend. By the way Nikki, what watter cooler talk are you talking about? This negative posts here, that its obviously the same person, or from the real people who saw the film?
It boggles my mind that these talented billionaire filmmakers are still so interested in making money. (Not to mention obsessed with industry recognition and awards.)
Why can’t they challenge themselves and make something truly risky? Instead of endless packaged deals, how about a $10m quality indie, showcasing new actors and other talent?
Stop coasting! Fight for your art!
“It’s meant to be a fun, turn your mind off kind of movie.”
I don’t get the notion that a popcorn movie should require you to turn your mind off. What about a movie like Raiders, or the other GREAT summer movies (as opposed to movies like this and Transformers where the action and FX are impressive but everything in between is lousy filler? So many popcorn movies are the equivalent of a porno movie, the dialogue and “plot” is just an excuse to get to the next money shot.
Some of us want our movies to be complete movies. Complete with story, characters, and good dialogue. Don’t get me wrong, this movie was still entertaining, but it sets the bar so low – why NOT expect more from filmmakers, especially someone like Spielberg who has made quite a few great movies already?
You know there’s a problem when even the people defending it say it had its crappy moments. I don’t think I’ve even seen anyone try and defend the dialogue, plot, or new characters (other than Blanchett). It’s just sure that all sucks, but how dare you not turn off your brain and accept the suckiness?! And if audiences should have to turn off their brains for summer movies, then I guess nobody should criticize a turkey like Speed Racer? Or 10,000 B.C.? “It’s just a movie!” can be used to defend any piece of crap.
Part of the backlash is probably because Iron Man just came out two weeks ago and reminded us all that a summer action movie can have solid acting and script.
I was not happy with it. The jungle/driving/fighting was outstanding but other than that, quite dull. No wonder Karen Allen hasn’t worked, she smiled throughout like she was on drugs. Half of Harrison’s dialogue was rerecorded and sleepy. The audience laughed at Blanchetts character.
People ‘flocking to the theatres’ on opening weekend doesn’t count as an indicator of how good it is. Check back after next and 3rd weekend and see how big the drop. That’s your indicator.
I’m surprised this movie is getting as much love as it is – I thought it was terrible, and I certainly wasn’t alone. I was at the 12:01 am screening opening night at the Dome here in Hollywood, and while the beginning of the film received wildly enthusiastic cheers, by the time the end credits rolled, there was only a couple of seconds of extremely tepid applause. Worse, I’d actually gotten up to use the restroom about 30 minutes before the end, and as I was walking back into the theater, I was shocked at how many empty seats there were – many people had walked out before the film was finished.
I tried to lower my expectations going into this movie, knowing that my childhood idolization of Indy would make it difficult for the film to live up to what I wanted out of it… but there was no way I could prepare myself for the absolute drivel left on the screen. Bad dialogue, a ridiculously terrible plot and acting that ranged from mediocre (Ford) to embarrassingly awful (Allen) ruined what should have been a fun revisit to an old favorite.
Oh, and while I normally worship at the alter of Speilberg, I’ve gotta ask – you’re making a movie with Indiana Jones, which is practically like printing money; you can’t afford to shoot one damn scene on location? “Temple of Doom” traveled San Francisco, Hong Kong, Macow, Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, and London (according to the VHS teaser trailer that I watched a million times as a kid); “Kingdom”, on the other hand, apparently traveled all the way from Soundstage 25 to Soundstage 31. ;P
I have nothing against turning my mind off. I do it every day when I turn on the TV. I would just rather turn my mind off with Iron Man which is Citizen Kane compared to Crystal Skull. This Indy episode was boring. I could barely keep my eyes open. Where was the tension? It was like being on the Disney ride over and over an not being able to get off. Lucas and Speilberg are smart cookies which is why this film reeks of cynicism. They wanted a surefire hit so they sunk as low as they could to make a movie for the video game zombie demographic. It’s really sad and it depresses me. Lucas and Spielberg are old men who still feel they have to prove their mojo. When is enough enough. Spielberg has tons of talent, why is he stooping so low with this crud. He must really be hurting inside. Oh well, maybe he enjoyed visiting Max at Yale while he was on location in New Haven.
1st – I’m surprised The Last Crusade has been so elevated in the memories of fans.
2nd – what’s the deal with AMC’s ticket takers? I bought two tickets for Sarah Marshall this weekend and was issued Indiana Jones tickets. When I asked for the correct movie, they said they couldn’t fix it but it would be alright. This situation – buying a ticket for the older movie and being issued a ticket for the popular new one – has happened a few times in the last couple years to me. Not always the same theater, but always AMC. Anyone else?