With Thanksgiving just around the corner, CG ruled on high at the box office this weekend with the top two movies being computer animated creations. Beowulf, which is about as gratuitously violent as computer animation has gotten in recent memory, and Bee Movie, which is just as gratuitously fluffy, were number one and two respectively, though neither one has proven to be the blockbuster their $150 million budgets were banking on.
Beowulf, was released in all kinds of formats, from regular to Digital 3D to IMAX. Collectively they appear to have hauled in less than $30 million, and only hitting $45 million when you ad in foreign sales. No doubt executives hoped that the film's PG-13 rating would help get a younger audience in seats to ooh and ahh at the amazing visuals and ogle CG Angelina Jolie, but that appears not to have helped all that much. The movie is going to slip quickly in the wake of oncoming heavy hitters next weekend leaving it little time to make back some of its very heft budget.
Bee Movie has defied all logic, staying afloat of the top ten despite its pronounced mediocrity. Thanks to that staying power it's been able to cut some its losses down. However, it too is going to have to bank heavily on DVD sales to get out of the red. Too bad it will miss the coveted holiday sales rush.
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium didn't get much wonder at all. Despite its magnificent cast and wonderful story, the movie suffered at the hands of a hollow fantasy marketing scheme that completely missed selling how charming and human the movie really is. When is Hollywood going to figure out that all this deceitful advertising isn't paying off? The Emporium landed in the number five spot with only $10 million in the till.
Love In The Time of Cholera managed to make it into the ten spot despite a limited release, but it was shown up by the Coen's latest effort which performed admirably in even smaller release. No Country for Old Men jumped up into the top ten earning $3 million in just 148 theaters. With that kind of performance it should be expected to do slightly better next weekend when it expands to 800 theaters.
For the full weekend top ten check out the chart below.
December 15 - 17, 2006
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | Beowulf * | $28,100,000 - Total: $28,100,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3153 |
| 2. | Bee Movie | $14,300,000 - Total: $93,862,000 | LW: 1 WR: 3 THTRS: 3984 |
| 3. | American Gangster | $13,218,000 - Total: $100,993,000 | LW: 2 WR: 3 THTRS: 3110 |
| 4. | Fred Claus | $12,000,000 - Total: $35,799,000 | LW: 3 WR: 2 THTRS: 3603 |
| 5. | Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium * | $10,025,000 - Total: $10,025,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3164 |
| 6. | Dan in Real Life | $4,511,000 - Total: $37,099,000 | LW: 5 WR: 4 THTRS: 1901 |
| 7. | No Country for Old Men | $3,098,000 - Total: $4,930,000 | LW: 15 WR: 2 THTRS: 148 |
| 8. | Lions for Lambs | $2,904,000 - Total: $11,591,000 | LW: 4 WR: 2 THTRS: 2216 |
| 9. | Saw IV | $2,330,000 - Total: $61,848,000 | LW: 6 WR: 4 THTRS: 2097 |
| 10. | Love in the Time of Cholera * | $1,915,000 - Total: $1,915,000 | LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 852 |
