X-Men 2 Beats the Day Care Kids
May 12, 2003
It was a slow week as only one movie opened wide, but this is just the calm before the storm that is Matrix Reloaded. Compared to last year, the summer is falling further behind and needs Matrix Reloaded to open huge on Wednesday.
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No surprise which movie came in first. X-Men 2 lost a lot in its second weekend, but not as much as some had predicted. Also not as much as X-Men dropped in its second week, so better legs could push the final box office higher than the original predictions and into the Top 20 All Time. Down 53.2% to $40.0 million for a total of nearly $150 million, just $10 million shy of the original’s total box office.
In second place was Daddy Dare Care with $27.6 million. This continues a trend for Eddie Murphy whose only big hits recently seem aimed at a decidedly younger audience. Reviews were very bad with only 29% positive, include only 19% from the cream of the crop reviewers. So that could hurt Daddy Day Care’s longevity at the theatres, and with a cost of $60 million to make and $30 million to advertise Sony and Revolution studios will probably have to wait for the home market to see a profit.
On Friday I predicted that The Lizzie McGuire Movie would have the lowest drop-off in the top five, as it turned out it had the highest dropping 58% to $7.2 million. This is very surprising considering the younger target audience, which usually means better legs at the theatre. This could be an anomaly due to Mother’s Day, or it could a sign of the Fanboy Effect, or should I say Fangirl Effect. Even with a much greater drop-off The Lizzie McGuire Movie should get the little more than $40 million needed to be profitable during its domestic run.
Holding up better than most horror / suspense films is Identity, which was down only 31% for its third. The weekend figure of $6.5 million was good enough for fourth place and brought its total to nearly $40 million. Identity should continue in the top ten for a few more weeks and surpass its combined budget before its domestic run is finished.
In its fifth week and in fifth place was Anger Management with $5.7 million for a total of $122 million. The movie is shedding theatres fast but should still put in one or two more appearances in the top ten.
Two movies with limited distribution made the top ten this week. A Mighty Wind expanded into 765 theatres and moved from 14th last weekend to 7th this weekend. The mockumentary look at folk music needs about $20 million to make a profit during its domestic run, and that is definitely in sight. The second limited release film was Bend It Like Beckham. A small increase in theatres to 555 and an actual increase in per theatre average helped the British film land in 9th spot after 9 weeks in release. Already profitable from its international run Bend It Like Beckham is getting extra exposure by finishing in the top ten, so it could still climb a spot or two in the coming weeks.
Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: X-Men 2, Anger Management, Daddy Day Care, Identity, Bend it Like Beckham, A Mighty Wind