Weekend Box Office: It's seconds for 'Chocolate'

[The Clown Prince]

The power of chocolate rules all this weekend once again as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory held on to the number one spot for a second weekend in a row making $28.3 million and a total so far of $114.1 million.

Not moving from it's spot last week either was Wedding Crashers which came in second with $26.2 million and a total of $80.9 million.

Also holding on to it's spot from last weekend was Fantastic Four coming in third place with $12.2 million and a $122.5 million total to date.

Debuting in fourth place and BOMBING hard was Michael Bay's latest explosion fest The Island which made only $12.1 million out of a $120 million production budget and NOT including marketing and advertising. Taking a quote from a Team America song, "Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies." ;)

Debuting this weekend and rounding out the top 5 is Bad News Bears which made $11.5 million.

Also debuting this weekend and coming in seventh place was Hustle and Flow with $8.1 million. And another film opening this weekend was Rob Zombie's horror sequel The Devil's Rejects which came in eighth place with $7 million.

Just a note here, Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith falls out of the top 12 coming in 15th place with $1,050,000 and a total of $375.8 million. It now sits at number 8 on the all time money maker list just passing Spider-Man 2 by $2 million and is also about $2 million away from unseating number 7 The Return of the King.

And Batman Begins should cross the $200 million by next weekend, something that War of the Worlds did this weekend.

Opening next weekend are three new movies. First up director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious and first xXx movie) brings us Stealth with Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biehl, and Josh Lucas.

Next we have a family Disney super hero film, Sky High with Kurt Russel, Kelly Preston, Lynda Carter, and Michael Angarano, and Bruce Campbell.

And finally we have Must Love Dogs with John Cusack, Diane Lane, Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer, and Stockard Channing.

Here are your numbers...

1) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- $28,300,000 ($114,106,000)
2) Wedding Crashers- $26,200,000 ($80,901,000)
3) Fantastic Four- $12,275,000 ($122,560,000)
4) The Island- $12,100,000 ($12,100,000) NEW!
5) Bad News Bears- $11,500,000 ($11,500,000) NEW!
6) War of the Worlds- $8,825,000 ($208,321,000)
7) Hustle & Flow- $8,100,000 ($8,100,000) NEW!
8) The Devil's Rejects- $7,000,000 ($7,000,000) NEW!
9) Batman Begins- $4,730,000 ($191,108,000)
10) March of the Penguins - $4,300,000 ($9,224,000)
11) Mr. & Mrs. Smith- $3,625,000 ($174,568,000)
12) Herbie: Fully Loaded- $1,906,000 ($60,214,000)

The Clown Prince

[Hades]

Nice to see Charlie still #1. I saw TDR and thought it was very entertaining. How many theaters did it open in? If it was a lot, then $7 million is probably pitiful. Then again, I do not know how much this movie took to make, and how much they predicted it would take in.

As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing else I care about until Ray Bradbury's The Sound of Thunder.

I hope Stealth bombs badly because it just screams "CRAP."

[Zero Signal]

Man, I'd hoped for a better showing for The Devil's Rejects. Knowing Rob Zombie, I'm sure the budget was extremly low and the DVD sales should make it a profit.

[Discloner]

Charlie deserves it's money. I saw it this past weekend and I thought it was fantastic.

I did expect the Island to do better...though even I, who was intrigued by the obviously 'different' trailers that it started out with...was put off by the popcorn flick advertisment they ended it's promotion on.

I mean...the movie looked quite interesting to me in the beginning. But these recent ads saying "YOU CAN'T DO SUMMER WITHOUT MICHEAL BAY, CREATOR OF "CRAP 1" AND "CRAP 2"." really put me off to the movie. It kinda felt like the studio didn't think the movie itself was compelling enough to warrent attendance without pushing Bay's name through.

[Temple Fugate]

Yes! The Parts remake bombed! Hopefully word-of-mouth drives this further down the list next weekend.

Charlie was every bit as funky as I expected it to be. Nice to see it still on top. And Batman keeps plugging away toward $200. Good news indeed.


It kinda felt like the studio didn't think the movie itself was compelling enough to warrent attendance without pushing Bay's name through.I took the addition of mindless special effects-laden action sequences as the first sign that the studio didn't think the movie was compelling enough. I'm glad it seems the general public won't be coaxed into attending Bay's sludge this time around.

[Lord Dalek]

Well I was wrong, but I could care less. Rock on Tim!

[Alex Toon]

---- Apparently it's Bad News for the Bears . Many critics say that Billy Bob Thorton didn't capture the same type of persona as the late Walter Matthau. I think Gambit Weekly (local New Orleans magazine) said you could just save money and watch Bad Santa because that's how they say Thorton acted.

---- The Island basically bombed at the b.o.? I expected that- If your film is remade from an old MST3K film, that spells FAILURE.

[Spongebrain2.0]

Wedding Crashers had less of a dropoff than CATCF. And it's being shown in LESS theaters. I hope & expect that 'Sky High' will bomb hard!! Must Love Dogs will do well, a test screening last night was sold out. Stealth will do well, but not extremely well.

1. Stealth- $28 million

2. Wedding Crashers- $21.2 million

3. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory- $19.6 million

4. Must Love Dogs- $17 million

5. Bad News Bears- $10.6 million

6. Sky High- $6.5 million

[The Penguin]

Well I guess no one wanted to go to The Island (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=146194) this weekend. Man, that crashed hard.

Charlie (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=145455) tops again doesn't give me too much of a shock. I saw F4 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=144879) this weekend and I'm pleased to see Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing retain their spot at number three. $122 million is tremendous.

Next week I hope to see Sky High do well (I won't expect you in the talkback, Spongebrain), but I'm not really expecting it to. Maybe if families have seen Chocolate Factory they'll want the kid super hero. I'm not expecting much out of Stealth, but I guess we'll see.

[Spongebrain2.0]

Wedding Crashers apparently broke a record for R-comedies this weekend, something to do with it holding up & not dropping off a lot.

[Chris Wood]

Damn, what happened to The Island? I thought it was getting pretty solid reviews. Not enough star power I guess.

Disappointing for Bad News Bears as well. Hard to imagine Matthau was funnier, but then I haven't seen that film in a long time.

AMAZING hold for Wedding Crashers! I've gotta see that.

[The Landstander]

I wonder why the Island bombed. From what I heard Bay was trying something different in the first half of the movie...maybe the whole cloning/social conformity (or whatever he was going for) thing turned off his regular audience, and the people who would see something like that were turned off since it's Michael Bay.

Or maybe it just looked dumb.

I'm predicting Stealth flops out.

[Memphis Bleek]

Despite the negative reviews, "Fantastic Four" has made 122 million in three weeks. It's safe to say the movie is a success. "Hustle & Flow" made over eight million -- not bad for a movie with a budget under three million. I saw it twice this weekend, and I'm going to see it again. I'm going to check tomorrow to see if the estimates hold.

I'll wait to see 'Bears', 'Charlie', and 'Crashers' on DVD.

[ManicWebb]

Ladies and gentlemen, The Island is desserted.

I honestly didn't think the movie would do that badly, but I guess that's what happens when you have a movie done by Michael Bay. But you know who the real victims here are? Scarlett, Ewan, Steve, and Michael Clark. Good actors, bad movie. Not even their collective talent, star power, and stunning good looks (not so much with Steve on that last one, though) could save this film.

With that said, I expect Hustle & Flow to have a slow climb upward in the coming weeks. Fantastic Four (as much as I like that movie), will probably fall out of the top 5 next week, or at least dangle on the edge of it. Chocolate Factory will retain the #1 spot, and Stealth will do disappointing numbers.

[The Clown Prince]

Damn, what happened to The Island? I thought it was getting pretty solid reviews. Not enough star power I guess.

AMAZING hold for Wedding Crashers! I've gotta see that.
Well, the only good reviews The Island has been getting are the ones the studio has been showing with it's advertisements. ;) Surprisingly, Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up. Richard Roeper, while he liked the first half of the movie, didn't like the second half enough to recomend it. It's current rating at RottenTomatoes.com is a poor, poor 42% out of a 124 reviews.

One of the common things I've heard from friends and reading reviews about Wedding Crashers is that the last 30 minutes of the film got kind of serious and was much different than the first 90 minutes of the film. Supposedly there wasn't much comedy in that last 30 minutes, but I haven't seen it yet, only heard from friends and reviews.

The Clown Prince

[The Clown Prince]

Ever since Bay's name was once rumored to The Transformers, I got that "oh God" feeling. Wondering to myself why Dreamworks would entrust this franchise with him.... Then it was confirmed. Now his Island film bombs, and his films in general jokingly (and seriously with some) among movie goers that his films are always the same loud crappy piece of a waste of film.

I'll admit to liking some of his films for what they are. The two Bad Boys films come to mind, and Pearl Harbor for it's attack scene ONLY. Armageddon.... Eh, I don't know.

I don't know what to expect from him regarding Transformers. The movie now has been pushed back until 2007 to work on the screen play. So maybe Bay will decide to not do it in the mean time huh? It's wishful thinking I know.

The Island next week is gonna fall so fast down the list it won't know what hit it.

The Clown Prince

[The Clown Prince]

Wedding Crashers apparently broke a record for R-comedies this weekend, something to do with it holding up & not dropping off a lot.
Yup. It earned an estimated $26.2 million which is an amazing 67% of its opening weekend take without opening in any more theatres. And then it averaged $8,957 per theatre, so it was also the top earner of the weekend in most theatres. It's already grossed twice its $40 million budget in a mere ten days.

War of the Worlds was only the second film in 2005 so far to reach $200 million. Batman Begins more than likely will be the third next weekend.

Also, the box office was down again from the same weekend last year after two positive weeks which seemed to be turning things around. If anything, things will continue to go down as the month of August winds down the summer movie season with no real blockbuster films. The biggest films of August will more than likely be The Dukes of Hazzard, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and maybe The Brothers Grimm. The Cave might have moderate success as well as Four Brothers. We'll see though.

The Clown Prince

[Hades]

The only really excellent Bay movie was The Rock. Armageddon was decent, but all his others blow hard.

I hope Dukes bombs completely, but people will probably just go for the JS fanservice, which is just disgusting!! Pop stars who had mommy and daddy buy their way into the music business because they look cute do not deserve to be in movies. It is bad enough they already ruined music!!


The Cave does look like it has some interesting elements in it, but I think I'll wait for DVD.

[halinar]

Bwa ha ha... If we are holding up the rock and armageddon up as fine works of art then we are in bad shape. I'm glad to see that the paying public is finally starting to realize Bay's movies are not worth the price of admission.

[JohnCrichton]

Just a note here, Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith falls out of the top 12 coming in 15th place with $1,050,000 and a total of $375.8 million. It now sits at number 8 on the all time money maker list just passing Spider-Man 2 by $2 million and is also about $2 million away from unseating number 7 The Return of the King.
Would anyone happen to have this "all time money maker list" handy?

[Czar Gato]

Would anyone happen to have this "all time money maker list" handy?
http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross

[Silly McGooses]

Nice to see Charlie still #1. I saw TDR and thought it was very entertaining. How many theaters did it open in? If it was a lot, then $7 million is probably pitiful. Then again, I do not know how much this movie took to make, and how much they predicted it would take in.

As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing else I care about until Ray Bradbury's The Sound of Thunder.

I hope Stealth bombs badly because it just screams "CRAP."Another Bradburian, eh? He says he is very happy with the film.
Also, I think TDR opened in only 1,000-something theatres and earned twice what House of 1,000 corpses did opening weekend, and after that Zombie went ahead and made a semi-sequel. I didn't see TDR but I thought 1,000 Corpses was a enjoyable horror movie if you're not trying to really get something out of it. I might see TDR at some point.

[Mike Spartz]

Bwa ha ha... If we are holding up the rock and armageddon up as fine works of art then we are in bad shape. I'm glad to see that the paying public is finally starting to realize Bay's movies are not worth the price of admission.They are if you just want to have a fun filled afternoon. Bay's movies aren't meant to be deep, they're just popcorn movies.

[Natey]

Something like this should still be getting 1st place in the box office, no suprise, next week i dont know about N.1 I think choclate will take over again.

~Nate~

[Spongebrain2.0]

One of the common things I've heard from friends and reading reviews about Wedding Crashers is that the last 30 minutes of the film got kind of serious and was much different than the first 90 minutes of the film. Supposedly there wasn't much comedy in that last 30 minutes, but I haven't seen it yet, only heard from friends and reviews.

The Clown Prince

Not really, there is a cameo by a "certain somebody" that had people laughing their asses off. There are many laughs in the last half-hour, it does get slightly serious, but serious in the way as The Simpsons or Meet the Parents would get serious. Not really boring seriousness.

[Matt Hazuda]

I'm thinking next week's top 3 will remain virtually the same. Stealth is going to bomb hard. Sky High might crack the top 3, given that the brats....I mean kids have seen everything else already though. Must Love Dogs is a summer chick flick, and as such it will fail.

[Peter Paltridge]

Well ouch.....The Island didn't sound THAT bad. And what's this supposed MST3K movie someone claimed it was based on?

I'm glad to see BNB bomb, but it's not gonna stop the remakes if everyone continues to see Charlie.

I'll be really down in the dumps if Stealth debuts at #1. I know for a FACT that movie is bad--an early spoiler-filled review told me everything. I hope the rest of America reads that review and saves themselves ten bucks.

[TimTwoFace]

Wow - I figured that Charlie and the Crashers would be in the top two again this week, but those are VERY solid second-week figures. Not bad. Charlie & the Chocolate factory has now basically solidified itself in the top three or four of the year, alongside Star Wars, War of the Worlds, and Batman Begins.

-Tim

[Arxane]

Well ouch.....The Island didn't sound THAT bad. And what's this supposed MST3K movie someone claimed it was based on?
The original MST3K movie is Parts: The Clonus Horror.

[Chris Wood]

[The Clown Prince]Well, the only good reviews The Island has been getting are the ones the studio has been showing with it's advertisements. ;) Surprisingly, Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up. Richard Roeper, while he liked the first half of the movie, didn't like the second half enough to recomend it. It's current rating at RottenTomatoes.com is a poor, poor 42% out of a 124 reviews.

And yet The Island currently maintains a 7/10 rating on IMDB, which is higher than Mr. and Mrs. Smith and War of the Worlds. So quality isn't the issue. It's either lack of starpower (no Pitt or Cruise here), poor advertising (random action with no story detail), or an overload of sci-fi special effects blockbusters. Or something like that.

[Mike Spartz]

And yet The Island currently maintains a 7/10 rating on IMDB, which is higher than Mr. and Mrs. Smith and War of the Worlds. So quality isn't the issue. It's either lack of starpower (no Pitt or Cruise here), poor advertising (random action with no story detail), or an overload of sci-fi special effects blockbusters. Or something like that.I agree with everything that you've said. I just want to add that Bay's reputation as a director might've hurt the film too. I like his movies, but if there's one thing he lacks as a film-maker it's variety.

[The Clown Prince]

Apparently the director of the 1979 film Parts: The Clonus Horror may be seeking a lawsuit against Dreamworks for their "cloning" of his film into The Island.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2002394690_islandripoff.html

Whoops! :shrug:

The Clown Prince

[DarkGojira]

Wow, nice to see Charlie and the Charlie Factory managed to hold on to the #1 spot! I saw the film myself, and it was amazing. So far, it looks like we're really seeing a successful remake after all.

The Island bombed? Whoa, that's deep, and I pictured it finishing the #2 spot, but it looks like it suffered the "Failure" disease, even when it first came out.

I actually expected Bad News Bears to bomb. I saw the previews, and it looked like failure was written all over this remake.


Next week, here are my predictions:

Charlie will hold the #1 spot for the third week in a row.

Stealth will hold the #2 spot in its opening week.

The Island and Bad News Bears will continue to bomb, so will Sky High, in its opening week.