Weekend Estimates - Evan Not So Almighty

June 24, 2007

Evan Almighty made a mediocre debut over the weekend according to studio estimates, earning $32.1 million. That's about half the opening weekend of Bruce Almighty, and about on par with the debuts of Norbit ($34.2 million) and Blades of Glory ($33 million) earlier in the year. With a start like this, Evan can still hope for a $100 million run at the US box office, but it's going to be a long, long time before it recoups its $175 million plus production budget.

A much healthier performance was recorded by the John Cusack thriller 1408, which checked in with $20.2 million, substantially above our Friday prediction. That may be enough to put the movie in second place for the weekend. According to estimates, it's just $25,000 ahead of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which had a very disappointing second weekend, down 65% from its opening.

The last wide opening of the weekend, A Mighty Heart made little impression, earning $4 million in 1,355 theaters. A per theater average of under $3,000 will almost certainly prevent the movie from going wider, and a swift exit from theaters seems likely.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Evan Almighty, A Mighty Heart, 1408