Weekend Box Office: Robots Beats Cars

[James Harvey]

Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the June 29-July 1 weekend, according to studio estimates collected Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued on Monday.
1 (+) A.I. Artificial Intelligence .. $30.1 million ($30.1 mill)
2 (1) The Fast and the Furious ...... $20.0 million ($77.8 mill)
3 (2) Dr. Dolittle 2 ................ $15.4 million ($51 mill)
4 (3) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider ....... $ 9.8 million ($101.2 mill)
5 (+) Baby Boy ...................... $ 8.6 million ($11.7 mill)
6 (4) Atlantis: The Lost Empire ..... $ 7.8 million ($58 mill)
7 (5) Shrek ......................... $ 7.1 million ($227.5 mill)
8 (+) Crazy/Beautiful ............... $ 4.5 million ($4.5 mill)
9 (7) Pearl Harbor .................. $ 4.4 million ($179.4 mill)
10 (6) Swordfish ..................... $ 4.0 million ($60 mill)

Well, AI predictably took the top spot with a smooth $30 mill, a good gross for a 150 minute long movie. Fast predictably lost 50% of it's audience while DR2 held on better. Meanwhile, Atlantis is falling...

[Vigo Sprax]

I'm a little surprised to see Tomb Raider still in the top 5, I thought more people would be listening to the outcry of bad reviews. Everything was pretty predictable though.

For those who have been surprised by some of the #1s, USA Today has an interesting article on how a movie's performance is often related to its website hits. Ex: They knew Fast & Furious was gonna do great because so many people were downloading the trailer.

My pick for next week...Kiss of the Dragon (Though it looks to be getting bad reviews)

[The Clown Prince]

Well, I saw A.I. and all I have to say is that it's...interesting. I totally did not see the ending coming. But none the less, I enjoyed the film. I thought it would actually do better, like Fast did last weekend.

Here's a question, last year at this time Scary Movie opened to the biggest R rated movie of all time with a 40 sum odd million dollar opening weekend. That R rated record was later broken by Hannibal with a 50 sum odd million dollar opening weekend. Will Scary Movie 2 take the number 1 spot or will Cats and Dogs? My pick is on Cats and Dogs because it's a family movie and will attract a larger audience. Again, Scary is an R rated movie and I believe will come in second. Both movies open Wednesday July 4th.

The Clown Prince

[James Harvey]

I think SM2 wil open with around 30 million. While the first grossed alot, reaction was generally mixed, although it did appeal to ALOT of demographics. I think CATS & DOGS will pull in a SHREK-like 40 mill haul. I actually plan to see it opening day, if I can, and I'll be taking my niece. I hear it's smart, clever, and a great family film. And with it opening on a Wednesday, it has a great chance of raking in alot of dough. And it better. JP3, I predict, will open huge, with about 50 - 60 mill, and wil ltake a bite out of some of the current movies.

[Vigo Sprax]

Okay, Kiss of the Dragon comes out July 6th...how do they compare that to those films comming out the 4th? I personally think that & SM2 would be up there, I really don't see Cats & Dogs doing spectacular...

JP3 will do well of course, but its not even out for over 2 weeks - why even bring it up right now...?

[James Harvey]

Because JP3 is gonna take a huge bite of them, plus I thought I'd just throw in a random mention, becuase I'm totally stoked for this movie. I think CATS & DOGS will do great. SHREK is on the way out and ATLANTIS isn't doing weel, so kids will wanna see something new, plus the idea of a war between Cats & Dogs is a pretty good idea.

[The Mad Hatter]

Not to mention that the ads for Cats & Dogs have been running, heavily I might ad, for about a month now. With that kind of carpet-bombing you pretty much guarantee a big opening. Whether it has legs though is another matter. Though I have a feeling Cats & Dogs might. We'll see.