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SUNDAY AM: North American numbers show this weekend at the box office was a dogfight. Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua made it No. 1 two weeks in a row by beating all four opening movies. It ended the weekend with an estimated $17.5M thanks to Friday’s $4.5 million haul and Saturday’s $7.6 million from crowded kiddie matinees and adults unaccompanied by children, and Sunday’s projected $5.4 million in 3,215 theaters. With a -40% hold from a week ago, the four-quadrant family fare’s new cume is now $53M, showing that moviegoers sure love those yappy rat dogs.
But the surprise No. 2 movie was Screen Gems/Sony’s low-cost horror flick Quarantine which scared up $5.4 million Friday and $5.5 million Saturday from 2,461 theaters for a $14.2M weekend gross. And the studio brought in the pic for just $12M. Sony also kept the marketing costs downs: it told me it limited the terrifying TV ads to only 15-second spots: “Not only does it save money,” one insider told me, “but people can’t take much more.” The opening weekend demographics showed 52%/48% male and female, and 41%/59% under 21 years old and over 21.
Now for the real news: Hollywood was talking about Warner Bros’ disastrous debut of its war-on-terror spy thriller Body of Lies. True, competitors sensed weak pre-weekend wannasee — but no one expected the pic to underperform this badly. “Maybe it should be retitled Body Bags?” one rival studio exec emailed me Saturday night. That’s because its FSS total is only $13.1 million, not the $20M that the studio expected, after taking in just $4.4 million Friday and $5.2 million Saturday from 2,710 dates. Which is bad news for the studio that didn’t have a financial partner on the film. “Warner’s Body Of Lies now rivals Warner’s Speed Racer for the crown of biggest trainwrecks of the year,” one mogul gloated. “This is their second $100+ budget film to open under $20 million.” How humiliating that Oscar-touted talent like Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe (who gained 50 pounds for the role) and Ridley Scott were dogged at the box office and wound up only #3. Even though Warner Bros had been spending big marketing money since late August/early September trying to make Body Of Lies into an event movie. “You could smell their desperation,” one studio marketing rival emailed me. But audiences ran the other way, which is what happens when the script, though based on a book, doesn’t measure up.
Two holdovers hung on. The 4th place DreamWorks/Paramount’s Eagle Eye starring Shia LeBoeuf made $3.2 million Friday and $4.7 million Saturday from 3,614 theaters for an $11M weekend and fresh $70.5M cume. And 5th place Sony’s Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist took in $2.2 million Friday and $2.7 million Saturday from 2,421 runs for a $6.5M weekend and new cume of $20.8M.
Universal’s football tear-jerker The Express, a biopic about the first Afro-American Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, opened only No. 6 with $1.5 million Friday and $1. million Saturday from 2,808 theaters for what was a very disappointing $4.7M weekend. The studio screened it for three months to “genuine thunderous applause,” a source told me — showing once again that test screenings are meaningless. But its gross was only 2/3′s what Uni hoped it would earn. It remains to be seen if the pic has legs.
Warner Bros’ mature romance Nights in Rodanthe came in #7 with an FSS of $4.6 million and fresh $32.3M cume. In 8th place, Warner Bros’ Appaloosa took in $3.3 million from 1,290 plays for a new cume of $20.8M. Also The Duchess from Paramount Vantage starring Keira Knightley finished its 4th weekend in 9th place with $3.3 million and a new cume of $5.6M.
Finally, Fox Walden’s costly newcomer City Of Ember starring Bill Murray and distributed by 20th did so poorly — $970K Friday and $1.2 million Saturday from 2,022 runs for only a $3.2M weekend — that it only placed #10. This was supposed to start a new family film franchise based on a children’s book. But instead Fox Walden had a meltdown after fully financing and producing this bomb.
In other movies of interest, a low-cost holdover, Provident/Samual Goldwyn’s faith-based firefighter saga Fireproof, finished its 3rd weekend with $3 million and a new cume of $16.7M for 11th place.
Also, for the 2nd straight week, Bill Maher’s liberal spoof Religulous from Lionsgate thrashed David Zucker’s conservative satire An American Carol from Vivendi Entertainment even though the Maher movie was playing in just a 1/3 as many theaters as Zucker’s pic (568 vs 1,621). The final numbers were $2.2M to $1.5M.
Overall, the weekend total was right at $105M, which is up 5.76% from last year’s $99.2M. With a hefty Columbus Day Monday still to come, the theatrical box office appears not only recession-proof but depression-proof.
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I hate to tell you this, but there are actually those of us who don’t think that Leonardo di Caprio is all that great an actor.
Dear “Reader”
There’s plenty of room for opinion in this world but sometimes there are facts.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a great actor.
You can dislike him but his acting ability cannot be denied.
Respectfully,
Tim
“The Express” is a film that can build week by week — a people picture, not a tent pole. The studio is trying to buy a gross when, in fact, the guilelessness of the picture itself is the best advertising there is. Is there still such thing as word-of-mouth?
Leonardo is a terrible actor, and whatever talent russell crowe once had (circa Romper Stomper) is long gone–i haven’t seen him play a credible role in years. i hope those disney puppies stomp all over their movie! as for ridley scott, the only movies of his that don’t come off as lame studio hackwork are The Duellists, Alien, and Blade Runner! he and tony scott are now interchangeable hacks. once this was not the case. Find your mojo Ridley! and stop working with Russell Crowe until he finds his (and never work with Leonardo–it’s not 1997).
I saw Body of Lies at a sneak preview on Monday and wasn’t terribly impressed. It was engaging, though nothing special.
I guess on the plus side, this film should break the “Iraq war curse” that seems to have hindered all other films released these past few years that deal with the war.
papanewguinea,
“As for Ridley Scott, the only movies of his that don’t come off as lame studio hackwork are The Duellists, Alien, and Blade Runner!”
What about Blackhawk Down? Gladiator? Thelma and Louise? Legend?
C’mon now.
Nikki, the problem with Body of Lies isn’t entirely the script. As sad as it is, the problem is that Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio are well past their sell-by dates… Bloated, boring, with fading looks and acting chops, they will end up like Pacino and DeNiro in Righteous Kill… except they’ll lack Pacino and DeNiro’s stellar resumes! The public is bored with Crowe and DiCaprio. The millenials have spoken, and they want their Shia! DiCaprio isn’t hot anymore, in any sense of the word. So don’t just blame the sucky script. The supposed stars are to blame here. Everyone knows Russell Crowe is a jerk, and personally I’m sick of DiCaprio’s liberal preaching, and I’m a liberal! They should just roll over and make way for the Army of Shia, Seth Rogen, and all the other new stars. It’s a whole new era for better or worse!
Nikki, you said it best when you wrote “that’s what happens when the script doesn’t measure up.” Sure, DiCaprio and Crowe are talented actors, but the audience (especially adults) are sophisticated enough to realize that actors alone don’t guarantee a great movie. It’s the *story* that counts.
Otherwise, if I just want to see a particular actor, I can go get a DVD with a movie that I *know* I liked and watch that rather than waste $12 at the theater.
I’d love to go to the movies more often- if only LA told entertaining stories worth watching rather than relying on the presence of “stars.”
I have a theory concerning Russell Crowe – whenever he gains weight for a role and enters the pudgy-white-hair-middle-age mode, the film flops.
Time for a GLADIATOR prequel or sequel.
The problem with many of this so called ‘Serious Actor’ is that they pigeon-holed themselves again and again into the same kind of movie
The last 3 productions starring both Leo and Russel are all of the same genre..actions!
Why are the likes of Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks are able to survive still and command the audience’s attention (to want to watch their movies)? It’s no rocket science knowing they engaged their audiences in many different genre, both serious & entertaining
I have said this before, Shia, Orlando, Keira, and many others are type-casting themselves with the same movies they are making. It’s a matter of time before we the audiences will tire of them
Sorry, but Body of Lies won’t break the “Iraq War Curse” because informed Americans don’t buy into Hollywood’s revisionist and left wing views. Leonardo should just go home and switch out a few light bulbs. I’ve got my fingers crossed that a ton of dough is lost on Oliver Stone’s upcoming disgrace, “W.” Here’s to that piece of crap going down in flames. I want the studios, directors and actors to pay dearly for the unbelievable amount crap that has been marched out on television and in the theaters.
Wow some people can be cynical. DiCaprio’s not one of the best actors alive – he’s not Daniel Day-Lewis, but he’s a great actor. The fake southern accent bothered me a bit, but Russell Crowe nailed the character spot-on. Ridley and Tony interchangeable studio hacks? Watch “Domino” then watch “Kingdom of Heaven” and tell me that again. Whatever shortfalls exist are certainly not in Scott’s masterful camerawork and sense of narrative – he is a director at the top of his game (it’s not exactly “A Good Year”).
It’s not the Oscar-genius it was touted to be, but for those smart enough to follow and sensible enough to appreciate good filmmaking, it’s worth watching.
H’wood isn’t making anything worth watching. Where are the real artists? Beverly Hills Chihuahua? F*** me. I was walking through Blockbuster a few days ago and I couldn’t believe the amount of crap. And I’ll watch anything.
PS: Body of Lies is a shitty title. People will watch anything — why handicap yourself out of the gate? And it doesn’t help that the movie is about covert operations in Jordan. They should have made a movie about enlisting the Mafia against Al Qaeda in NYC or something like that — vicious thugs vs. suicide bombers etc. Whatevs.
Other than Will Smith, Star power is a thing of the past! The PUBLIC buys concept, and if they don’t like the concept they don’t go to see the MOVIE! Case in point with Body of Lies!
Ever since Crowe attacked that BAFTA producer and bashed that hotel clerk’s head with a phone, he’s been box office dead weight. He effectively negates the presence of more marketable actors in a film. As opposed to a box office ebola virus that kills a film’s grosses, Crowe is more like box office food poisioning that severly weakens them instead.
I’d write that Crowe is a piece of crap, but crap deserves more respect than that. If compared to Crowe, David O. Russell would be the Humanitarian of the Year.
First the economy collapsing and now a Chihuaha is number one…
The apocalypse is nigh.
Doesn’t anyone remember American Gangster? Russel Crowe was excellent in that film. What about “A Beautiful Mind?” I believe he won best actor for that. Crowe is a phenomenal actor.
Leonardo DiCaprio is the guy who drags this movie down. Many people just don’t like him. I avoid any movie he’s in. Unfortunately that philosophy prevented me from seeing the Departed until recently.
Russel Crowe is a complete ass; much like Tommy Lee Jones. They are scum but, highly talented actors. If I only saw movies that had people I liked I would never see anything. But, I am not going to see Body of Lies.
BODY OF LIES suffered from really bland, mundane marketing; Warner Bros. didn’t seem to put much effort into it at all, and the box office is reflecting that.
I’m more shocked at CITY OF EMBER’s failure, frankly … Fox Walden spent a lot of cash on that in the hopes of setting up a major franchise, not to mention it has something of a built-in audience as a young adult book and has some good talent in it. Maybe – even after the earlier restructuring – Fox Walden is gonna go the way of Fox Atomic …
Right now films about the war in Iraq and terrorism are box office poison. Warners tried to creative by playing down the terrorism angle of the story in the tv trailers. Playing up the star power instead. In the end they only succeeded in alienating audiences who saw little substance & had no clue what the hell the film is about.
The Warner Brothers doctrine that stresses “four quadrants” and no female leads has not been working for years & yet Jeff Robinov is too stubborn to recognize it. As long as they have Batman, Harry Potter, (eventually) Watchmen & the upcoming Twilight franchise, he will never even try to make character based films that will appeal to the population at large. It used to be tentpole movies supported a studio’s real purpose, filmmaking. Now tentpoles are the only thing studios care about. Studios are run by business and marketing majors who don’t know anything about storytelling or the art of filmmaking. Studio bragging rights used to be the number of Academy Award winning films you produced by the end of the year. Now it’s only which film made the most money for the week or the year.
I haven’t seen ONE commercial for City of Ember. I did see one trailer in the theater and planned on taking my son but frankly I didn’t catch that it opened this weekend. Piss-poor advertising.
Will Hollywood ever learn that Americans don’t want to see anti-American anti-war films? Keep on producing those films, Hollywood. And keep losing your money.
I find it ironic that some of the most anti-military extreme left wing cooks have no problem trying to make money off the war they oppose so much. People are just getting tired of all the anti-war sentiment from the hollywood elite
Err, stating simple fact is not spreading “hate”. Di Caprio is certainly a competent actor, but spittle-drooling comments like “one of the best alive” is more than unwarranted — it’s embarrassing. Leo has had some good roles and scores well on empathy…but his range is rather narrow (and yes, I’ve seen him in both ‘Aviator’ and ‘Grape’)
Day-Lewis, Nicholson, Hanks, Hopkins, Depp, Duvall — those are great actors. Perhaps di Caprio will rise to that level one day…but he’s not there yet.
Keep bashin republicans Leonardo and you will soon go down the drain with the rest of the liberals! I wouldn’t walk across the street to see your film!
At first glance body of lies looks like another “make terrorists look like idealists” type film, and people are kinda tired of this.