Posted on 11/11/2007 10:07:54 AM PST by LdSentinal
LOS ANGELES—Jerry Seinfeld continued to turn honey into money as his animated comedy "Bee Movie" buzzed to the top of the box office in its second weekend. The DreamWorks-Paramount flick, which had debuted at No. 2 behind Universal's "American Gangster" the previous weekend, packed in family crowds to pull in $26 million, raising its total to $72.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, was a strong No. 2 with $24.3 million, lifting its total to $80.7 million.
"We don't often see a movie start out in the No. 2 position then move up to No. 1," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It just shows how strong the word of mouth is on this movie and that families are really enjoying it."
Adult audiences had put "American Gangster" ahead on Friday, but matinee crowds on Saturday and Sunday, when families flock to theaters, lifted "Bee Movie" to the top spot. "Bee Movie" is positioned well for Thanksgiving next week, when children will be out of school.
"This is terrific playing time for this movie," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks. "We've got some good momentum heading through Thanksgiving."
Two of Hollywood's biggest cultural icons—Santa Claus and Tom Cruise—had to settle for also-ran debuts.
The Warner Bros. family comedy "Fred Claus," with Vince Vaughn as the black-sheep brother of Santa
(Paul Giamatti), opened at No. 3 with $19.2 million, on par with last November's $19.5 million debut of Tim Allen's holiday tale "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause." Cruise's "Lions for Lambs," co-starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in a drama interlocking three stories in the war on terror, premiered at No. 4 with $6.7 million. Directed by Redford, "Lions for Lambs" was the first release by the rejuvenated MGM banner United Artists since Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner took it over last year.
Costing a modest $35 million to produce, "Lions for Lambs" was aimed at an older, thinking-person's audience compared to the crowds that turn out for Cruise's action movies. Just over two-thirds of the audience was 35 or older, according to MGM.
"Older audiences don't necessarily come out the first weekend, so we're looking to get a very solid run all the way through the Thanksgiving holiday," said Clark Woods, MGM head of distribution.
Summit Entertainment's "P2," starring Wes Bentley and Rachel Nichols in a thriller about a woman trapped in a parking garage and terrorized by the attendant on Christmas Eve, opened at No. 8 with $2.2 million.
Joel and Ethan Coen's crime tale "No Country for Old Men" got off to a great start in limited release, taking in $1.2 million in 28 theaters for a whopping average of $42,929 a cinema.
By comparison, "Fred Claus" averaged $5,336 in 3,603 theaters and "Lions for Lambs" did $3,029 in 2,215 cinemas.
Released by Miramax, "No Country for Old Men" is one of the year's most acclaimed films, starring Tommy Lee Jones as a weary Texas sheriff, Javier Bardem as a ruthless killer and Josh Brolin as a man on the run after making off with $2 million from a drug deal gone violently wrong.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Bee Movie," $26 million.
2. "American Gangster," $24.3 million.
3. "Fred Claus," $19.2 million.
4. "Lions for Lambs," $6.7 million.
5. "Dan in Real Life," $5.9 million.
6. "Saw IV," $5 million.
7. "The Game Plan," $2.4 million.
8. "P2," $2.2 million.
9. "30 Days of Night," $2.1 million.
10. "Martian Child," $1.75 million.
Lions for Lambs Yahoo reviewers all are very negative. It was a D rating with over 1500 votes yesterday.
Why no listing of production budget?
I’m 37 and this older, thinker thinks he’ll skip that idiotic film.
Apparently, these two bozos forget that most folks go to or watch a movie to be entertained.
Not a "thinking" person, I see.
In Hollywoodese, a thinking person is someone who thinks America is an evil nation that deserves to be destroyed.
If “Lions for Lambs” becomes required viewing for the anti-war crowd — like “An Inconvenient Truth” did for the watermelons — then it might still make a ton of money. “Artistic merit” has nothing to do with the success of agit-prop — nor does truth.
Probably the executives responsible for way over-priced turkeys want to keep their jobs a tad bit longer.
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Yahoo! Users:
D
5269 ratings
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LOL! True.
“lions For Agitprop” is so boring, even the liberals can’t stand it...
I just want to know which libs ponied up the ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS to make this piece of trash.
Don’t they know how much healthcare insurance they could have purchase for poor kids with that money?
BUT THE, IT’S REALLY NOT ABOUT THAT, IS IT...
LOL squared at you!
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