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Charlie`s Angels overwhelm The Hulk at the top
Los Angeles, July 03: Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle snatched the weekend box-office halo from reigning champion The Hulk, but the feisty action comedy sequel failed to match the performance of its predecessor, surprising an industry accustomed to inexorably rising ticket sales.
Los Angeles, July 03: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle snatched the weekend box-office halo from reigning champion The Hulk, but the feisty action comedy sequel failed to match the performance of its predecessor, surprising an industry accustomed to inexorably rising ticket sales.
The Angels movie, starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu as unlikely crime-fighters in a story as skimpy as some of their outfits, sold $38 million worth of tickets in its first three days of release across North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
The film's hit predecessor, Charlie's Angels, opened with $40.1 million in November 2000, typically a slower time at the box office, and went on to generate $125 million. It also grossed $138 million outside of North America.
There were some other trouble spots at the box office. The Hulk slipped to No. 2 with $18.4 million in its second weekend, losing a stunning 70 percent of its audience, one of the steepest slides in recent memory. And overall ticket sales fell for the third consecutive weekend when compared with the year-ago period.
"There's a lack of depth" among films, with big openings followed by big drops, said industry analyst Paul Dergerabedian, from box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. He estimated that ticket sales this year were off by about 3.5 percent at $4.3 billion, when compared with the year-ago period. Attendance was down by about 7 percent. Sales this summer are about even with last year, while attendance is down by 4 percent, he added.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle managed to end an intriguing winning streak at the box office. The last six movies to open at No. 1 all did so by selling more than $50 million worth of tickets.
An executive at the film's distributor, Columbia Pictures, said he had merely hoped to open in the same range as the first movie and said he was not disappointed.
"To us, at least, if we can exceed the worldwide total of the first one, we'll be happy," said Jeff Blake, Columbia's head of worldwide marketing and distribution. Blake said the film also opened this weekend in Japan, doubling the bow of the first one by selling $6.2 million worth of tickets. Dergerabedian said it had become "the new reality" that a sequel will outperform its predecessor, as indicated by recent films The Matrix Reloaded, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and X2: X-Men United.
The 10-day total for The Hulk, a $150 million adaptation of the Marvel comic book, rose to $100.2 million.
Its 70 percent tumble compares with a 63 percent second-weekend drop for 2 Fast 2 Furious, a 45 percent dip for Bruce Almighty, and a 34 percent erosion for Finding Nemo.
The top 10 contained one other new release, the apocalyptic British thriller 28 Days Later, which opened at No. 4 with $9.7 million. The film, budgeted at just $8 million, far exceeded the expectations of executives at its distributor, Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The top 10 films for June 27-29 1. Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle, $38 million 2. The Hulk, $18.4 million 3. Finding Nemo, $13.9 million 4. 28 Days Later, $9.7 million 5. Bruce Almighty, $6.2 million 6. 2 Fast 2 Furious, $5.7 million 7. The Italian Job, $5.4 million 8. Rugrats Go Wild, $3.5 million 9. Hollywood Homicide, $3 million 10. Alex & Emma, $2.7 million
Bureau Report
The Angels movie, starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu as unlikely crime-fighters in a story as skimpy as some of their outfits, sold $38 million worth of tickets in its first three days of release across North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
The film's hit predecessor, Charlie's Angels, opened with $40.1 million in November 2000, typically a slower time at the box office, and went on to generate $125 million. It also grossed $138 million outside of North America.
There were some other trouble spots at the box office. The Hulk slipped to No. 2 with $18.4 million in its second weekend, losing a stunning 70 percent of its audience, one of the steepest slides in recent memory. And overall ticket sales fell for the third consecutive weekend when compared with the year-ago period.
"There's a lack of depth" among films, with big openings followed by big drops, said industry analyst Paul Dergerabedian, from box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. He estimated that ticket sales this year were off by about 3.5 percent at $4.3 billion, when compared with the year-ago period. Attendance was down by about 7 percent. Sales this summer are about even with last year, while attendance is down by 4 percent, he added.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle managed to end an intriguing winning streak at the box office. The last six movies to open at No. 1 all did so by selling more than $50 million worth of tickets.
An executive at the film's distributor, Columbia Pictures, said he had merely hoped to open in the same range as the first movie and said he was not disappointed.
"To us, at least, if we can exceed the worldwide total of the first one, we'll be happy," said Jeff Blake, Columbia's head of worldwide marketing and distribution. Blake said the film also opened this weekend in Japan, doubling the bow of the first one by selling $6.2 million worth of tickets. Dergerabedian said it had become "the new reality" that a sequel will outperform its predecessor, as indicated by recent films The Matrix Reloaded, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and X2: X-Men United.
The 10-day total for The Hulk, a $150 million adaptation of the Marvel comic book, rose to $100.2 million.
Its 70 percent tumble compares with a 63 percent second-weekend drop for 2 Fast 2 Furious, a 45 percent dip for Bruce Almighty, and a 34 percent erosion for Finding Nemo.
The top 10 contained one other new release, the apocalyptic British thriller 28 Days Later, which opened at No. 4 with $9.7 million. The film, budgeted at just $8 million, far exceeded the expectations of executives at its distributor, Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The top 10 films for June 27-29 1. Charlie`s Angels: Full Throttle, $38 million 2. The Hulk, $18.4 million 3. Finding Nemo, $13.9 million 4. 28 Days Later, $9.7 million 5. Bruce Almighty, $6.2 million 6. 2 Fast 2 Furious, $5.7 million 7. The Italian Job, $5.4 million 8. Rugrats Go Wild, $3.5 million 9. Hollywood Homicide, $3 million 10. Alex & Emma, $2.7 million
Bureau Report