WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Fast Hannah, Furious Diesel

The first time I was ever asked to write a box office report was around this same time last year. I had to report how Miley Cyrus and her alter ego, Hannah Montana, had broken new ground for 3D pictures and concert flicks alike when the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS concert took in over $31 million in what was supposed to be a limited engagement. Taking advantage of the Easter weekend, Disney has unleashed the Cyrus’s first big screen adventure, HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE, and proved that you don’t need to lie about limited runs to get people out on opening weekend.


Box office prognosticators debated all week whether HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE would be able to topple last week’s unexpected juggernaut, FAST AND FURIOUS. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker may appeal to the ladies out there but the ladies are no match for tween girls. FAST AND FURIOUS managed an almost respectable 60% drop this weekend but its fate was officially sealed when HANNAH MONTANA debuted to $17 million, the biggest opening day ever for a G-rated non-animated film. That one day accounted for 50% of the final weekend gross and allowed America’s newest underage sweetheart to easily slide past F&F’s $28 million. In other holdover news, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS performed strongly in its third week, thanks surely to many kids having Friday off.


Audiences and critics were essentially split on whether OBSERVE AND REPORT was horrifically offensive or hilarious. Either way, this latest Seth Rogen vehicle is his weakest opening besides last fall’s disappointment, ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO. The bad press on this one will likely ring louder than those who actually enjoyed it given the gravity of how offensive it has the potential to be so a quick decline is to be expected. Even though it did debut higher than ZACK AND MIRI, I would expect OBSERVE AND REPORT to gross less in the long run. The week’s only other Top 10 debut belonged to DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION. None too surprisingly, the film fizzled but it had already made over $25 million internationally prior to this domestic release so all is not lost.


The week’s best per screen average belonged to ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL. This well received rockumentary tells the story of two Canadian buddies who made a promise to rock out forever together and have never gone back on that promise. Playing on three screens in all of North America, the film pulled in a decent $11K average. Meanwhile, quirky indie, LYMELIFE, starring Alec Baldwin and Rory Culkin, pulled in an average of over $7K on four screens.

NEXT WEEK: CRANK:HIGH VOLTAGE (2200 screens) will try to make as much as money as possible before its heart explodes; and even though STATE OF PLAY (2700 screens) boasts a cast including Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren, I’m pretty sure none of them have as much appeal these days Mr. High School Musical himself, Zac Efron, whose first major starring vehicle, 17 AGAIN debuts on over 3000 screens. Screaming girls everywhere will flock to see him; I may join them.

Source: Box Office Mojo

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Big Cars, Big Names, Big Money

Friday was my birthday. Every year when my birthday roles around, there are two things I wonder about. The first is whether all the snow will be gone by that day and the second is what horrific mess Hollywood will unleash on my special day. You see, April is considered in the industry to be the biggest dumping ground for films after January and the first week of April is the worst of all. This year was no different and nothing was expected to fare well. Certainly no records were expected to be smashed. Hollywood will learn a new lesson though now. April should not be dismissed and Vin Diesel should never be underestimated.


I’m sure no one at Universal saw this coming. They brought back the original cast of a waning franchise and instead of pulling in modest returns that would eventually justify its budget, FAST AND FURIOUS pulled out of the garage and way up in front of the rest. Not only did it outpace the entire domestic gross of the last installment, it also boasts the biggest April opening weekend ever and the second biggest opening for any film outside of the summer or holiday seasons and frames, behind THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. It’s $20K per screen average exceeds every other title in release but its true test will be longevity. Fast out of the gate does not always mean a first place finish in the end. Still, if I was wearing a hat right now, I would tip my it to Universal; you definitely pulled a fast one on me and have left me somewhat furious.


This weekend’s only other Top 10 debut fell in line with expectations, as ADVENTURELAND opened in sixth place. The film stars TWILIGHT sensation, Kristen Stewart but she cannot open pictures yet and this is hardly her picture to open. Someone should have told helmer, Greg Mottola that teenagers don’t like their movies with perspective, just profanity. Meanwhile, indie favorite, SUNSHINE CLEANING snuck into the Top 10 in its fourth week of release. In its widest expansion yet, the film seems to have reached its saturation point, seeing its per screen average dip below $4K.


Two sophomore efforts debuted to solid starts this weekend in the art house world. LES CHORISTES director, Christophe Barratier returns with PARIS 36. Opening on just 7 screens, this amusingly theatrical romp pulled in an average of over $10K. And you would think that after making a splash and directing Ryan Gosling to an Oscar nomination in their first effort, HALF NELSON, that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck would be looking to make bigger inroads toward Hollywood but they played things very indie with SUGAR. Unfortunately, the baseball film opened on 11 screens to the tune of a mediocre average of under $7K. Good word of mouth will be needed for both to flourish.

NEXT WEEK: April tries to earn back its reputation as a garbage month with DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION (2100 screens). Seth Rogen will try to fly without a mustache in the second comedy this year to have a mall cop as a protagonist in OBSERVE AND REPORT (2500 screens). Neither will be able to trump Miley Cyrus though. HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE will be rolling out on over 3000 screens. Cover your ears; the screaming girls are coming this way.