Shark Start Goes Swimmingly

October 4, 2004

It's amazing what the turning of a page on a calendar can do for the movie industry. After a dismal September, October got off to a near record start. It goes without saying that the weekend box office was up significantly from last week, 58.9% to be more exact and the yearly comparison was also very impressive at 20.9% increase. However, the yearly comparison is a bit misleading as Shark Tale is probably the biggest movie to open this month, so the box office may have already peaked for the month. We'll have to wait till next week to see if this is a sign of newfound strength or just an aberration.

Shark Tale got off to a strong start nearly breaking the record for an October openings with $47.6 million. That's a better debut Ice Age or Shrek, but I wouldn't bet on it having nearly the same legs. But even with poor reviews the film should hit $150 million, or close to it.

Beating expectations in second place was Ladder 49 with $22 million. With substandard reviews the film's legs probably won't be long enough for it to match its production budget.

The Forgotten beat expectations by a small margin earning $11.8 million during its sophomore stint. At just 44% the film had the best second week drop-off for a number one film since Collateral.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow lost just more than half of its weekly box office earning another $3.3 million.

Rounding out the top five was Mr. 3000 with $2.5 million. The film has held up reasonably well, but it should start shedding theatres at a much faster rate.

Shaun of the Dead just missed out a place in the top 5 by less than $50,000. And its second weekend drop-off of just 25.5% was easily the best in the top ten. Combine that with the planned expansion next week and the film should more Stateside than it did in its home country of the U.K.

Woman Thou Art Loosed made a surprise entry in the top ten with $2.3 million in just 408 theatres. Compared to Shaun of the Dead's debut last weekend, its per theatre average is marginally better, but its reviews are much worse.


Submitted by:

Filed under: Shark Tale, Ladder 49, The Forgotten, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Mr. 3000, Shaun of the Dead