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Box Office Analysis: Cash in the "Hat"
Box Office Analysis: Cash in the "Hat"
By
Hollywood.com Staff
|
Sunday, November 23, 2003
HOLLYWOOD - The Cat pulled a load of cash out of his Hat this weekend at the box office.Proving you can have fun if you know how, Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat thing-a-ma-jigged its way to No. 1, opening with a respectable $40.1 million*, but paled in comparison to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the previous Seuss' adaptation, which opened in 2000 with $55 million.Though mostly lambasted by film critics, The Cat in the Hat may hold up well through the holidays, Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. "Little kids, they want what they want, and they don't care about reviews," Dergarabedian said. "Parents do have some say in the decision, but most of the time they'll just go along with the kids." The ghostly Gothika also debuted strongly, taking second place with $19.6 million, while last week's No.1 Elf dropped to third with $19.1 million. The historical Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World captured the fourth spot with $15.2 million, and rounding the top five was the sweetly romantic Love Actually with $9.1 million.THE TOP TENUniversal Pictures' PG-rated Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat became box office champion on its opening weekend with an ESTIMATED $40.1 million at 3,265 theaters. Its $12,282 per theater average was the highest of any film opening wide this week.This colorful adaptation of the children's classic tale is about two kids visited on a rainy day by a six-foot talking Cat in an oversized red-striped Hat who shows them how to have fun.Directed by Bo Welch, it stars Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin, Kelly Preston, Alec Baldwin and Sean Hayes.Warner Bros.' R-rated spooky thriller Gothika took second place with an ESTIMATED $19.6 million at 2,382 theaters ($8,237 per theater).The story follows a criminal psychologist who finds herself in a nightmarish situation when she wakes up in a prison for the criminally insane without any memory of killing her husband. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, it stars Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Penelope Cruz and Bernard Hill.Last week's champ, New Line Cinema's PG-rated holiday comedy Elf dropped to third in its third week of release with an ESTIMATED $19.1 million (-27%) at 3,381 theaters (unchanged; $5,657 per theater). Its cume is approximately $95.1 million.Directed by Jon Favreau, it stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, Zooey Deschanel and Mary Steenburgen.Twentieth Century Fox's PG-13-rated naval epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World fell to the fourth spot in its second week with an ESTIMATED $15.2 million (-39%) at 3,101 theaters (unchanged; $4,902 per theater). Its cume is approximately 47.2 million.Directed by Peter Weir, it stars Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany.Universal Pictures' R-rated romantic comedy Love Actually actually jumped up a spot to No. 5 in its third week with an ESTIMATED $8.8 million (+5%) in 1,690 theaters (+513 theaters; $5,385 per theater). Its cume is approximately $30.8 million.Directed and written by Richard Curtis, it stars Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and Bill Nighy.*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.
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