Sex Starts Big, But Will It Just be a Quickie?
June 2, 2008
Sex and the City started off huge on Friday, but it quickly crashed as the weekend wore on. However, its first day was still enough to propel the film into first place and help the overall box office reach $168 million. That was lower than last weekend's total by just over 2%, but that's a very soft decline for a post-holiday weekend. Also, it was nearly 25% higher that the same weekend last year, which is huge growth. 2008 is still behind 2007's pace $3.57 billion to $3.68 billion, but any time it closes the gap is good news.
On Friday, Sex and the City earned $26.77 million, which was about $10 million more than was expected, and that led most to believe it could make $70 million or more over the weekend. However, on Saturday it collapsed 34% to $17.55 million and finished the weekend with $56.85 million, which is the kind of drop-off limited to the most hardcore Fanboy flicks, and not a film aimed at more mature female audiences. Granted, the reviews were not fantastic, but they weren't terrible either and they certainly don't explain the films 2.12 internal multiplier either. Where does it go from here? No clue. If you subtract $10 million from Friday, the film earned nearly exactly what it was expected to earn over the weekend. And furthermore, using that figure and assuming the film doesn't collapse next weekend, it could match original expectations, maybe do a little better. On the other hand, it could collapse more than 70% next weekend and fail to reach $100 million by the end of its run. We will know better as the weekday numbers show up, but there will likely be a high level of uncertainty going into this weekend.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull matched expectations nearly perfectly with $44.75 million over the weekend and the movie has now earned $215.64 million. With its post-holiday sophomore stint out of the way, its path to $300 million is a clear one, while with holidays around the corner, it could reach $325 million, or more, with a little luck. That would be enough to pay for the film's production budget, and if you add in the film's international run so far, there's little doubt that the film will make a bundle for the studio and there's even talk of another sequel, this one focusing on Mutt more than Indy.
The second wide release of the weekend, Strangers, was also able to beat expectations by a considerable margin as the movie earned just under $21.00 million. This was in line with the high end of original expectations, but more than double Thursday's prediction. With better reviews than many in its genre, it could have reasonable legs, while it has already earned more than enough to pay for its entire production budget.
The battle for third place turned into the battle for fourth place. However, as expected Iron Man overtook The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian $13.54 million to $12.70 million. The running tally for Iron Man has now hit $276.17 million, and it should have no trouble reaching $300 million before long. However, Prince Caspian has only made $115.36 million, so it comes as a bit of a shock that there's word that The Silver Chair might go into production.
Filed under: Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Sex and the City, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Strangers