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*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.
Kevin Smith has never had a number one film at the box office and Martin Scorsese has ensured that he won’t buck the trend in 2010. “Shutter Island” is the top box office performer for the second weekend in a row, dropping 46% to $22.2 million. That puts it firmly in the could-have-been worse, could-have-been-better category and with $75.1 million in the bank so far, Paramount can consider their decision to move out of October justified, particularly since I don’t think the Oscars would have touched it with a 10-foot pole, but that’s just me.
Smith’s “Cop Out” did manage an $18.6 million debut, handily becoming a career-high for its director. For Bruce Willis, on the other hand, it falls somewhere between “The Whole Nine Yards” and “The Kid,” amongst a bevy of forgettable titles. Reviews were scathing and drops should be harsh so it will be a close race with the $46 million of “Dogma” to the title of Smith’s biggest hit. If Warner Bros. was using this as an audition for a bigger franchise, I think Silent Bob has fluffed his chance. It should also be noted that the figure is inflated slightly by the extra seats Smith has to buy for himself when he went.
Not too far off in third is “The Crazies,” which managed a $16.5 million debut from nearly 700 fewer screens than “Cop Out,” giving it the second-best per theater average in the top 10. Overture did a good job of raising awareness and interest amongst the target audience, which must not include me, because I never saw a single thing about it once, anywhere.
“Avatar” came in at fourth with $14 million, which is the fourth-biggest 11th weekend of all time behind “Titanic,” “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial” and “Aladdin.” It also becomes the first film since “There’s Something About Mary” to spend 11 consecutive weeks in the top five. Oh yeah, and it has now grossed over $700 million in the United States. That’s more money than the 2009 gross national product of every country in the world but sixteen. Switzerland made less money than “Avatar.”
Elsewhere, “Tooth Fairy” and “Crazy Heart” had strong holds near the bottom of the chart and “Valentine’s Day” crept past the $100 million mark, despite drops that indicate audiences have decided it should be politely kept around roughly as long as that Valentine’s Day card you got from your Grandma.
“A Prophet” had a strong start on nine screens, earning $170,000, but it still couldn’t match the per-theater average of “The Ghost Writer,” which earned $20,000 per screen in its second week.
I didn’t see anything this week, as I feel myself settling into a little funk where I can’t get motivated to go to the movies. Blame “Shutter Island,” which still leaves a bad taste in my mouth whenever I think about it.
What did you guys see? Here are the weekend’s top domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:
36 responses so far
1 2-28-2010 at 12:33 pm
AmericanRequiem said...
rude comment about smith, fat jokes? come on.
shtter island is still great, audiences agree
ya the rest out is pretty bad, and chad the only movies your the audience for are ones made for less then 17 teen dollars starring flying squirrels struggling to find themselves
2 2-28-2010 at 12:41 pm
Adam Smith said...
I won’t go as far as AmericanRequiem, but your Smith dig is just willful ignorance of fact, and I expect better of you, Chad.
On the othet hand “Switzerland made less money than Avatar” is both the funniest and saddest thing I’ve read all day. So consider yourself “on notice.”
3 2-28-2010 at 12:41 pm
James D. said...
Um, Chad? Switzerland’s 2008 nominal GDP was 500 billion dollars.
4 2-28-2010 at 12:44 pm
James D. said...
Also, has Kevin Smith ever made a good film?
5 2-28-2010 at 1:10 pm
tony d said...
Crazies ads were everywhere – LOST, olympics – heck i even saw a few on the history channel
6 2-28-2010 at 1:26 pm
Liz said...
Yeah, am I missing something? How in the world did “Avatar” make more than Switzerland?
7 2-28-2010 at 1:34 pm
Ryan Hoffman said...
I don’t think you know what GNP is.
I love the strange hatreds we all have. You for Shutter Island, or Kris for 500 Days of Summer, or me for The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
8 2-28-2010 at 1:36 pm
al b. said...
That Switzerland thing has to be a joke… but I get your point! I’m thinking a 50% drop for Avatar next week, due to Alice takin the 3D advantage away.
9 2-28-2010 at 2:13 pm
seanflynn said...
A Prophet was an OK opening, but considering the reviews and the high-grossing theatres it played at, not widely impressive – much below Broken Embraces first weekend for example. I do expect WOM and a possible Oscar win to help it.
Ghost Writer on the other hand at 5 times as many theatres, mostly ones that gross less than the 9 Prophet played at, had a very impressive PSA – Summit is doing a really solid job with this, even more so with zero Oscar race attachment to it (maybe the upscale market is ready to move on).
10 2-28-2010 at 2:45 pm
AdamL said...
Either you are stupid and have no idea what GNP is or your jokes are very lame. Not sure what is worse.
11 2-28-2010 at 3:01 pm
Guy Lodge said...
A bleak, violent prison drama with an untested lead actor and a high-gloss, brand-name auteur work with Penelope Cruz aren’t exactly equivalent commodities.
12 2-28-2010 at 3:07 pm
Rick said...
People, there is a difference between GNP and GDP.
13 2-28-2010 at 3:15 pm
Patryk said...
I liked “Shutter Island.” Especially the performances of Ruffalo and DiCaprio and Von Sydow. Plus the fun nods to Hitchcock.
14 2-28-2010 at 3:15 pm
Chad Hartigan said...
I pulled Switzerland out of a hat. I’m sure it’s doing much better than Avatar economically. My Avatar jokes run a little stale after about ten weeks in release.
15 2-28-2010 at 3:20 pm
Al said...
Not as much humor as usual. Chad, I hope you aren’t pandering to the pricks from last week, I love your articles.
16 2-28-2010 at 3:29 pm
Chad Hartigan said...
It was a conceptual piece this week. I went for roughly the same amount of humor as Kevin Smith movies.
17 2-28-2010 at 4:30 pm
Rishi said...
Chad is the biggest retard ever. Shutter Island is a box office sucess and people seem to enjoy it
18 2-28-2010 at 4:35 pm
Guy Lodge said...
Well, that’s told him, then.
19 2-28-2010 at 4:48 pm
Al said...
Haha, thats the Chad I know.
20 2-28-2010 at 4:56 pm
Michael said...
haha, I love comment 17 – that is probably the most convincing insult ever. Somehow, I think Chad’s feelings won’t be hurt, but instead humored by that comment.
21 2-28-2010 at 5:21 pm
ninja said...
“could-have-been worse, could-have-been-better category”
Really? How much did it cost? It seems like a nice hit to me but what do I know.
“I don’t think the Oscars would have touched it with a 10-foot pole, ”
At least it`s making money which that other Paramount movie that Oscars didn`t touch with a 10-foot pole, The Lovely Bones, squandered big time. Boxfoffice bomb,rotten reviews and,boy, are the fans of the book pissed! And Tucci`s nomination is big WTF. Mackie should`ve gotten in instead.
22 2-28-2010 at 5:36 pm
evan said...
I thought the Kevin Smith comment was hilarious, people are being way too sensitive about that. Plus is poking fun more at the situation he was in than anything else, I’m sure Kevin Smith himself would have laughed at that.
As for the 10 foot pole comment, I could easily see Shutter getting lead actor and cinematography noms.
23 2-28-2010 at 5:38 pm
evan said...
Oh, and also regarding the “could have been better, could have been worse” comment, I don’t see how you don’t label this a hit. It’s got a good chance at becoming Scorsese’s top grosser and DiCaprio’s highest since Catch Me if You Can. As far as I can tell it’s exceeded everyone’s box office expectations so far.
24 2-28-2010 at 5:39 pm
Ben M. said...
Was planning on going to A Prophet today but had a bit of a foot injury so I didn’t feel like going all the way downtown and went to The Crazies which was right nearby and was pleasantly surprised, not a great movie but very well directed and was actually scary- among the other horror films I’ve seen in 2010 The Wolfman was horrible and only had a couple scary moments, while Shutter Island was decent but never once scary.
I also saw Green Zone via an early screening and Summer Hours on tv.
25 2-28-2010 at 6:03 pm
ninja said...
“As for the 10 foot pole comment, I could easily see Shutter getting lead actor and cinematography noms.”
It should. DiCap was phenomenal and cinematography was gorgeous. Plus, it`s a hit.
26 2-28-2010 at 6:16 pm
Chad Hartigan said...
The could-have-been better could-have-been worse is referring only to the second weekend drop. The overall performance is gravy for Paramount.
27 2-28-2010 at 6:26 pm
Jim T said...
I saw Shutter Island and although I liked it more than Chad did (It would be hard not to), I didn’t like it as much as to try to defend it (was that right?). The first half was really dull.
What I want to defend is Smith’s humour. Hey, I really liked Zack and Miri Make a Porno! I wasn’t familiar with this kind of humour in movies and I was positively surprised.
28 2-28-2010 at 6:33 pm
austin111 said...
Yah, there might not have been a big snowstorm in the Northeast or winter olympics to inhibit a few million movie goers either!!! Anyway, Shutter will likely make it nicely over the 100 million mark, not bad for a pic that was heavily marketed to look like “horror”, a genre that generally does well for one weekend and then drops like a stone. Older moviegoers are going for Shutter. That’s a plus. I’ve seen it twice and it was even better the second time around. As for the oscars comment — you may be right, although I’ve seen enough tweets from hollywood types to suggest at least the acting might have taken a nod or two.
29 2-28-2010 at 6:37 pm
austin111 said...
Chad didn’t even watch the whole thing, did he?
30 2-28-2010 at 7:29 pm
JC said...
Didn’t Dogma only make $30 million?
31 2-28-2010 at 8:32 pm
Adam Smith said...
@JC:
Like it says at the top of every one of these columns:
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.
32 2-28-2010 at 9:05 pm
Mr. Gittes said...
Thoughts on ‘Green Zone’, Ben M?
33 3-01-2010 at 12:05 am
Danny King said...
I was pretty disappointed with The Ghost Writer, although the theater was jam-packed so I’m not surprised to see its impressive box office tally. A Prophet is on my slate for next weekend; been waiting for that one for so long.
34 3-01-2010 at 12:37 am
red_wine said...
This is Scorsese’s cheapest movie this century, oh yeah only 80 million dollars. Has the guy forgotten how to mean lean economical movies? Perhaps Eastwood could give him a lesson.
That’s the reason even though its a hit, it hasn’t even broken even yet.
35 3-01-2010 at 6:18 am
Ben M. said...
Green Zone was okay but not among Greengrass’ best. My biggest complaint was with the script as the plot and characters were not very fleshed out. However, as with other Greengrass movies, it is very visceral and impressive from a technical standpoint.
It was the kind of film that certainly holds your attention and provides a rush as you are watching it, but does not have the lasting impact that Bloody Sunday or United 93 do.
36 3-01-2010 at 10:12 am
tony rock said...
I dunno…to me Green Zone looks like a missed opportunity. Instead of making a unique, definitive film about the war it seems they made Bourne 4. On top of that it appears preachier than all previous Iraq/War on Terror movies put together. Hoping it proves me wrong.