HOLLYWOOD - FRIDAY 4:00 p.m. (Pacific): Sex and the City (Warner Brothers) is out-performing even the most optimistic of box office forecasts. The estrogen-fueled reunion of Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes, in their first big screen adventure, is nothing short of a phenomenon.
Over 1,100 of the film's 3,285 locations offered 12:01 am screenings Thursday night, and there were a significant number of sellouts. Warner Bros tells me that Sex and the City sold at least $2.5M in tickets at midnight preview screenings. Sex and the City started on HBO a decade ago, and it took some time to make the transition to the big screen with writer/director Michael Patrick King at the helm. Despite more than a smattering of disapproval from critics (54 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), the movie is a remarkable "2 Quadrant Blockbuster," scoring with Females Under 25 and Females 25 Plus.
My final prediction was for $35M, but my sources tell me that I undershot the weekend total for Sex and the City. The movie has a real shot at $20M for Opening Day (including Thursday 12:01a screenings), but the film is likely to be very front-loaded, meaning that it will dip on Saturday and dip again on Sunday. One competing studio exec has told me that the weekend total is likely to start with a four, as in $40M+.
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