Box Office - 'District 9' Dominates on Friday

Saturday

15Aug2009

Box Office - 'District 9' Dominates on Friday

Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 11:31AM

District 9 roared out to an insurmountable weekend lead yesterday, taking in $14 million. That's roughly twice as much as the next two films on the list, The Time Traveler's Wife and G.I. Joe, so while we'll go ahead and declare it the weekend winner, there's enough unknown about the new sci-fi movie to wonder if Friday is a one-off number or if we're looking at a consistent three-day start.

If it's option A, then District 9 is probably headed for a $32 - $34 million debut, which is quite a bit more than the projections indicated. If it's option B, then this will probably have a $40 million start. Either way, it will open north of $30 million, and there's not another movie that can run it down in the next two days.

Also opening above expectations is The Time Traveler's Wife, which leapfrogged G.I. Joe for second place on Friday with $7.8 million. This one should have a consistent weekend; I don't see too many romantic dramas that spike on opening day and then slow down. So that translates to a $20 million opening, and that could be enough to hold on to the silver medal position it currently enjoys.

The bloom is off the rose for G.I. Joe: Eight days, $83 million, and only $30 million in the last five days. Normally, I wouldn't root for a movie to fail, but with director Stephen Sommer's unbearably conceited comments after Joe's first place finish last week, I'd like to use his words against him and point out how bad word of mouth must be for this one. It has zero chance to make back its $170 million budget in the U.S., and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

The Goods and Ponyo, both opening in around a thousand theaters, had relatively nice starts, but neither will be terribly competitive this weekend. Bandslam did not open in the top twelve on Friday, meaning it earned less than $900,000.

We'll revisit the weekend tomorrow and see how much business District 9 can generate.

Colin Boyd |

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Reader Comments (1)

Ponyo Joe!

Saturday, August 15, 2009 |

Will

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