Weekend Box Office: Another Notch on 'Hannah Montana''s Belt
Filed under: New Releases, Box Office
You gotta respect Hannah Montana. Where her comrades in arms, the Jonas Brothers, were just recently defeated, she has emerged bloodied but victorious. Her $34 million weekend is roughly on par with her own concert film, which opened to $31 million last February on about a quarter of the screens -- I think that range pretty well represents the Hannah Montana brand's draw at this point in time. Concert Tour dropped pretty swiftly after that, topping out at $65 million; the narrative film may have slightly better legs, though last fall's High School Musical 3 faded out pretty quickly too.The weekend's neatest trick is the $11 million for Observe and Report: not a standout opening for Seth Rogen (though slightly stronger than Zack and Miri Make a Porno), but impressive considering that Observe & Report is basically a twisted art film that doesn't belong in wide release by any traditional measure. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Warners managed to pull this off; I just wanted to highlight the achievement. Given that the movie has even freaked out much of the usually hardy critical community, I'm dying to see how and if it holds up at the box office. The other R-rated comedy that premiered at SXSW, I Love You, Man, has thrived, dropping 17% in its 4th week on its way to a cheerful $75 million. But that movie is, oh, 50 times more accessible.
As for Fox's Dragonball Evolution: not so much. I think they might have been a couple years too late in capitalizing on the brand, as the kids who were really into the franchise when it was hot grew up a bit and lost interest. $4.6 million stings.
More, and the top 10, after the jump.
Fast & Furious took a big fall, which is not surprising for a movie that opened to $70 million and bad reviews. It should still become the highest-grossing film in the franchise in a couple of weeks. And after rebounding a bit this week, Monsters vs. Aliens looks like it will ultimately wind up somewhere in the vicinity of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ($180 million).
1 - Hannah Montana: The Movie (Disney) - $34.00 ($10,904) - $34.00
2 - Fast & Furious (Universal) - $28.78 ($8,290) - $118.04
3 - Monsters vs. Aliens (Dreamworks Animation) - $22.61 ($5,468) - $141.01
4 - Observe & Report (Warner Bros) - $11.14 ($4,085) - $11.14
5 - Knowing (Summit) - $6.67 ($2,280) - $68.01
6 - I Love You, Man (Dreamworks) - $6.41 ($2,426) - $59.00
7 - The Haunting in Connecticut (Lionsgate) - $5.71 ($2,098) - $46.30
8 - Dragonball Evolution (Fox) - $4.65 ($2,312) - $4.65
9 - Adventureland (Miramax) - $3.43 ($1,830) - $11.45
10 - Duplicity (Universal) - $3.00 ($1,525) - $36.85
Next weekend will probably belong to the Disney Channel-ish 17 Again (which is also, oddly enough, Burr Steers' follow-up to Igby Goes Down). It'll go up against the brainy-looking State of Play and Lionsgate's not-screened Crank: High Voltage.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-13-2009 @ 9:18AM
LiqwidZero said...
It's not that the movie came too late for Dragonball fans (I'm still a fan), it's that they took the movie in the extremely wrong direction.
Reply
4-13-2009 @ 11:20AM
Jessica said...
I agree with Liqwidzero. The film was full of plot holes and was just done horribly. I'm a big fan and expected something good not crap! I'm sure this will be remade in a few years by someone that knows what they are doing and actually listen to the fans.
Reply
4-13-2009 @ 9:29AM
Kevin said...
Just wanna throw out here that Observe and Report was TERRIBLE. Yeah, its different and risky in its presentation, but that doesn't make it funny or even enjoyable. The theater I was at was about half full and a few couples left about 45 minutes in, and I have to admit I was tempted to do the same. I just didn't want to make the people I was with leave a movie they'd paid for. Turns out that they all felt the same way, cause when we left we all agreed that if anyone had said they wanted to go at any point we all would have happily left. Its not even that the movie "crossed the line" and that I was angry with the film and wanted to leave (like some people were during the rape scene of last house on the left). Rather, the movie was just unfunny and either boring or stupid throughout. To those of you that really like a dark comedy that knock yourselves out, but for everybody else that likes to have a good time at the movies I would say stay far far away from that film.
Reply
4-13-2009 @ 11:30AM
EatingPie said...
You really could just say "I liked Observe and Report a lot" instead of calling it this week's "neatest trick," making it sound somehow more legitimate than Hannah Montana.
I mean, isn't Hannah Montana making almost double it's expectations a pretty neat trick? Heck it'd already beat expectations in its opening night. Much neater than a movie advertised as a *standard* Seth Rogan vehicle only pulling $11M (I realize it wasn't standard Rogan, but that's how it was advertised).
-Pie
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4-13-2009 @ 1:17PM
chuck said...
With all do respect there is no way you can call Observe and Report successful at the box-office. Despite the fact that this is not a mainstream product WB marketed it as one. 99% of moviegoers who paid to see it over the weekend walked in expecting to see a Seth Rogen comedy. The audience I saw it with laughed maybe 3 times. For me it was a mixed bag. While it held my attention throughout and I got a rush when Rogen nut job character burst into violence the film overall isn't very funny. Although it is very watchable and interesting. This is a cult flick marketed as a mainstream comedy that had a very weak opening. There is no way the studio is happy with those opening weekend numbers.
http://www.entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com/
chuck
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4-13-2009 @ 3:19PM
Dan L said...
"There is no way the studio is happy with those opening weekend numbers."
Movie costs 18 mil to make.
Movie makes 11 mil opening weekend, making it pretty definite the movie will be profitable.
Dunno about you, but the Studio's probably happy about that.
--
Was the movie the funniest thing in the world, no. But I laughed a often enough throughout and then nearly died during the big violent finale.
I would say for any fan of R-rated comedies that if you make it through the movie - which isn't hard as it is definitely a decent picture and takes a couple cool turns in its development - the end alone makes it completely worth it.
The Zack and Miri comparison is completely legitimate. Seth Rogen used to market a movie that's a bit left of center from his normal audience, and maybe expose some folks to a writer/director worth the attention.
I dunno what folks' problems are, but the movie is not unwatchable by any stretch of the imagination. It's funny and different and WILL be profitable for the studio.
Everyone wins but those who take their comedy so seriously they can't sit through a mildly more serious comedy.
Reply
7-11-2009 @ 7:03PM
John said...
The update of Observe and report is it grossed $24,000,000.
Fourteen and a half million during it's first week when an 80/20 studio/venue split is the norm = 11 1/2 million. Then, with around a 50/50 split for the rest = about $16,000,000 for the studio. In 2,727 theaters, the prints of the movies alone would cost between 8 to 13 million. Then there are advertising and promotion costs which often cost as much as the film. They probably lost 30-40 million dollars on this film and that's being generous. They will some of that back though with the DVD, but not much. Usually they can make a pretty penny on the TV rights, but only a low rated cable channel will touch this if indeed anyone will. The impact on you is much less Seth Rogen. That being said, whether the film makes money due to the guesses and strategies of the studio is irrelevant to your enjoyment of the film. You do not need for this film to make money to validate your taste in movies. Curiosly, if you want to see a movie that will reinforce the it's OK to be you philosophy, I can recommend Hannah Montana the (Empowering) Movie.