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The Hulk Rages Over Competition At The Box Office
New York, June 25: There was just no stopping `The Hulk` as the Universal release created mayhem at the North American box office this weekend, wresting the coveted number one slot. The tale of a mild-mannered Bruce Banner who transforms into the green monster knocked up an estimated $62.6 million.
New York, June 25: There was just no stopping ‘The Hulk’ as the Universal release created mayhem at the North American box office this weekend, wresting the coveted number one slot. The tale of a mild-mannered Bruce Banner who transforms into the green monster knocked up an estimated $62.6 million.
Box-office records were smashed to smithereens as the newest comic book character from Marvel made its crossover to the big screen. As the biggest all time June opening, The Hulk muscled out the previous record holder, New Line’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me with $54.9 million. Marvel Studios got their seventh straight No.1 debut, while for Universal, it becomes the third consecutive release to top the $50 million mark.
The week’s two new releases paled by comparison, making less than impressive openings. Both targeted at the young female movie goer, the worthier of the two proved to be Warner Bros.’ Alex & Emma taking the number seven slot with an estimated $6.2 million. Starring Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson the romance drama comes from Franchise Pictures with Rob Reiner as director. Rated PG-13, it opened in 2,310 venues.
As for From Justin to Kelly, a 20th Century Fox release, it proved that high television ratings for American Idol do not necessarily translate into similar impact on the big screen. Missing the top ten, it debuted at No. 11 with a poor showing of $2.9 million from 2,001 theatres.
Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the stars of the American Idol TV show, head the cast of the musical romantic comedy. It was originally scheduled for release on April 25 and June 13 and seems destined for video and DVD. The sole saving grace for the film comes from its relatively low budget of $12 million which improves its chances of breaking even. All in all, it was Universal who found cause for jubilation with three of its films taking the top four rankings. The other two being 2 Fast 2 Furious at number three with $10.3 million and Bruce Almighty in fourth place with $10 million, taking the total gross for the three films to almost $83 million. That figure also makes up 58 percent of the total for the top 12 films.
2 Fast 2 Furious is also the ninth film of the year to speed past $100 million with a total of $102.1 million in just 17 days. Bruce Almighty, on the other hand topped the $200 million last Thursday, with a gross of about $210.7 million bySunday night.
The figures for The Hulk stayed true to pre-release indicators that put its potential between $50 million and $60 million. As far as the lucrative franchise of comic book superheroes go, the Hulk takes third place, bettered only by Sony’s Spider-Man with $ 114.8 million and Fox’s X2: X-Men United with $ 85.6 million.
Summing up the appeal of The Hulk, Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad said, "Hulk is a complex character, and there is a great curiosity about how all of us deal with anger. Secondly, I think people wanted to see how an actor created completely in CG and without speaking would come across on the screen. And there is also the love story — a Beauty and the Beast type — between Hulk and Betty."
Exit polls found half the audience for The Hulk to be below 25 years of age, with 62 percent being males. The raging green monster also cut across barriers of race, with Universal estimating the audience at 23 percent Latino, 14 percent African-American and 7 percent Asian-American.
At $ 142 million, the estimated total for the top 12 films this weekend is almost 6 percent below that of the weekend last year, when Fox’s Minority Report with $35.7 million and Buena Vista’s Lilo & Stitch with $35.3 million ruled the roost.
The top 10 films for June 20-22: 1. The Hulk, $62.6 million 2. Finding Nemo, $20.5 million 3. 2 Fast 2 Furious, $10.3 million 4. Bruce Almighty, $10 million 5. The Italian Job, $7.2 million 6. Rugrats Go Wild, $6.7 million 7. Alex & Emma, $6.2 million 8. Hollywood Homicide, $5.8 million 9. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, $4.3 million 10. The Matrix Reloaded, $4.1 million
- Jigme Palden Pazo.
Box-office records were smashed to smithereens as the newest comic book character from Marvel made its crossover to the big screen. As the biggest all time June opening, The Hulk muscled out the previous record holder, New Line’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me with $54.9 million. Marvel Studios got their seventh straight No.1 debut, while for Universal, it becomes the third consecutive release to top the $50 million mark.
The week’s two new releases paled by comparison, making less than impressive openings. Both targeted at the young female movie goer, the worthier of the two proved to be Warner Bros.’ Alex & Emma taking the number seven slot with an estimated $6.2 million. Starring Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson the romance drama comes from Franchise Pictures with Rob Reiner as director. Rated PG-13, it opened in 2,310 venues.
As for From Justin to Kelly, a 20th Century Fox release, it proved that high television ratings for American Idol do not necessarily translate into similar impact on the big screen. Missing the top ten, it debuted at No. 11 with a poor showing of $2.9 million from 2,001 theatres.
Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the stars of the American Idol TV show, head the cast of the musical romantic comedy. It was originally scheduled for release on April 25 and June 13 and seems destined for video and DVD. The sole saving grace for the film comes from its relatively low budget of $12 million which improves its chances of breaking even. All in all, it was Universal who found cause for jubilation with three of its films taking the top four rankings. The other two being 2 Fast 2 Furious at number three with $10.3 million and Bruce Almighty in fourth place with $10 million, taking the total gross for the three films to almost $83 million. That figure also makes up 58 percent of the total for the top 12 films.
2 Fast 2 Furious is also the ninth film of the year to speed past $100 million with a total of $102.1 million in just 17 days. Bruce Almighty, on the other hand topped the $200 million last Thursday, with a gross of about $210.7 million bySunday night.
The figures for The Hulk stayed true to pre-release indicators that put its potential between $50 million and $60 million. As far as the lucrative franchise of comic book superheroes go, the Hulk takes third place, bettered only by Sony’s Spider-Man with $ 114.8 million and Fox’s X2: X-Men United with $ 85.6 million.
Summing up the appeal of The Hulk, Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad said, "Hulk is a complex character, and there is a great curiosity about how all of us deal with anger. Secondly, I think people wanted to see how an actor created completely in CG and without speaking would come across on the screen. And there is also the love story — a Beauty and the Beast type — between Hulk and Betty."
Exit polls found half the audience for The Hulk to be below 25 years of age, with 62 percent being males. The raging green monster also cut across barriers of race, with Universal estimating the audience at 23 percent Latino, 14 percent African-American and 7 percent Asian-American.
At $ 142 million, the estimated total for the top 12 films this weekend is almost 6 percent below that of the weekend last year, when Fox’s Minority Report with $35.7 million and Buena Vista’s Lilo & Stitch with $35.3 million ruled the roost.
The top 10 films for June 20-22: 1. The Hulk, $62.6 million 2. Finding Nemo, $20.5 million 3. 2 Fast 2 Furious, $10.3 million 4. Bruce Almighty, $10 million 5. The Italian Job, $7.2 million 6. Rugrats Go Wild, $6.7 million 7. Alex & Emma, $6.2 million 8. Hollywood Homicide, $5.8 million 9. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, $4.3 million 10. The Matrix Reloaded, $4.1 million
- Jigme Palden Pazo.