Weekend Box Office: Hobbits Beat A Boy Genius!

[James Harvey]

No surprise here, but Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings was the top draw at the box office this weekend pulling in very respectable numbers. Unfortunatly, LOTR was the new movie with the most success, as Jimmy Neutron, How High, and The Majestic all underperformed. Joe Somebody did even worse. Here's the weekend run-down:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - $45,250,000 ($73.1 mill) -- New!
2. Ocean's Eleven - $14,590,000 ($95.2 mill)
3. Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius - $14,000,000 ($14 mill) -- New!
4. Vanilla Sky - $12,100,000 ($45.1 mill)
5. How High - $7,600,000 ($7.6 mill) -- New!
6. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone - $6,170,000 ($263.2 mill)
7. Not Another Teen Movie - $5,500,000 ($21. 7 mill)
8. The Majestic - $5,025,000 ($5 mill) -- New!
9. Joe Somebody - $3,650,000 ($3.7 mill) -- New!
10. Monsters Inc. - $3,500,000 ($224.2 mill)


It looks like none of the new movies could sustain the might of Lord of the Rings. The attempts of other studios to counter program with vastly different movies than LOTR failed miserably. With Ali opening on Tuesday, and new movies next week, expect LOTR to stay on top.

[The Dork Knight]

Here are the movies I want to see out of all of these....
1. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings
2. Not Another Teen Movie
3. The Majestic
4. Harry Potter (STILL not seen it yet!)

- Foley Is Good

[Jowy Blight]

I think it was pretty dumb to try to release ANY movie near the time LOTR is out. For once, every person I talked to about LOTR liked it. Not really normal with most movies.

[Naraht]

Ali looks good, I expect it to be a strong second..
JN should stay in 3rd, and Majestic to either climb or drop...depending on reaction to it...

[Calhoun07]

I can't believe Majestic didn't do better. I think that movie looks very good.

[Karkull]

The Majestic came out?

:o

I wanted to see that. As for Jimmy Neutron, I have three words: burn baby, burn.

[Bird Boy]

I don't mean to sound rude or anything..but 43? that's it? I was expecting it to take in more than that. I was planning on going to see it..but I guess like others..I just couldn't find the time. trying to set 3 hours aside for 1 movie is hard..

-BB

[don Jaime]

Neotron got his ass beat!

MERRY MEN: HURRAH!

By Ocean's Eleven, even!

MERRY MEN: HURRAH!

Ali looks miscast. Smith doesn't have Ali's presence, plus he's only about half his size. I don't know about this one.

[James Harvey]

I was surpised at Majestics poor intake. I thought the movie had an easy $20 mill opening. I'll try my hardest to see this flick before it's unrightly kicked out early.

[Calhoun07]

Did anybody else think Majestic wasn't coming out this past week? I could have sworn it was coming out the 26th or the 28th.

[James Harvey]

They may have pushed the movie ahead. The movie was getting great reviews across the board and likely moved it up at the last minute. Could be an explainaiton for the poor showing.

[Calhoun07]

Ah, they should have released it on the 28th, but I guess they felt with Jim Carrey at on the starring bill, it would get a tad more money than it did, but come on...up against LOTR??? Oh, well, this will be a sleeper DVD release for sure. I just know this one is going to be good.

[James Harvey]

They probably thought it would be perfect counter programming to LOTR. Plus, since LOTR opened a couple days earlier, the people who already saw LOTR may leak over to Majestic.

[Failure]

The Majestic does look like it's a very good movie, but I dont think moviegoers are willing to accept Jim carrey in a dramatic role. I would love to see this movie though. I'd also like to see Ali which looks like an interesting movie, but I'll prolly wait til the video comes out for that.

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by Failure
The Majestic does look like it's a very good movie, but I dont think moviegoers are willing to accept Jim carrey in a dramatic role. I would love to see this movie though. I'd also like to see Ali which looks like an interesting movie, but I'll prolly wait til the video comes out for that.

Truman Show did well in the theaters, as did Man on the Moon, and both had Jim Carrey in dramatic roles.

[James Harvey]

Actually, Man on the Moon flopped, grossing just over $38 million.

[The Mad Hatter]

I'm a little surprised at The Majestic's under-performance too.

And honestly, Jimmy Neutron's performance is pretty respectable, considering its competition. Don't get me wrong: I want it to tank and tank fast, but $14 million is nothing to sneeze at.

[Nightflower]

Out of curiousity, why doesn't anyone like Jimmy Neutron?

[James Harvey]

To me, Jimmy Neutron just looks like a commercial for toys and games. Plus -I find the elad character very annoying. If I can't stand him in the commercuials and trailers, I don't think I could survive for 75 minutes.

[Jowy Blight]

As DG said, Jimmy Neutron just looks like a long toy commercial that has been stuck with old one-liners and unfunny jokes. I've sat through Nick movies before (with my little brother) and nearly went insane. I also remember that Nick has at least one other better show that they could of made a movie with but didn't.

I'm also bitter about losing show's like Rocko and Salute your Shorts.

[Failure]

Originally posted by calhoun07


Truman Show did well in the theaters, as did Man on the Moon, and both had Jim Carrey in dramatic roles.

I considered Man on the Moon a comedy, and considered Truman Show a comedy 1st and a drama 2nd. It was more dramatic, but it still allowed Carrey to be the Carrey we know. I think people are considering The Majestic more drama than comedy. Besides, I havent seen much marketing for the movie, which might be a reason why it hasnt done well.

[Scythemantis]

Oh I know people who didnt think LOTR was all that great,but they still liked it so-so (I thought it was good,and I guess it does deserve that popularity,but serious fantasy usually isnt my thing :P)

I`m a little irritated the jimmy neutron even did as good as it did at all though.I hate it.A lot.

[The Mad Hatter]

I don't like Jimmy Neutron because the boy genius angle has been done waaaaaaaaaaay too many times, and the fact that it looks utterly generic. Also, Nick has marketed this thing to death, with the kicker being the infamous "Jimmy takes over the TV show" bits that are no end of annoying. Honestly, it's probably just backlash from the overexposure, but I wouldn't be too warm to Jimmy in any situation.

[Maxie Zeus]

As in so much else, Hatter speaks for me too.

[James Harvey]

The cliche aspect is just apparent. I mean, I've hear dof a bucnh of lame Boy Genius movies airing on Disney, plus that "Malcolm In The Middle" show. It's been done...and doesn't need to be done again. Plus the plot of the movie is just so bland, unattractive, and unoriginal. Plus their marketing which even invaded CANADIAN TV when we don't even have a Nick channel. It invaded YTV and it was annoying. Thankfully- most of it aired at 3 or 4 in the morning.

[Karkull]

There have been way too many boy genius characters:

1) Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Boy on Earth (comic book)
2) Dexter and Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory
3) Stewie from the unfunny Family Guy
4) ...hell, Lisa from The Simpsons counts, but she's not a boy...

Second, the ads for this movie (ranging from commercials to Jimmy taking over Nick shows) need to stop. The only reason they're hyping this show is because it's being done with computer animation, which is all the rage, because it's certainly not for the stupid plot or character development. Yuck.

[kiddiesunshine]

i have to disagree, karkull. first, family guy is funny. second, i think the boy genius thing can be redone well as long as the story's good. make a story about a boy genius who doesn't know he's a boy genius. the gov't only knows and want to capture him, but his family seemingly unwittingly saves him throughout the movie.

[James Harvey]

Exactly. The premise has just been done...over, and over, and over. Plus - the graphics don't look all the impressive in the first place. The main drawing power is what Karkull mentions - it's a CGI movie - which means that it has to be good and will draw in people. With the movie taking in $6 million less than expected, I don't think that'll happen...

[kiddiesunshine]

i see your points. plus, the movie isn't that good, i must admit.

[The Mad Hatter]

Come to think of it, the reason the conceit of the boy genius works so well in the above examples is not because the character is a genius, but because of the way the shows are put together. Dexter's Lab is enjoyable partially because it engages in experimental, anime-fueled direction, Lisa on the Simpsons works because she often represents, alternately, both a voice of reason and an extreme reaction from society's norms, and heck, even Family Guy tries to do something different with Stewie.

With Jimmy Neutron, it seems like the movie relies more on the generic scientific inventions themselves for the entertainment, not any particular moviemaking flair, characterization or originality.

[Karkull]

Originally posted by kiddiesunshine
...make a story about a boy genius who doesn't know he's a boy genius. the gov't only knows and want to capture him, but his family seemingly unwittingly saves him throughout the movie.

Now, that sounds pretty good.

And I'm glad you find Family Guy funny, but I don't.

[kiddiesunshine]

now, watch somebody steal my idea. it happens all the time.

[James Harvey]

Jimmy Neutron would have been better if they added an interesting twist there. I just found the script riddled with cliches. The movie had the possiblities to be new and original, but they took the easy way out.

[The Mad Hatter]

Okay... I just found out (by being put on hold by a cable company I was trying to interview and having to listen to their ads) that Jimmy Neutron is "invading" Nick at Nite's Cheers re-runs too. Oy.

[James Harvey]

That - I think - is pointless. Adults are not gonna want to see this kid-driven movie. Out of alot of reviews I read for this movie - they said that the jokers are aimed extremely towards children, and adults are likely to be bored stiff.

edit: fixed typo

[The Mad Hatter]

Um... you mean adults AREN'T going to want to see it, right? ;)

Sometimes I think faster than I type, too...

[James Harvey]

Thanx for catching that.

I can see the Netron think going on during some Nickelodeon shows, but why Nick At Nite. Those shows are geared towards adults. Sure they're just tyring to plug away the movie anyway they can, but jeeze...Cheers?