| IMDbPro offers the latest entertainment industry news from the Hollywood Reporter. Sign-up for a two-week free trial today. Click here for a free trial! |
'21' Blackjacks Its Rivals
31 March 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Defying analysts' odds, the gambling flick 21 topped the box office over the weekend with $23.7 million. Superhero Movie, which most industry forecasters had picked to win the competition, wound up with just $9.5 million to place third. The third week of Horton Hears a Who turned out to be music to the ears of
The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. 21, $23.7 million; 2. Horton Hears a Who!, $17.4 million; 3. Superhero Movie, $9.5 million; 4. Meet the Browns, $7.8 million; 5. Drillbit Taylor, $5.8 million; 6. Shutter, $5.3 million; 7. 10,000 B.C., $4.9 million; 8. Stop-Loss, $4.5 million; 9. College Road Trip, $3.5 million; 10. The Bank Job, $2.8 million.
Elephant Stalkers
28 March 2008 (StudioBriefing)
There's no consensus among box-office prognosticators on which film will likely emerge as the top box-office draw over the weekend. Four new films will be entering the fray, hoping to displace Horton Hears a Who!, which has held the top spot for the past two weeks and could do so again, with many kids winding up their Easter-week holiday. No film is expected to take in more than $20 million in ticket sales, however. Each film has a lot going against it. The Weinstein Co.'s Superhero Movie, which many analysts predict will come out ahead, was not even screened for critics and faces the possibility of a boycott and/or picketing by angry Star Wars fans, who object to the Weinsteins' handling of the unreleased film Fanboys. The drama 21, about young math whizzes who tackle the odds in Las Vegas, may have a lot going for it in terms of story and stars, but not in general awareness, according to tracking surveys, or reviews. The R-rated Stop Loss may also have some glamorous stars, but films about the Iraq war have been roadside bombs at the box office. The PG-rated comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run comes to the U.S. after a successful run in the U.K., where it was produced, but British comedies traditionally struggle at the U.S. box office.