Monster Opening

December 30, 2003

Three of the four movies that broke $10,000 per theatre last week also accomplished that feat this week. However, it was a new comer that took top spot. Monster earned over $100,000 since it opened on Christmas day and it had a weekend average of $21,708, which was more than $5000 above its nearest competitor.

Even more impressive was the performance of Big Fish, which expended into 124 theatre this week. When a limited release expands into more than 100 theatres and is still able to maintain an average of more than $10,000, which Big Fish easily did with an average of $16,562, is a sure sign of mainstream success. And that's good news for the studio, because at $70 million, Big Fish was not a cheap movie to make.

Like last week, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King took the overall box office crown but only managed third on the per theatre chart. Still, this is not a sign that Return of the King won't make a bundle at the box office.

The Fog of War's average only dropped 16% to $11,627. At the same time is added two more theatres to bring its theatre count to 5. It's too soon to say what picture will walk away with the Best Documentary awards at the Oscars this year, but The Fog of War should be considered an early favorite.

One film that missed the $10,000 mark but deserved a mention is Calendar Girls. The British film saw an increase in its theatre count from 24 to 42. And it also saw an increase in its per theatre average from $6,308 to $9,441; that's an increase of nearly 50%. This could turn into the sleeper hit of the season.

On a side note, House of Sand and Fog, which expanded into more than 400 theatres this past weekend, was unable to hold onto its per theatre average. It could only earn a little less than $4000 per theatres, so a further large expansion seems unlikely.

This past week also saw some milestones reached for several Per Theatre Charts alumnus:

The Cooler surpassed $1 million since it was released a little more than a month ago.
Earlier in the week, Shattered Glass broke through the $2 million mark.
In American more than doubled its box office since last weekend and now sits just a few thousand below $3 million.


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Filed under: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Big Fish, Monster, Calendar Girls, In America, House of Sand and Fog, The Cooler, The Fog of War, Shattered Glass