Weekend Box Office 12/18: Smith & The Dragon Fare Well

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AndyDursin · #1 Post by **AndyDursin** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 1:19 pm

Great opening for Will Smith (despite Lifetime Movie of the Week-like trailers) and a very robust opening for ERAGON despite mediocre reviews. Big drop for APOCALYPTO too.

These are early projections but every site I check has them in this order:

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N The Pursuit of Happyness Sony $27,000,000 - 2,852 - $9,467 $27,000,000 - 1
2 N Eragon Fox $23,450,000 - 3,020 - $7,764 $23,450,000 $90 1
3 N Charlotte's Web Par. $12,026,000 - 3,566 - $3,372 $12,026,000 - 1
4 2 Happy Feet WB $8,520,000 -34.0% 3,335 -315 $2,554 $149,406,000 $100 5
5 3 The Holiday Sony $8,200,000 -35.8% 2,614 +4 $3,136 $25,310,000 $85 2
6 1 Apocalypto BV $7,723,000 -48.5% 2,465 - $3,133 $27,924,000 $40 2
7 5 Blood Diamond WB $6,270,000 -27.5% 1,910 - $3,282 $18,390,000 $100 2
8 4 Casino Royale Sony $5,700,000 -36.1% 2,437 -724 $2,338 $137,574,000 $150 5
9 8 The Nativity Story NL $4,700,000 -17.7% 2,574 -509 $1,825 $23,056,000 $35 3
10 7 Unaccompanied Minors WB $3,675,000 -36.8% 2,775 - $1,324 $10,223,000 $25 2

AndyDursin · #2 Post by **AndyDursin** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:55 pm

Revised with full weekend stats.

romanD · #3 Post by **romanD** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:58 pm

still I guess a very disappointing opening for the next big Fantasy Trilogy... guess if it hasn't any staying powers (which are doubtful with such horrible reviews) then there will be no trilogy (which I couldnt care less...).... make a good single movie, before thinking of a new trilogy (even the word gets tedious).

Carlson2005 · #4 Post by **Carlson2005** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:58 pm

Although it's not a good opening for the budget, I'm surprised how comparatively well Eragon did considering how bad both the reviews and the word-of-mouth are - even the fans of the novel don't seem to care for it much and I notice the author is keeping his distance (significantly the director very awkwardly changed the subject when asked about him during the UK press tour). Having seen the trailer I find it hard to believe it could really have cost $90m, especially since it was shot in Eastern Europe. It all looks like a Uwe Boll film to me, or at the very least the bastard child of Bloodrayne and Dungeons and Dragons...

It'll be interesting to see the international figures on Casino Royale tomorrow, which will almost certainly take it past Die Another Day's worldwide gross by the end of the week.

AndyDursin · #5 Post by **AndyDursin** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:31 pm

Fox is apparently thrilled with the gross of ERAGON.

Despite what they said about the budget, the movie doesn't exactly scream A-list in cast/crew and the film got ravaged with bad reviews like Trevor said.

For it to do well over $20 million and smoke the more-hyped CHARLOTTE'S WEB is definitely not a disappointment for ERAGON.

MarkB · #6 Post by **MarkB** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:23 pm

I expect ERAGON to die a quick death, in spite of its respectable opening. The word of mouth I've heard has been very negative, with fans of the book being especially disappointed.

Mark

Carlson2005 · #7 Post by **Carlson2005** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 1:26 am

Eragon did surprisingly well internationally - $30.3m - although it couldn't do better than place fourth after Happy Feet, The Holiday and Casino Royale (currently at $418m worldwide) in the UK. But I get the feeling the dragon'll drop like a stone next week.

mkaroly · #8 Post by **mkaroly** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:02 pm

I just saw ERAGON....just awful! Seriously, I laughed several times during the movie...I honestly couldn't help myself. The problem is that they try to fit a very LOTR/STAR WARS type story into one hour and 42 minutes and the result is that it jumps from moment to moment with no in-between. For example, first there's this apocalyptic rise of the Tyrant, then there's the hero, then the hero's brother leaves home, then the dragon comes, then the hero gets his mentor, then they're on their way... there's no time for devlopment. Also, the dialogue is poor at best- how could they keep straight faces acting in this? SPOILER ALERT What's worse is that the dragon talks telepathically with Eragon (prompting me to want to try to speak telepathically with my friends' cats), and every time she did I started to laugh- it is so freakin' goofy!END OF SPOILER ALERT

Doyle's score is okay, though it sounds like it's only one or two themes deep. Seriously, this is a movie to rent on DVD with friends over. Put it in, laugh heartily throwing back some ale, and laugh some more as the end credits roll. The sequels (if made) will be just as funny.