Film Gecko

Box-office Breakdown: Oct. 7-9

by Administrator on October 10th, 2005

After two weeks at the top of the box-office charts, Flightplan was finally bumped from number one by a inept inventor and his brilliant pooch. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit debuted in theatres and took home a cool $16 million, ahead of the continuing popularity of Flightplan at $10.7 million and the curiously low pull of new-comer In Her Shoes at $10 million flat.

Four of the top five movies were fresh entries to the theatres, with Wallace and Gromit and In Her Shoes joined by Matthew McConaughey and Al Pacino’s bookie movie Two for the Money ($8.7 million) and religious redemption film The Gospel($7.5 million). Lion’s Gate tossed Waiting… into the mix this week and the film put in a strong showing to grab the number seven spot.

Thumbsucker and Proof both showed modest gains following their wider release, a trend that the makers of this week’s highest limited release debuts hopes will continue. Good Night, and Good Luck from Warner Independent gathered a few accolades from the Venice Film festival and hopes to translate that into box-office success. It’s examination of journalism in McCarthy-era America may strike a chord with those eyeing the current political atmosphere in the States.

It was not a kind week for films who had been on the charts last go ’round, as Serenity, Corpse Bride and A History of Violence all experienced drops in viewing audience numbers of at least 35%. A History of Violence still showed a strong per cinema take of over $3000/cinema, out-doing both Whedon’s fan film and Tim Burton’s slowly rotting feature.

While I fully expected for Wallace and Gromit to poke Flightplan out of #1 (a position that I’m not convinced it deserved in the first place, never mind for two weeks), I was surprised by the underwhelming response to Cameron Diaz’s In Her Shoes. From the previews I saw, and just in discussion with friends and family, it seemed like the kind of sibling-rivalry chick flick that would do well opposite an animated feature. People seem to have this inability to view animation as anything but ‘for the kids’ despite the fact that Wallace and Gromit is dreadfully clever, with that dry British wit that I love. Given that, I had pegged In Her Shoes to be the alternate film that non-Gromit fans went to see. Instead, neither it, nor any of the other debuts managed an astounding break into the box-office revenue charts. Movie-goers money appeared to be spread over a number of choices, resulting in okay, but not outstanding totals for many in the top ten.

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