Box Office Report: 2-4-07

Dude here again. writing to you on this Superbowl Sunday. I'm sure the... team of one city is going to dominate the team of another city. But don't discount that other team, they could prove to be the underdogs we never expected. And if this were a movie, they would wait until the last minute to finally overcome the dominant team. Ok, truth is, I don't give a damn about any sporting event that doesn't involve the Mets. Seriously. My godson could have a little league game and I wouldn't care. Unless his team was called The Mets. Which I think his dad would approve of.

(I know his Dad would NEVER let his son be on a team called the Yankees, and if he did, well, it might be time to seriously re-evaluate our friendship).

This weekend, lower numbers prevailed, as only two new movies opened up, and too many people are caring about the Stanley Cup tonight. In a surprise to anyone who has never read one of my columns, a horror movie took the top spot. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates, the actuals will be available on Monday. Just to prove me wrong).

1. The Messengers (ScrGems)- $14.5, 2528 screens, week 1, $14.5 total

2. Because I Said So (Uni) - $13.0, 2526 screens, week 1, $13.0 total

3. Epic Movie (Fox) - $8.2, 2840 screens, week 2, $29.369 total

4. Night At The Museum (Fox) - $6.75, 3003 screens, week 7, $225.365 total

5. Smokin Aces (Uni) - $6.3, 2219 screens, week 2, $24.955 total

6. Stomp The Yard (Scr Gems) - $4.2, 2169 screens, week 4, $56.0 total

7. Dreamgirls (Par/DW)- $4.0, 2797 screens, week 8, $92.795 total

8. Pan's Labyrinth (PicHse) - $3.66, 1082 screens, week 6, $21.696 total

9. The Pursuit of Happyness (Sony) - $3.1, 2233 screens, week 8, $157.35 total

10. The Queen (Mir) - $2.7, 1850 screens, week 19, $45.5 total

Ok, those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that nobody really cared about going to the movies this weekend, opting to spend time with their friends and enjoy the soccer match. The Messengers, another of the PG-13 Ghost House flicks that Sam Raimi produces, once again made some coin, providing the low budget affair with enough coin to keep the cycle going for years to come. (That reminds me, I think Boogeyman 2 is coming out next year, featuring Tobin Bell from Saw).

(Off topic, the word "Boogeyman" is recognized by my spell-check program. What a strange word to include in that dictionary.)

Because I Said So, my award for dumbest title of the year, took in a surprising $13 million estimated. I'm sensing that a lot of analysts will attribute this to a largely female audience that doesn't care for the World Polo finals. (I have to keep the gag going, folks, deal with it). This number might actually increase if what I just wrote turns out to be true, but given the poor reviews, I don;t think there's much hope for this flick.

The Academy Awards... blah blah blah... Dreamgirls... ramble ramble ramble...The Queen... etc... Pan will rule your world... Epic Movie and Night at the Museum...WHY!

And in the "Because It's There" series: Breaking and Entering took in $15,400 on 2 screens, bringing it's grand total to $47,600 in 8 weeks.

There you have my break down. Next week, we see if Eddie Murphy can single handedly ruin his Oscar chances with a movie that looks even more terrible than Epic Movie, if you can believe that

Until next weekend....