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Monday
25May2009

Box Office - Weekend at 'The Museum'

DateMonday, May 25, 2009 at 2:59PM
The final four-day weekend estimates are in, and the news has not improved for Terminator Salvation, which marks the second straight weekend of somewhat disappointing box office for a potential summer blockbuster. Last week, it was Angels & Demons, but Terminator is probably a bigger deal all the way around, so its lighter than expected performance over the first five days is a bit more troubling.

From Thursday to Monday, Terminator has only managed $67 million. So now, even with a one day head start, it couldn't do the kind of business Night at the Museum generated. Yep: $70 million in four days for Museum versus $67 million in five days for T4. So where does Terminator go from here? Maybe $150 million, but probably not much more. A 50% drop next weekend would be in the mid-$20 million range, and that's actually the good news.

The prospects are much brighter for Night at the Museum, which because it's a family film, will have a longer life in theaters, even with Up arriving next Friday. Star Trek finished the five-day frame in third place, and the totals for that film will be over $200 million before we reach next weekend, with still three or four weeks of being the only May blockbuster worth seeing to follow.

Predictably, Angels & Demons is doing well overseas, so if it gets within shouting distance of its $150 million budget in the U.S., the film will be a big success, not unlike its predecessor. Dance Flick finished in fifth place, although $13 million in four days isn't exactly something to celebrate.

The Top Five (Four-Day Totals):
1 - Night at the Museum ($70 million)
2 - Teminator Salvation ($53.8 million)
3 - Star Trek ($29.4 million)
4 - Angels & Demons ($27.7 million)
5 - Dance Flick ($13.1 million)

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

I never thought "Angels and Demons" disappointed Box office wise; considering the lesser known source material, the bad hype from the first film and the extremely strong weekend showing of "Star Trek" (and all the other films in the top ten- the biggest drop was in the 40% range!), it did quite alright. It'll probably hit $130-140 million total here in the states- for a film based on an adult dramatic novel, that's pretty good.

"Terminator" did however disappoint. But we should've seen this coming. I think the reviews kept people at bay- I was dying to see this film this weekend, but I heard lukewarm-to-negative reviews, and I decided to stay home and catch up on older flicks ("Knowing" was playing at the local discount theater luckily). I think other people made a similar choice. Unfortunately, this summer's starting in a bad way. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if "Star Trek" ends up becoming the highest grossing film of the year; if "Transformers" disappoints (and it definitely could) and stuff like "Ice Age" and "Up" perform in the low $200 million range, this actually could happen.

Monday, May 25, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterVince

Vince you left out harry-potter.
It wont suck, it will make stupid money.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterOrinn

I think it's way too early to comment on the success of the films. Terminator Salvation has not premiered in the E.U. yet for goodness shake

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 | Unregistered Commenteraatnet

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