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Box Office Analysis, Jan. 23: ‘Underworld’ Sucks Life Out of Competition
HOLLYWOOD - The action-packed vampire flick Underworld: Evolution snagged the top spot at the North American box office this weekend, debuting with $27.6 million.
The blood-drenched thriller, which stars Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, edged out last weekend's winning animated fare Hoodwinked, which dropped to second place with $11 million, as well as Jerry Bruckheimer's basketball drama Glory Road and the Queen Latifah laffer Last Holiday, which ranked third and fourth with $9.1 million each.
Last week's Golden Globe-winning films, meanwhile, saw significant boosts at the box office, including director Ang Lee's gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain, which rounded out the Top Five with $7.8 million. Winners Walk the Line, Capote and Transamerica also saw rises in box office numbers.
"The Golden Globes are now a force to be reckoned with in terms of the box office bump they provide," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. "We've never really seen a Globes bump like this."
The Top 12 films grossed an estimated total of $97 million, up nearly 17 percent from last year's draw of $82.9 million but down 4.84 percent from last weekend’s total of $101.9 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Sony Pictures’ PG-rated Are We There Yet?, which opened at No. 1 with $18.5 million in 2,709 theaters, averaging $6,857 per theater; Paramount’s PG-13 Coach Carter, which dropped to second place in its second week with $10.5 million in 2,552 theaters, averaging $4,133 per theater; and Universal’s PG-13 Meet the Fockers, which dropped to third place in its fifth week with $9.6 million in 3,446 theaters, averaging $2,810 per theater. (Click here to read last year's box office report)
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Underworld: Evolution (Sony, R)
• Gross: $27.6 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,207
• Per-theater average: $8,606
No. 2: Hoodwinked (Weinstein Co., PG)
• Gross: $11 million (-11%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,002 (+608)
• Per-theater average: $3,667
• Cume to date: $29.3 million
No. 3: Glory Road (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $9.13 million (-33%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,396
• Per-theater average: $3,813
No. 4: Last Holiday (Paramount Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $9.1 million (-29%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,514 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,620
No. 5: Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features, R)
• Gross: $7.8 million (+35%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 1,196 (+513)
• Per-theater average: $6,548
• Cume to date: $42.1 million
No. 6: Fun with Dick and Jane (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.1 million (-30%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,826 (-413)
• Per-theater average: $2,159
• Cume to date: $101.7 million
No. 7: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista, PG)
• Gross: $6 million (-40%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 2,757 (-467)
• Per-theater average: $2,201
• Cume to date: $271.6 million
No. 8: Hostel (Lionsgate, R)
• Gross: $4.3 million (-57%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,258 (-79)
• Per-theater average: $1,904
• Cume to date: $42.7 million
No. 9: The New World (New Line, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.25 million
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 811 (+811)
• Per-theater average: $5,240
• Cume to date: $4.4 million
No. 10: End of the Spear (Rocky Mountain Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $4.22 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,162
• Per-theater average: $3,636
OTHER OPENINGS
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (Warner Indie, PG-13)
• Gross: $455,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 161
• Per-theater average: $2,826
Why We Fight (Sony Pictures Classics, PG-13)
• Gross: $58,028
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 6
• Per-theater average: $9,671
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