Box Office: 'Underworld' Wins Friday, 'Slumdog' A Multi-Millionaire

Saturday

24Jan2009

Box Office: 'Underworld' Wins Friday, 'Slumdog' A Multi-Millionaire

Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 2:45PM

A few observations about the Friday night box office numbers: Inkheart is a bomb, My Bloody Valentine might be something of a cult hit, and Universal missed a great window of opportunity with Frost/Nixon. And that doesn't even touch on the big stories, including another number one finish for an Underworld movie and Slumdog Millionaire cashing in on its Oscar nomiations.

Yes, Underworld is headed for a number one finish, a little softer than expected, though, with an estimated $8 million on Friday. Slumdog Millionaire will probably finish in the top five, because Fox Searchlight expanded the film's run into 1,000 theaters this weekend, one day after it received ten Oscar nominations. Whether or not it wins Best Picture, Slumdog is still the Oscar hopeful with the most forward momentum at the box office. More on that in a minute...

Paul Blart and Gran Torino finished Friday behind Underworld, and My Bloody Valentine was right there with them, headed for another $10 million this weekend, with another $20 million or so left to earn. Not a huge hit but certainly profitable, proving that for all the things Lionsgate may do wrong, that studio sure is tuned into its horror audience.

While Slumdog vaulted into the top five, Frost/Nixon, a fellow Best Picture nominee continues to toil. The film only cost $25 million, and it's directed by one of America's favorite directors. Ron Howard has only made a handful of movies that weren't profitable, and most of those were because they just weren't that good. Frost/Nixon doesn't have that problem, but Universal waited 50 days to release this wide. And it doesn't make any sense. What's wrong with opening it on January 2nd or January 9th? As it is, the film has $15 million left to go, and it might make $3 million this weekend.

Universal missed its chance after the Obama election to run this in several hundred theaters and then expand wider around Christmas, when the film was being mentioned in end-of-the-year lists. So waiting until after the Obama inauguration - and based on my own cable TV viewing, not even capitalizing on that moment with its advertising - is just mysterious.

We'll break down the full top five tomorrow and see how the Oscar nominees fared following Thursday's nominations.

Colin Boyd |

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