Weekend Boxoffice Chart

[Evil Avatar]

The lucrative summer moviegoing season suffered its worst start in years on Sunday, as the costly Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven crawled into the No. 1 slot at the North American weekend box office with meager ticket sales of just $20 million.

Here is the Weekend Boxoffice Chart for the weekend of May 7th to May 9th.


Kingdom of Heaven $20.0/$20.0
House of Wax $12.2/$12.2
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy $9.1/$35.1
Crash $9.1/$9.1
The Interpreter $7.5/$54.0
XXX: State of the Union $5.4/$20.7
The Amityville Horror $3.1/$60.1
Sahara $3.1/$61.3
A Lot Like Love $3.0/$18.7
Fever Pitch $2.0/$39.0
Kung Fu Hustle $1.1/$14.6
Guess Who $1.1/$67.0

[bapenguin]

Technically the summer blockbuster season is supposed to start Memorial day. It's just too early to get people to bite on these big movies, it's too nice out to go to the movies most places.

[KarmaGhost]

What a terrible weekend for the boxoffice. What do you guys think is going wrong (considering bapenguin has given his $.02)?

[Hieremias]

Kingdom of Heaven was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Visually spectacular, interesting story, rich background. Loved it.

[Sinistar]

hey Bap, this past weekend WAS the official start to the summer block busters. It seems that the studios unified this about 3-4 years ago - launching big movies 2 weeks before Memorial Day weekend.

Any while this was the start of the big season it looks like very few people showed up.

And for a reply to KarmaGhost - I think the major issue with the box office dissapoinments are that we aren't seeing anything new/different. We're being fed bad popcorn movies. House of Wax pulled in 12 million - that's an abomination!

[Deadend]

Kingdom of Heaven was boring, and quite predictable, and the battles were kind of underwhelming.

[agentgray]

Guess Who? Is that based on the kid's game?

"That's what you get when you play Guess Who!"

[bapenguin]

hey Bap, this past weekend WAS the official start to the summer block busters. It seems that the studios unified this about 3-4 years ago - launching big movies 2 weeks before Memorial Day weekend.

Any while this was the start of the big season it looks like very few people showed up.

Interesting...I used to work at a movie theater back in high school, so didn't know they actually agreed to change this. It's dumb on their part because of the previous reasons I said. not only on top of that, a lot of kids are still in school and whatnot, which helps contribute to lack of sales right now.

[PacerDawn]

It's not that people aren't going to movies, it's that they are saving their cash to see Land of the Dead (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/land_of_the_dead/ ) at the end of the summer...

*drool*

[chronocrash]

almost everyting in the top 12 is cliche. but something tells me cliches sell better than anything else. i'm waiting for the market to fall out of the movie business like it's done in the music business. because, in my opinion, i've been finally hearing some of the best bands/artists coming out on the indie labels now that the major labels are choking on the crap they push.
indie fo' life, b*tches.
(happy bday to me.)

[Roc Ingersol]

Crappy movies. A month ago they were leading last years receipts.

[screwtape]

Kingdom of Heaven was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Visually spectacular, interesting story, rich background. Loved it.
I found the movie to be the exact opposite of almost everything you said. I agree it was visually spectacular, but everything else was sorely lacking.

[zyzyx]

Hopefully this signifies a rebellion of sorts against the utter crap that Hollywood has been spoon feeding us in the last few years. People are bored of cynical sequels, battlefield "epics" and bastardised Hollywood remakes. At least I hope they are.

Watched Mean Creek this week. Exceptional work.

[chronocrash]

To be fair, I don't see it as Hollywood being total bastards. I mean, they're trying to make money, and for the longest time, crap has been making money, so I mean, I blame the people that continue to support the crap. But I supose it's a matter of opinion. It's just that the opinions are wrong.

and Mean Creek was very good.

[serion]

None of these strike me as the least bit interesting, sadly. In fact, the only movie I'm looking forward to at all is Serenity in September.

Come on, Hollywood, get your act together!

[DeadPixel]

I wanted to see Kingdom, but I just cannot stand Orlando Bloom. He really bugs me. I think he lucked out with the Legolas part, but being in a leading role so soon, especially in epic movies?

Most overrated actor EVAR - Comic book guy...

[Drinking_Buddy]

I think I'll go catch Sin City again.

[Racknahm]

I liked Kingdom of Heaven. I didn't think it was as bad as it was made out to be. It's not some great movie, but it's enjoyable.

This Land of the Dead which was mentioned intrigues me. George Romero making another zombie movie? I must see it.

[Spigot]

Kung Fu Hustle was awesome. Thankfully they didn't do to it what they did for the NA release of Shaolin Soccer... *cringe*

[Cubfan]

Its not whether Kingdom of Heaven was a good or bad movie, that's irrelevant to many mainstream moviegoers, they'll see anything as long as the trailer sucks 'em in. Its the fact that its another period epic, ala Braveheart, Gladiator, Troy, and even Lord of the Rings, and its starring... Orlando Bloom of all people. I think even the average Joe can only stomach so many epic battles, inspirational speeches, and the like. Go down the rest of the list of movies, and the trend bears through. A couple of mindless action movies, two ill-advised horror remakes, a pair of cliched hollywood romances, and just a handful of decent movies- movies that aren't going to draw a large audience. I think I will go catch Sin City again.

[Scull]

Despite my reservations, I am looking forward to SWEIII, if for no other reason than to conclude the slaughter of a beloved franchise. It's good to see the HHGTTG still up there, even if it was a lackluster movie.

[net7runner]

I haven't seen KoH, so I'm just curious as to how they actually portray the crusades. Do they glorify them, paint Salladin and his army as evil god-less evil-doing evil men? Are the knights "good" because they're retaking the holy land? When they take control of Jerusalem, do the knight go on a killing rampage (that included women and children) and fill the streets with blood, like some accounts?

From the trailer, it looked like they didn't, but I haven't seen the movie, so I'm asking. I'm just a little perplexed at the choice of subject considering the crusades' history of both success and humanitarianism (or lack thereof of both of them)...

[Adewade]

I saw a brief interview with Ridley Scott about it, and he said that, like all war movies done properly, Kingdom of Heaven is an anti-war film, albeit with glorified characters. He likened it in that area to Black Hawk Down.

[Hieremias]

I haven't seen KoH, so I'm just curious as to how they actually portray the crusades. Do they glorify them, paint Salladin and his army as evil god-less evil-doing evil men? Are the knights "good" because they're retaking the holy land? When they take control of Jerusalem, do the knight go on a killing rampage (that included women and children) and fill the streets with blood, like some accounts?

From the trailer, it looked like they didn't, but I haven't seen the movie, so I'm asking. I'm just a little perplexed at the choice of subject considering the crusades' history of both success and humanitarianism (or lack thereof of both of them)...
Actually Saladin is portrayed as an extremely honourable, intelligent man. The muslim forces as a whole are basically treated as a force of nature, not a horde of rampaging barbarians. The real conflict is between various factions among the Europeans. If you have a political or religious agenda, and insist that one side of the crusades was pure and holy while the other side were mindless killers, you won't like the movie. But then history was not so simple either.

It's a fantasy story, no mistake about that. The good characters are virtuous to a fault, and the bad characters have no redeeming qualities at all. A blacksmith becomes the defender of Jerusalem--which may seem silly to some, but then the city was built by a shepherd-turned-king, so it does fit. The script is excellent for what it intends to do; namely, present a fantasy tale with a sort of mystical quality set on the backdrop of history. I cannot see how people can criticize KoH on the script and yet accept Lord of the Rings. Both were excellent. KoH, especially, is not a wordy movie, the lines are kept short and to the point, with very few wasted words. Scott knows that the star of the show is the visual style and the setting, so he allows the viewer to take it in without a lot of talking overriding it. I appreciated that.

Orlando wouldn't be my first choice for the actor, and he is overexposed in Hollywood (especially historical epics). He's certainly not as good as Russell Crowe in Gladiator, but he's not terrible in this, he carries his own weight. And this is not a movie that stands or falls on the performance of one. The supporting cast, like Jeremy Irons and David Thewlyn, are excellent.

And if every other facet of the movie is only average, the visual impact alone is worth the ticket price. The movie is gorgeous to see, with some of the most incredible shots I've ever seen on film. There's not a director on earth that can rival Ridley Scott's visual grandeur.

And I for one love a good historical epic--not the shitty MTV ones like Troy, or the airheaded artsy ones like Alexander. Braveheart, Gladiator, and Kingdom of Heaven are among my favourites, I don't get tired of them. It's funny that the people who bitch about rehashed Hollywood dreck will pay through the nose for some idiotic zombie movie coming out later this summer. Give me a break.

[protojack]

I went with a group from work to see House of Wax in the Showcase Theater (on The Strip on a friday night, so it was packed). Complete garbage, but the house erupted with cheers when Paris Hilton was killed. It was still not worth the price of admission but it was a great moment.


I considered marking the spoiler, but then I realized that nobody in this forum wants to see this movie.

[dr_qwandry]

protojack EVERYBODY knows that Paris Hilton dies in the movie. It seems that may have been an angle for them considering the fact that the info was released about a month ago. So don't worry about spoilers.

I remember when Dark Castle made moderatly (although cliched) good horror films. When you look at their movies you will see that they get progressively worse and worse. Also, they used to come out with movie on October 24 (my birthday) the week before halloween (my mother's birthday). Well Dark Castle i'm pretty sure that Mr.Castle is rolling in his grave for taking his innovative idea's (and marketing) and decided to take a hot steaming dump on them

[Ervin]

I thought KoH was ok. I did however enjoy the bashing religion and blind faith got in it. Pope got his share as well. Quite daring movie in that sense, I think, considering how vocal the religious conservatives are nowadays.

[Jabbo]

What a terrible weekend for the boxoffice. What do you guys think is going wrong (considering bapenguin has given his $.02)?


Well, look at the list. Who really wanted to see a single one of these godforsaken turds? There isn't a movie on that list that I wouldn't rather chew my own left arm off rather than sit through, much less pay to sit through. Combine the stunning lack of originality and quality with the horrendous movie theater ticket prices and even more horrendous behavior of the slack-jawed clientele in the theaters (cell phones, screaming kids, and incessant talking during the movie), and it's a wonder that any of them turned a buck at all.

Of course, if you ask the MPAA, it's because of all the BT pirates. What's sad about that list of dead-on-arrival movies is that there's not even one I'd waste the bandwidth to download.