Goblet Fires up Moviegoers

November 21, 2005

It was a great weekend at the box office, as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire topped almost all expectations. Even with holdovers falling a little faster than expected, there were massive gains at the box office. Week-to-week the overall box office was up an astounding 42.9%, but more importantly it was up 19.2% from the same weekend last year, cutting the year-to-date deficit to 6%.

It was a great weekend for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as it beat expectations to earn $102.3 million during its first three days of release, which is about $20 million more than the rest of the box office combined. That's easily the best opening for a November release, the best of the Harry Potter franchise, and it ties the record for Fastest to $100 million. Other records broken over the weekend include Biggest November Day and biggest Friday ever (beating Spider-man's $39.4 million). Add in reviews that are stellar, and the film has a shot at overtaking Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, although it will likely have to settle for second place for the franchise.

Walk the Line also beat expectations, earning an impressive $22.3 million, which should mean it will last in theatres long enough for the Oscar voting crowd to take notice. Given the nature of the film (the Oscar crowd loves BioPics), and the reviews, this film is certain to earn a few nominations, especially for its two leads.

As I already mentioned, holdovers didn't do quite as well. For example, Chicken Little fell 53.5% to $14.7 million, leaving it less than $1 million from becoming the 15th film of 2005 to reach the $100 million milestone. It should reach that mark by Tuesday, while the holiday weekend should really help it out.

Derailed met expectations perfectly with $6.5 million over the weekend. The first film for the Weinstein studio had a production budget of just $20 million, which it has already overtaken at the box office. Depending on how well it does internationally, it could show a profit either late in that run, or early in its home market release.

The competition was just too much for Zathura, which crumbled by nearly 62% to $5.1 million. Unlike the previous film, this one was much more costly, with a production budget of $65 million. Even with the holidays coming up, it won't do well enough on the home market to see a profit for a long, long time.

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Filed under: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chicken Little, Walk the Line, Derailed, Zathura