The summer box office season was off to a sizzling start last week but fizzled this weekend with nothing but Iron Man repeats to draw a crowd. Speed Racer and What Happened In Vegas had to settle for an almost dead heat to second place. Apparently America couldn’t decide which they preferred more: Ashton Kutcher hooking up with Cameron Diaz or seizure inducing special effects.
Iron Man was untouchable, easily holding its first place spot with a cool $50 million, bringing its domestic total to $177 million. That shot it into position over Horton Hears A Who as the highest grossing movie of 2008 so far, an honor it won’t get to hold for long. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is all set to surge over the Marvel hero when it opens next weekend.
While the Wachowskis haven’t yet announced how much they spent on all those dazzling special effects in Speed Racer you can bet that they don’t have much hope of turning a profit with only $20 million this weekend. There’s even speculation that Warner Bros. is overestimating that number to help them foster more excitement for their film (see the full story here.). The truth will be known tomorrow when official numbers are announced, but personally I don’t buy it. It sounds like bloggers who liked What Happens In Vegas are jealous that people might prefer Speed’s monkey to Ashton’s goofy grin.
But even if Speed Racer’s numbers aren’t fudged, this week’s totals are disastrous for Warner Bros. The movie is set to die fast and quiet under the weight of bigger blockbusters in the next few weeks. If you ask me we’re looking at the summer’s first official box office flop.
What Happens In Vegas has a slightly rosier picture. Despite a third place opening with just a few hundred thousand less than Speed Racer, the movie will cover its budget by next weekend easy. Somehow the movie only cost $35 million, even though Kutcher and Diaz don’t come cheap these days. I guess when your script was written by the same person who cranked out The Wedding Date you didn’t have to pay much for it.
On a final, almost completely irrelevant note, Redbelt, David Mamet’s latest project, opened wide this weekend and barely squeaked its way into the top ten. It’s really not even worth mentioning except that it’s success thankfully pushed Prom Night (2008) off the list.
