ROTTEN TOMATOES: "Sith" Breaks Single Day Record with $50M Debut

"Sith" Breaks Single Day Record with $50M Debut

by Senh Duong | May 20, 2005

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According to Exhibitor Relations, "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" did a record-breaking single day gross of $50M at the box office on Thursday. This includes the $16.5M from midnight screenings, which is also a record. It beats the $44.8M held by previous record holder "Shrek 2," which went on to gross $441M and became the highest grossing film of 2004 in the US. What's even more impressive about the record by "Sith" is that it did it in just 3,661 theaters, about 500 less than "Shrek 2." The day when a movie can gross $50M in a single day has come.

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(1-20 of 24 posts) | Reply

Scott Weinberg writes:
on May 20 2005 01:13 PM

[b]Wow.[/b]
I fully expected opening day to be huge, but this is mega-gigunda-huge. I only hope all those fans dug "Sith" as much as I did!

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RT-News writes:
on May 20 2005 01:17 PM

In reply to this comment (#822311)
Because Lucas prefers to only open the prequels in decently equipped theaters, I wasn't expecting any records to be broken, but holy moly, this is huge.

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Madman writes:
on May 20 2005 01:50 PM

The theatre I saw it in at midnight here in Toronto had it showing in seven of it's theatres and they were all relatively packed (probably sold out 5 screens worth but people theatre jumped to even it out a bit). There were 3 other famous players cinemas alone that had it playing on probably as many screen plus many other theatre chains that did the same thing (i'm just not sure how many). The $17 million figure is amazing but believable based on how busy the showing was.

Madman

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Jethro Floyd writes:
on May 20 2005 02:30 PM

[b]When will this towering record be eclisped?[/b]
My hunch is that at the dawn of the blockbuster season in May of 2007 when "Spidey 3" hits cineplexes nationwide, Raimi and Tobey will give Lucas's record a scare and possibly even trump it. I doubt it though. $50M is just such a jaw-dropping return in one day. The only other flick with a half a chace is the new "Potter" flick opening this fall. It kicks off the uber-fantasy slate that awaits us this coming fall and should have little competition until "Narnia" releases on December 9th. Remember, "Prizoner of Azkaban" raked in $40M on its opening day last summer.

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Now it's dark writes:
on May 20 2005 02:46 PM

Wow. They keep raising ticket prices and box office records keep getting broken. Amazing.

Lets see a modern movie sell half as many tickets as Gone With The Wind.

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bigcfk writes:
on May 20 2005 03:10 PM

In reply to this comment (#822314)
Definetly not. I doubt that this will be topped by Spiderman 3. The next Harry Potter? Possibly... Here's why this movie is so big: You have to see it.
If you saw the first trilogy as a kid, chances are you saw the two prequels, and you need to see this to finish. If you're obsessed with Star Wars, obviously, you're going to see this. If you have ever liked Star Wars, you will see this movie, mostly because of the amazing response it is getting from seemingly everybody. I plan on seeing this movie. And I bet a lot of people do too.
What other movie has this kind of following? None that I know of. Lord of the Rings, if they made The Hobbit... but probably not. Spiderman 3? How'd SM2 do? Harry Potter has the best shot, but I doubt it.

Sorry, that was a lot.

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Jethro Floyd writes:
on May 20 2005 03:45 PM

"Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2" both performed immensely well at the box office. And, with the third "Spidey" flick being released three years after the universally lauded second, instead of the shorter two year gap between the first and second, the hype will presumably almost rival the hype this "Star Wars" flick had. I'm not saying it's going to eclipse the awesome opening day of "Sith;" I'm just saying that it has the prospects to do so. Don't underestimate the power of inflation over the next few years, which may just make up some of the difference. "Spider-Man" scored $43M in a single day. "Spider-Man 2" captured $40M in a single day. Hey, it could happen...

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Jethro Floyd writes:
on May 20 2005 03:50 PM

Oh yeah, "Shrek 3" also releases in the summer of 2007. That'll probably surpass it if "Spidey 3" doesn't.

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Senh Duong writes:
on May 20 2005 03:51 PM

Yeah, it's totally possible if Spidey 3 is released as wide as Shrek 2. Again, Sith did it in 500 less theaters.

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Silent Drowning writes:
on May 20 2005 03:57 PM

[b]Opening Gross[/b]
First of all, this talk of Spidey 3 having the same hype that Star Wars E3 had is just silly. Star Wars is almost a 30 year old institution with widely known iconography and its religious practitioners! Ha. Concerning sales gross; it never means much because you must adjust the sales figures with respect to the increase in available theaters and (ticket prices) inflation rate to get a better picture of how successful one movie is compared to another. I find the comment about Gone with the Wind odd because there are so many more theaters/screens today than when that film was released. I wonder what the real tickets sales figure for GWTW was though . . .

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Jethro Floyd writes:
on May 20 2005 04:01 PM

In reply to this comment (#822319)
Didn't "Reloaded" rake in $42M in a few dozen less theaters than "Sith" on its opening day? Also, didn't the first "Spidey" amass $43M in a single day in fewer theaters than "Sith" as well? It's amazing what "Star Wars" did. Records have been falling pretty often these past few years though. Being such, I think it'll be broken within the next three years.

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Senh Duong writes:
on May 20 2005 04:15 PM

In reply to this comment (#822321)
Yeah, you're right. That's why I agree with you that the record could be broken in the coming years.

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Madman writes:
on May 20 2005 06:19 PM

[b]Ticket prices droping...[/b]
I don't know about the US but ticket prices for the two largest movie chains in Canada have dropped and amazing $3-4 a ticket recently. It's now $9.95 cnd (approx $8 US) instead of $14. I know that Canada's portion of ticket sales is probably minor but I was wondering if ticket prices had dropped in the States recently too. Just some food for thought to argue against it solely being due to inflatuion of ticket prices.

Madman

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Senh Duong writes:
on May 20 2005 06:23 PM

In reply to this comment (#822323)
No, here in the US, it's been going up slightly each year.

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jeanfc writes:
on May 20 2005 06:28 PM

Big opening weekends and such are one thing - but can it sustain this for more than a few weeks? The trend as been for movies to open big, then fade quickly.

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ccchhhrrriiisss writes:
on May 20 2005 08:17 PM

In reply to this comment (#822323)
Tickets here in south Texas have also dropped. I asked a theatre manager, and he told me that it was due to the rise in gasoline prices, saying that the theatres have had to "do something" to draw in more business. So they lowered the prices for the theatre (but raised the prices for concessions).

Now, it only costs $2 during the day, and $4 in the evening! And Thursday was actually "college night," where students and college employees only pay the $2 price all day long!

Speaking of, I had read that some economists believed that Sith wouldn't fare too well at the Box Office because of the gas prices leaving less extra money in pocketbooks. Saturday morning, some of the financial commentators on FoxNews were stating this as part of the reason for the lagging Box Office sales.

Thus, I was surprised by the $50 million opening day!

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ieatfood54491 writes:
on May 21 2005 07:19 AM

i was not really surprised i thought it would beat Shrek first day. It was an amazing movie

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brandonparisdotcom writes:
on May 21 2005 07:44 AM

spiderman will never equal starwars....ever....why?

spiderman was a good movie..but lets face it, can you really watch doctor octopus or that annoying green goblins and his annoying voice over and over again. it gets pretty tiresome quickly.

but you can play empire strikes back or what ever episode at home and watch it over and over again...and sometimes seeing something different that you didn't notice before or realised something new about the story that you just understood. the effects and the many stories in each movie keep your imagination peeked. Spiderman can't do that..its too simple and boring. lets face it.. its always the same. bad guy developes some wickeed scheme and spiderman fights him... he loses but then trains or invents some new device and then fights back with some huge goddy ending where he wins. and oh oh..another villin for the next movie....boring.

30 years from now..i highly doubt spiderman will be re realesed in theaters and get such a big following...ever...just like batman or superman

i bet you right now that if they re released star wars episode 4 once again in the theaters it will be a huge hit! why.... becasue many young peoplle havent seen it and would obviously want to see the next episode after watching episode 3 and the older fans will be watching episode 4 in a whole new way becasue now it will make even more sence and they will be seeing it completely different..such as darth vader.. they will know everthing about the guy behind the mask..since he was a little boy. rather then originaly knowing him as this evil black costumed half robot half man looking person.

and even if he wanted he can re release part 5 and 6.... 3 months apart and gross another 100 plus million. its crazy but its true.

actually i think he will do that before he releases a 6 part DVD. it would be the smartest thing to do.

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Now it's dark writes:
on May 21 2005 11:34 AM

Boxofficemojo.com is a good place to see how much a movie has earned, but does anybody know any websites where they list the number of tickets sold?

And yes they did drop ticket prices in Canada, for the evening shows. But they raised them for the matinees, so they are now both the same. I'd rather go back to the old prices, cuz I like matinees more.

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AshCyber writes:
on May 22 2005 07:02 AM

[b]My Collectibles[/b]
They will definately be in my DVD Collection. Spider-Man, LOTR, Star Wars and Harry Porter.

Spider-Man 3 will be a heavy weight in the BO, (a prediction of $47m - $53m) 'cos it is the final espisode that the trio will perticipate, Raimi, Tobey and Kirsten Dunst. A part from that is the possibility of the Villian(s). Sand Man and Hop Goblin, who knows maybe Venom. Thus causing a lot of excitement.

Hi guys let us just enjoy (:

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