Considering the terrible reviews the film got, Hancock, starring Will Smith, performed pretty strongly, even though it was helped primarily by the Fourth of July weekend which always generates a strong box office. Hancock finished the three-day weekend drawing a respectable $66 million.
The holiday weekend, economy, plus Smith's loyal fan base helped make this film not another disaster like another Fourth of July release starring Smith: Wild Wild West.
Since it's opening Tuesday, the film has already garnered $107.3 million for the five days. With Hellboy II targeting the same demographic next weekend, we'll probably see the film drop quickly. But with only a $150 million investment, it should do well for Sony (NYSE: SNE) overall. They probably were pleasantly surprised by the opening five-day numbers.
In what was a real surprise, possibly losing some viewers to Hancock, was the all by Wall-E, which dropped by 47 percent from last weekend, to finish No. 2. Part of that was also from the Friday the Fourth of July fell on this year. It finished the weekend with $33.4 million; less than expected. Usually these types of films hold much stronger during the summer.
Part of the other problem is the great success it enjoyed in the opener, which created the challenge of performing very strong in its second frame. This is by no means a disaster, but lower than expected numbers.
The precipitous drop of Wanted surprised some people, but it was about what I had expected. While it finished third place for the weekend, it dropped a huge 60 percent, ensuring it will plunge again next week. Since it cost $75 million to make, and has generated $90.8 million so far, Universal will take those numbers any time.
Wanted probably suffered even more in the way Wall-E did, because it truly outperformed last week, drawing $50.9 million it's opening weekend. No one was going to bring their children to see the film, guaranteeing the results over the holiday weekend.
This film will also suffer next weekend with the introduction of Hellboy II, which also competes in the same demographic.
Its third-place finish brought in another $20.6 million for Universal.
Overall, this Fourth of July was down from last year, slowing down the surge the last several weekends enjoyed. We'll probably see lower numbers again next weekend, as they'll compete with last year's Harry Potter.
Top ten for the weekend:
| 1 | Hancock | $66,000,000 |
| 2 | Wall-E | $33,417,000 |
| 3 | Wanted | $20,607,000 |
| 4 | Get Smart | $11,125,000 |
| 5 | Kung Fu Panda | $7,500,000 |
| 6 | The Incredible Hulk | $4,975,000 |
| 7 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | $3,940,000 |
| 8 | Kit Kittredge: An American Girl | $3,601,000 |
| 9 | Sex and the City | $2,340,000 |
| 10 | You Don't Mess with the Zohan | $2,000,000 |
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If that is fairly I such from Hancock did not expect!
Posted by: Bernard Lavilliers | July 8, 2008 3:01 AM | Permalink to Comment