This weekend at the box office, moviegoers finally got to work out their frustrations.
As expected, the new comedy Anger Management beat the daylights out of the competition with a whooping $44.5 million,* making it the highest opener of 2003 (topping Daredevil, which opened in February with $40.3 million).
“The comedy genre this year is just incapable of burning out,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations told the Associated Press. “People are looking to blow off steam. What better way than seeing a movie that combines Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler?”
And Management was apparently all moviegoers wanted to see this weekend, as the rest of the list paled miserably in comparison. Last week’s top dog Phone Booth, came in at No.2 with a measly $7.5 million, while the teenybopper What a Girl Wants took third with $6.7 million.
Rounding out the Top Five were the enduring comedy Bringing Down the House, which held the fourth spot with $4.6 million and the cop drama A Man Apart, which came in a No. 5 with $4.4 million. Horror newcomer House of 1,000 Corpses opened in seventh place with $3.4 million in limited theaters.
Even with Management‘s huge numbers, this weekend’s box office only jumped five percent from last weekend. Still, the film helped revive a four-week slump, which is a good sign that things may finally be picking up.
THE TOP TEN
Sony Pictures’ PG-13 Anger Management screamed its way to the top with an ESTIMATED $44.5 million in 3,551 theaters ($12,532 per theater).
The film’s strong opening makes it the best April opener of all time, beating out The Scorpion King, which opened in 2002 at $36 million. It’s also the best opening film for both its stars Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. Nicholson‘s best opening to date had been Batman, which hit theaters in 1989 and took in $40.5 million its first weekend, while Sandler‘s 1999 Big Daddy was his biggest at $41.5 million.
Management follows the exploits of a mild-mannered man who is mistakenly ordered into an anger management program to battle his inner demons–but it turns out the only real demon in his life is his unorthodox therapist.
Directed by Peter Segal, it stars Sandler, Nicholson, Marisa Tomei and John Turturro.
20th Century Fox’s R-rated Phone Booth called in at No. 2 with an ESTIMATED $7.5 million, dropping 50 percent from its top spot last week. The thriller about a man trapped in a phone booth by a homicidal sniper played at 2,489 theaters ($3,023 per theater) and its cume is approximately $26.6 million.
Directed by Joel Schumacher, it stars Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland and Forest Whitaker.
Slipping down a spot to third was Warner Bros.’ PG-rated What a Girl Wants with an ESTIMATED $6.7 million (-41%) at 2,964 theaters (+ 8 theaters, $2,260 per theater). The Teen Beat comedy, which follows a young American girl who heads to London in hopes of meeting the father she’s never known, a high-profile politician, has collected approximately $20.4 million thus far.
Directed by Dennie Gordon, it stars Amanda Bynes, Kelly Preston and Colin Firth.
Proving comedies are indeed the flavor of the year, Buena Vista’s PG-13 Bringing Down the House moved up one place to fourth with an ESTIMATED $4.6 million (-45%) at 2,830 theaters (-80 theaters, $1,625 per theater). Now in its sixth week, the laffer’s cume is approximately $117.7 million.
Directed by Adam Shankman, it stars Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.
New Line Cinema’s R-rated A Man Apart dropped a few notches to fifth place with an ESTIMATED $4.4 million (-60%) at 2,495 theaters (+36 theaters, $1,784 per theater). The cop drama–about a U.S. narcotics officer who takes on a Tijuana drug cartel to get retribution for the murder of his wife–has taken in approximately $18.2 million so far.
Directed by F. Gary Gray, it stars Vin Diesel and Larenz Tate.
DreamWorks’ PG-13 Head of State slid from No. 4 to No.6 with an ESTIMATED $4 million (-53%) at 2,256 theaters (+101 theaters, $1,773 per theater). Its cume is approximately $30.9 million.
Directed by and starring Chris Rock, the film also stars Bernie Mac, Lynn Whitfield, Robin Givens and Tamala Jones.
And for those horror fans–Lions Gate’s R-rated House of 1,000 Corpses debuted in seventh place with an ESTIMATED $3.4 million at 595 theaters ($5,714 per theater).
Set in the 1970s, the film revolves around two young couples who take a misguided tour onto the back roads of America and are set upon by a bizarre family of psychotics. Murder, cannibalism and satanic rituals are just a few of the thousand horrors that await.
Director by heavy-metal singer Rob Zombie, it stars Karen Black, Michael J. Pollard, Bill Moseley and Chris Hardwick.
*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.
Miramax Films’ PG-13 Chicago held onto eighth place with an ESTIMATED $3.29 million (-36%) at 2,114 theaters (-281 theaters, $1,556 per theater). Now in its 16th week, Miramax’s most profitable film has earned approximately $156.9 million.
Directed by Rob Marshall, it stars Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere.
Taking a dive three spots to dig in at No. 9, ,Paramount Pictures’ PG-13 The Core shoveled in an ESTIMATED $3.22 million (-48%) at 3,019 theaters ($1,068 per theater). The disaster thriller about saving the Earth by jumpstarting its core has made $25.6 million in three weeks.
Directed by Jon Amiel, it stars Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D.J. Qualls and Tcheky Karyo.
Also shaving off three spots to claim tenth place was Sony’s R-rated Basic, which came in with an ESTIMATED $2.2 million (-59%) at 2,246 theaters (-630 theaters, $980 per theater). Its cume is approximately $23.8 million.
Directed by John McTiernan, it stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Connie Nielsen.
OTHERS
Guess word of mouth counts for something. The critically acclaimed R-rated independent film Better Luck Tomorrow from Paramount Classics opened in 13 theaters with an ESTIMATED $398,489, averaging a very healthy $30,653 per theater.
The film plays on the story of straight-A, Asian-American teens in Southern California who, bored with their suburban lives, slide into petty crimes that lead to violence.
“These kids could be anybody,” Van Toffler, MTV president told AP. “It’s silly to underestimate the eclectic moviegoing tastes of our demographic. The cast doesn’t have to look or feel like them for them to want to see it.”
Directed by Justin Lin, it stars Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, John Cho and Karin Anna Cheung.
WEEKEND COMPARISONS
The Top 12 films this weekend grossed an ESTIMATED $ 86.9 million, up 5.76 percent from last week when they totaled $82.2 million. The Top 12 were also up 6.30 percent from last year when they totaled $81.7 million.
Last year, Paramount Pictures’ R-rated Changing Lanes opened in the top spot with $17.1 million at 2,613 theaters ($6,555 per theaters). The Panic Room came in No.2 with $10.6 million at 3,119 theaters ($3,405 per theater) while Sony’s The Sweetest Thing debuted in third with $9.4 million at 2,670 theaters ($3,532 per theater).
