March 17-19, 2006
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | V for Vendetta * |
| $26,135,000 - Total: $26,135,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3365 |
| 2. | Failure to Launch |
| $15,815,000 - Total: $48,458,000 | |
| LW: 1 WR: 2 THTRS: 3117 |
| 3. | The Shaggy Dog |
| $13,624,000 - Total: $35,882,000 | |
| LW: 2 WR: 2 THTRS: 3501 |
| 4. | She's the Man * |
| $11,012,000 - Total: $11,012,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2623 |
| 5. | The Hills Have Eyes |
| $8,050,000 - Total: $28,782,000 | |
| LW: 3 WR: 2 THTRS: 2621 |
| 6. | 16 Blocks |
| $4,740,000 - Total: $30,175,000 | |
| LW: 4 WR: 3 THTRS: 2666 |
| 7. | Eight Below |
| $4,191,000 - Total: $73,147,000 | |
| LW: 6 WR: 5 THTRS: 2603 |
| 8. | Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion |
| $3,000,000 - Total: $60,096,000 | |
| LW: 5 WR: 4 THTRS: 1403 |
| 9. | The Pink Panther |
| $2,500,000 - Total: $78,611,000 | |
| LW: 9 WR: 6 THTRS: 1852 |
| 10. | Aquamarine |
| $2,025,000 - Total: $15,688,000 | |
| LW: 7 WR: 3 THTRS: 1869 |
Despite what appeared to be a recovery early in the year, the Box Office is back in the red and things are beginning to look even worse for ticket sales in 2006. I'll be the first to admit that the miserable quality of the films released so far this year have played a role, but the numbers don't pave a very good road for the bigger and better films yet to come either. Year to date ticket sales are lower for 2006 than they have been for the last five years and given April's film lineup it doesn't look like things are going to get any better.
With that cheery news out of the way, onto this week's top earners. One of the most anticipated films of early 2006 made a less than explosive debut this weekend. V for Vendetta opened with a smart $26 million, not bad by this year's standards, but likely short of what studios were hoping for.
Budget numbers on the film haven't been revealed, but they were initially estimated in the $50 million range. Of course, that was before Hugo Weaving and an emergency post-production crew were brought in to give the project a much needed shot in the arm. With the extra costs and delayed release, the film could be in for as much as $100 million including marketing.
She's The Man didn't fare quite so well. Audiences showed less interest in the movie which comes across more like an Abercrombie & Fitch commercial than a Shakespeare adaptation. With $11 million it came in at number four right under last week's big dogs Failure to Launch and The Shaggy Dog.
Theaters were aflutter with new films in limited release with generally dismal results. Among them were Vin Diesel's Find Me Guilty which only cleared $628,000 despite opening in 439 theaters. America found Diesel moderately amusing as a Delta Force nanny but might not be ready for Vin with hair. One film did excptionally well, bringing in $52,000 on each of its five screens. The top per theater earner for the week, Thank You For Smoking set itself up for the possibility a hugely successful run in wide release.
Next weekend Denzel Washington returns to the screen in yet another cop movie. Inside Man (2700 screens) will be Washington's latest entry in an ongoing effort to dethrone Bruce Willis as the actor who has played the most cop/military roles ever. Disney's evil alter-ego Buena Vista lets fly with yet another gore-fest Stay Alive (1900 screens) and Lion's Gate caters to the red neck humor niche market with the ill conceived Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector.
