The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally a sleepy one and this year proved to be no exception. It's also typically the last dumping ground of the year for projects studios wished they had never greenlit in the first place. I guess they hope America is so busy throwing out Thanksgiving leftovers that no one will notice them doing the exact the same thing.
This weekend was particularly bleak for new releases, setting something of a record for the year. The three new films out couldn't muster $10 million between them and the best barely squeaked in at 8th place. That's the worst showing for opening weekends this year, and one of the worst of all time.
Punisher: War Zone, the only new wide release, took in $4 million dollars and scored a miserable eighth spot. You'd think that would be a warning sign to studios that no one is interested in any new Punisher movies, but I suspect we'll still see at least one more stab at it before they get the hint.
Cadillac Records made only $3.5 million and at ninth place has less to be ashamed of since it opened in less than 700 theaters. It' fared well with critics generally but hasn't gotten a lot of buzz with audiences. At this rate it will struggle to make back an already modest $12 million budget.
Nobel Son, which made it onto almost 900 screens, couldn't even muster half of a million. At 15th place it's a huge disaster for small dog distributer Freestyle Releasing, a group that has yet to have a single movie break the $20 million mark in American theatres. But then, that's to be expected when the kinds of movies they back include Dragon Wars and In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.
The newest historical political drama Frost/Nixon opened in just three theaters but raked in $60,000 per screen for a grand total of $180,000. That's a fantastic start, but since the film's expanded release will have to compete with other major end of the year blockbusters it might struggle to get any attention, or much box office cash.
