Hidden Treasure at the Box Office

November 19, 2004

Two new films open this weekend, but The Incredibles still look almost unbeatable at the box office with the primary competition coming from a certain yellow sponge. I think I feel a song coming one ...
Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh!
Who Lives in a Pineapple under the sea?
SpongeBob SquarePants

The Incredibles held up very well last weekend, and while the Pixar blockbuster will see its decline accelerate this weekend, it should still take top spot with $33 million. If the weekend goes as expected, the film will be just a few million behind The Day After Tomorrow for fifth place for the year.

Coming in second place is the best reviews new movie of the week, SpongeBob SquarePants. … If you are waiting for me to say just kidding you have a long wait ahead of you. Seriously, the film is currently getting 70% positive reviews well above what most people were expecting, (earlier in the week the score was 90% positive, at which point I assumed we had slipped into some Bizarro Alternate dimension. The much better than expected reviews could translate into a much bigger opening, but I think it's more likely to result in a small increase this weekend and better than expected legs. Look for $26 million this weekend and with the holidays around the corner it could have enough legs to reach $100 million.

The second new film this weekend, National Treasure isn't getting as nearly as strong reviews, but its reviews were about what I expected. Chances are this film will have the best opening for a Nicolas Cage film since Gone in 60 Seconds, but at $19 million its not enough to be considered a success. On a side note, watching the first ten minutes of the movie on the official site reminded me of the pilot episode of Firefly. Specifically the scene where Wash was playing with his plastic dinosaurs. At one point he, or more accurately, the Stegosaurs says, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal." That line popped into my head when Ian Howe betrays Ben Gates, it just felt so forced, so obvious and without any background setup it was completely lacking in emotional impact.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason sees its theatre count nearly quintuple to almost 2500. But its per theatre count will most likely be cut down so much that the film won't even double last week's box office. $17 million is still a strong performance and the film should be a major hit worldwide.

With strong competition for the kid demographic, Polar Express will see its box office drop a bit faster than it otherwise would landing at $14 million for the weekend and $50 million overall.

One last note, The Grudge crossed $100 million on Wednesday, the 17th film to do so this year. 2004 is still way behind last year's record setting performance when 29 films were able to accomplish that feat.

Speaking of The Grudge, Christmas with the Kranks has a sneak peak with that film this Saturday. The theory being seeing another Christmas in November film is more horrific than anything you'll see in the Sarah Michelle Gellar film.


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Filed under: The Incredibles, The Polar Express, National Treasure, The Grudge, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie, Christmas with the Kranks, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason