Sunday
01Jun2008
'Sex' Overcomes Slow Saturday and Sunday, Wins Box Office
Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 11:14AM
We've been tracking the performance of
Sex and the City all weekend, and after all
that - the $20 million Friday replaced by a $26 million Friday and what that
could mean for Saturday and on through the weekend - turns out our initial hunch
on Thursday was closest to its actual production.
Easily the number one movie in large part because of its
very big Friday night, Sex and the City made $55 million in its debut, so
says
Box Office Mojo, a comfortable $20 million over
some projections, and yes, that is the biggest opening of all time for a
romantic comedy.
Indiana Jones, which we suggested would make
about $47 million prior to the weekend, did just that (OK, $46 million...),
recovering from a rather puny Friday to actually win the box office on Saturday
and Sunday. It has now earned over $215 million, so it should or at least could
catch
Iron Man in the summer sweepstakes.
The big surprise is really neither one of those films,
but rather the horror movie
The Strangers. Bucked from release dates a few
times, the film scared up $20 million in ticket sales, roughly double what
analysts estimated it would. It could have a nice run for a few weeks as
counterprogramming for those who have already seen the big May movies and find
themselves waiting for more dramatic summer fare like The Dark Knight.
For Sex and the City, though, it looks like the
party may not last that long. Just look at the raw numbers: $26 million on
Friday and only $29 million the rest of the weekend. Usually, the weekend's big
film (or films) will see a spike on Saturday and a return to Earth on Sunday.
But Sex and the City joins 2008 releases like Cloverfield and
Prom Night, movies that opened stronger on Friday than virtually disappeared
for the rest of the weekend, setting the table for a lackluster run the rest of
the way.
In this case, Sex and the City lost a third of
its audience on Saturday ($18 million) and another 40% of its crowd on Sunday
($11 million). When you add in that, in week two, most blockbusters only make 50
- 55% of what they made in their debut, suddenly doubt starts to creep in about
whether or not Sex can hit the number put up by the similarly-targeted
The Devil Wears Prada.
Can Sex sell to the tune of another $70 million
in tickets if it only makes another $35 million in the next seven days? Yes, the
film will make money in the long run, but those Saturday and Sunday numbers are
incredibly discouraging.
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