ROTTEN TOMATOES: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Spartans March Past Rambo to #1

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Spartans March Past Rambo to #1

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Rounding out the top ten were National Treasure: Book of Secrets with an estimated $4.7M, off 38%, and Mad Money with an estimated $4.6M, down 40%. Disney's adventure sequel lifted its total to $205.4M while the heist comedy from Overture hit $15.3M after ten days. Money should finish off with about $25M.

Debuting quietly outside of the top ten was the stepdancing drama How She Move which bowed to an estimated $4.2M from 1,531 sites for a weak $2,716 average. Paramount Vantage attracted an urban audience of young females for the PG-13 film which was acquired at last year's Sundance Film Festival for $3M.

The concert film U23D, which had its premiere at this year's Sundance, rocked the box office opening in only 61 theaters to the tune of $946,000, according to estimates, for a powerful $15,508 average. Released by National Geographic, the G-rated Imax pic was shot in Mexico City and Buenos Aires on the band's lucrative Vertigo tour.

Four films including a pair of megablockbusters fell from the top ten this weekend. Fox's runaway smash Alvin and the Chipmunks eased just 35% to an estimated $4.6M in its seventh frame and boosted its amazing cume to $204.2M. The family comedy has performed well above expectations over the holiday season and beyond and smashed through the $200M mark on Friday, its 43rd day of release. Budgeted at under $70M, Alvin should conclude its domestic run with $215-220M.

Fellow December 14th opener I Am Legend hit a milestone of its own this weekend shattering the quarter-billion domestic mark. Will Smith's gargantuan hit grossed an estimated $2.2M, down 55%, for a total to date of $251.7M. The sci-fi thriller surpassed 1997's Men in Black to become the actor's second highest grossing film ever trailing the $306.2M of 1996's Independence Day. MIB still sold more tickets since its $250.1M gross a decade ago would amount to $370M+ at today's prices. Look for Legend to reach around $255M from North America and over $600M worldwide.

Another rapper-turned-actor, Ice Cube, saw his latest entry First Sunday tumble 58% to an estimated $3.3M in its third outing. The $20M Sony comedy has made off with $34.5M in 17 days and should end up in the vicinity of $40M. Best Picture nominee Atonement added screens but slipped 14% to an estimated $4M for a $37.9M sum. It was the only film up for Oscar's top prize to see sales decline from last weekend. Focus should, however, continue to see respectable numbers in the weeks ahead as the title remains a contender.

Other Academy Award-nominated films in the Best Picture race expanded too and captured a little more business. Miramax's No Country For Old Men, which won top honors on Saturday from the DGA for directors Joel and Ethan Coen, grossed an estimated $2.5M from 1,107 locations for a $2,261 average in its 12th frame. Warner Bros. put the George Clooney legal drama Michael Clayton back into wide release but collected just $2.1M, according to estimates, from 1,102 playdates for a mild $1,869 average in its 17th weekend. Totals now stand at $52M and $41.5M, respectively. Major Oscar nods can lead to extra box office revenue for films that did not reach their full potential the first time around, however there are added marketing and distribution costs associated with these expansions too.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $109M which was up a remarkable 33% from last year when Epic Movie opened at number one with $18.6M; and up 17% from 2006 when Big Momma's House 2 debuted in the top spot with $27.7M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com

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(1-20 of 88 posts) | Reply

theginsengtree writes:
on Jan 27 2008 03:53 PM

Meet the Spartans at #1?

America proves its intellectual might once again...

(Reply to this)

darrinsgoodman writes:
on Jan 27 2008 03:58 PM

i was kind of dumbing it down at first, but now i kind of want to see Rambo - guess i'll check it out on dvd in may or whenever

(Reply to this)

bijio writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:00 PM

i ***ing KNEW it. when I saw this headline, there was a definite physical reaction. you know like in Clockwork Orange? when he's conditioned to break down when he hears the ninth? like that. this is a sad day

(Reply to this)

tomelce writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:02 PM

How in the hell does something like "Meet the Spartans" not bomb? Seriously, who wants to pay for a film by the same guys that made "Epic Movie"?

(Reply to this)

bijio writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:03 PM

btw, mad money? they wish. haha, mrs cruise..what a retard

(Reply to this)

The Great One writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:03 PM

people officially suck..come on..Meet the Spartans?!

(Reply to this)

JpPrewitt789 writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:08 PM

Where are you God!?!?!?

(Reply to this)

Uradik Smoke writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:10 PM

A small part of me has died upon hearing the news that Meet The Spartans made 18 Effffing Million dollars and is #1 over Rambo !!!

Are there really that many moronic teenage males and stoners out there that went to see this ??? You realize that this means we will have to see at least 2 more of these atrocious ambominations...

Is this what our civilization has come too ?

(Reply to this)

steeminwbeamen writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:17 PM

Idiocracy is officially starting to come true. Bring on the Brawndo.

(Reply to this)

Thot77 writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:20 PM

Meet the Spartans barely eeked out a victory over Rambo, but I'll wager that Rambo has stronger legs and holds up better in the long run. Viewers are overwhelmingly positive about Sly's latest installment and repeat viewings will no doubt help. Foreign box office is expected to be around the 100 to 150 million mark. Rambo was absolutely AWESOME! Just might get back in line myself!!

(Reply to this)

Brad 3000 writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:24 PM

Meet the Spartans makes 18 mil and yet Walk Hard only managed 4? This is the death knell of intelligent satire. What the f*** is wrong with people?

(Reply to this)

Boss Fan writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:35 PM

There is some hope. The numbers, which are estimates, are so close, that "Rambo" may very well prove to be the bigger money-maker (or, too, it could go the other way and it may be a more distant second).

I did see this coming though. They low-balled expectations for "Spartans". All you have to do is look at grosses for "Date", "Scary" and "Epic" "Movies". Why would this one not perform at least close to those? Actually, its numbers are low comparatively. Though, I can't believe kids today are so stupid as to shell out $ for AND actually claim to enjoy these crappy spoofs. They obviously have no idea that this genre hit its heyday in the 80's and early 90's and hasn't delivered a decent entry since the first "Scary Movie", which itself was something of an anomaly, since in many years before and since there really weren't any good movies of its type.

"Rambo" did about as well as it could have hoped for. Of course I would have loved to see it bring in huge numbers, but being realistic, $18M is pretty good for a film that was pretty much a punchline for the last 2 decades, and Stallone is by no means the A-list star he once was (again, unfair, but the way it is). He should be grateful for the debuts of this and the last Rocky, since they could have been embarrassingly worse. If he keeps making solid films that deliver what they promise on tight budgets like these, his career can get back on track. Take some supporting roles in quality flicks. Play the heavy, etc. It's great in this day and age of very different action heroes and action films that he is carving something of a little niche for himself and for the audiences who still waht good old fashioned, straight ahead, take-out-the-trash action flicks. And not just the winking, ironic ones like "Crank" and "Shoot 'Em Up" (though those are fun too), but actual action movies. The trick for "Rambo%u2019s%u201D future will be if decent word of mouth will keep it going. I loved it and will tell action fans they owe it to themselves to check it out. But there is a lot of skepticism about it (bringing back Rocky and Rambo is a long running joke) and the word of its violence has turned a lot of people off. I hope we didn't see all the interested turn out up front, leaving the film to limp to a $35M, or something like that, finish.

"Cloverfield": Hate to say it (cuz I liked it), but told you so. This film was always going to live and die by its word of mouth past the opening, hype-induced weekend, and I guess we know which way the word went. But its already a money-maker so, who cares, I guess. Too bad though. It won't stand as the cultural phenomenon it looked it might be. Unless it becomes a cult favorite on DVD. (I'd say the chance of that is pretty good.)

(Reply to this)

synergyred writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:39 PM

Yep. I used to split movie goers into two categories, people who go to the movies for good quality, thought-provoking fun, and people who go to the movies to have fun (occasionally, people do both). Now, a third category must be added. People who go to movies so stupid and predictable that they require zero brain activity.

I like the first two groups a lot better.

(Reply to this)

Silverence writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:42 PM

In reply to this comment (#1530676)
UM! Excuse me, I find your comment highly offensive. I've been known to be a bit of a stoner myself and I would rather jump off the highest building I can find before going an seeing a movie playing in the same theater as Meet The Spartans! Me and my marijuana loving brethren are sick and tired of this negative stereotype that we have no taste in cinema. My favorite movie is Casablanca closely followed by Lawrence of Arabia and...

Wait what was I talking about again?

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on Jan 27 2008 04:56 PM

It's official. The end of the world is coming.

(Reply to this)

Meddle Head writes:
on Jan 27 2008 05:24 PM

I have no room for faith in humanity anymore. I wanted to believe so desperately that we might prove smart for a change and avoid Meet The Spartans, but I was wrong.

Everyone who went and paid money to see Meet The Spartans can go straight to hell. You're the reason why quality movies are few and far these days.

(Reply to this)

Herberbaly writes:
on Jan 27 2008 05:25 PM

Holy balls. Meet the Spartans makes $18 million, and yet great movies like Grindhouse can't find a ****ing audience? This.....is.....****ing.......embarassing.

(Reply to this)

BjornFree writes:
on Jan 27 2008 06:00 PM

At least this means we get to enjoy even more high quality commercials for "Meet the Spartans." And to top it all off, we'll get to hear, "Meet the Spartans is now the number one movie in America!" That just made my day...

(Reply to this)

Simple Minded writes:
on Jan 27 2008 06:03 PM

I am so f ucking tired of the 2 of the 6 writers of Scary Movie. Uwe Boll is no longer the world's worst director.

(Reply to this)

Dinobot77 writes:
on Jan 27 2008 06:19 PM

What kills me is that someone would actually pay over $8 to see crap like this. How in bloody hell can a movie like Spartans conjure-up so much freaking money and a great comedy like Shawn of the Dead or Hot Fuz can bomb? The more and more I see this kind of filth doing well, the more I can see the intelligence factor of the American people go downhill.

I understand why the studios keep making this crap. They understand that it will sell every time. Therefore, I can't blame them directly for trying to make a buck. Unfortunately, 90% of everyone under the age of 21 seem to be idiots. I'd rather watch the 27 Dresses then this Bullchit.

R.I.P. Ledger

(Reply to this)

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