Even though Will Ferrell has a built-in fan base, it wasn't enough to compel them to come and see the R-rated comedy "Semi-Pro" this weekend.
When considering it opened at 3,121 theaters, and was only able to garner $15.2 million, it was a real disaster for New Line Cinema, which was enfolded into Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) this week, being put under the wing of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It has to be a little bitter for New Line, being it's the last film they'll produce as an independent film company.
The average per venue ended up being an anemic $4,906. Ouch! That wasn't enough to beat another opener: "The Other Boleyn Girl," which managed an average of $7118 per venue.
This film never really got any buzz going, and Ferrell was conspiculously absent from the public eye during marketing. Even so, I don't think anything could have saved this film, only a good opener may have helped it do fairly well. They didn't even get that out of it. I think Ferrell has lost some future stock here. We'll se if that's true when his next film "Step Brothers" comes out.
Placing second this week was "Vantage Point," which was able to hold stronger than I thought it would, and only dropped by 43 percent, taking in a surprising $13 million. That brings its total take to $41 million so far. There solid start last week should help them make back the $40 million it cost to produce.
The third place finish by "The Spiderwick Chronicles" was good news, although it won't help them make back the hefty cost of $95 million to make the film. So far it has taken in $55.1 million.
Still, the $8.8 million it took in was only a 33 percent drop, showing that it does have some legs to it, and may perform decently for two or three more weeks. It'll struggle to make back its costs domestically, but it should do pretty good overseas and on DVD.
In contast to Semi-Pro, "The Other Boleyn Girl" was highly marketed, and you saw actresses Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson everywhere before the launch of the film. It paid off pretty good, as their fourth place finish this weekend was impressive in that it far outperformed any other film per venue, averaging $7,118. That allowed it to bring in $8.3 million.
Sony (NYSE: SNE) is probably kicking themselves for not opening this to a larger number of venues, as it would have easily outdistanced Semi-Pro for the No. 1 spot. It still surprised me that it did as well as it did. We'll see if it holds strongly next weekend, or the marketing alone carried the numbers for the opener.
The Oscar win by "No Country For Old Men" helped rejuvenate the film, as it surged back into the top ten, finishing in the ninth spot. Miramax increased the venue count to reward the picture, and it paid off, as they brought in $4 million to climb up from the No. 12 spot they held last week.
With another slow weekend, this continues to bring the numbers down in comparison to last year. It'll only get worse, as this time last year "300" opened to about $70 million, which will make next weeks' box office look weak as well.
That was the problem when Hollywood threw everything they had last year at the box office. The problem is what can they do for an encore. It seems the answer so far this year is - nothing.
| 1 | Semi-Pro | $15,200,000 |
| 2 | Vantage Point | $13,000,000 |
| 3 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | $8,752,000 |
| 4 | The Other Boleyn Girl | $8,300,000 |
| 5 | Jumper | $7,600,000 |
| 6 | Step Up 2 the Streets | $5,714,000 |
| 7 | Fool's Gold | $4,690,000 |
| 8 | Penelope | $4,006,000 |
| 9 | No Country for Old Men | $4,005,000 |
| 10 | Juno | $3,350,000 |
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