Weekend Boxoffice Chart

[Evil Avatar]

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith beat two strong newcomers to remain the top movie with $70.75 million over the long Memorial Day weekend, though Hollywood again failed to climb out of a prolonged revenue decline.

Here is the Weekend Boxoffice Chart for the weekend of May 27th to May 29th.


Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith $55.1/$255.5
The Longest Yard $48.1/$48.1
Madagascar $47.1/$47.1
Monster-in-Law $9.2/$58.9
Kicking and Screaming $4.8/$42.4
Crash $4.7/$34.8
The Interpreter $2.1/$68.7
Unleashed $1.8/$21.4
Kingdom of Heaven $1.6/$44.4
House of Wax $1.2/$29.5

[DeadPixel]

Has anyone seen Madagascar? It looks pretty funny, but I'm not sure if I should wait for the DVD.

[Tricky Thumb]

I don't see how they're strong newcomers, those movies are garnering pretty bad reviews for the most part.

[Kelegacy]

Longest yard is the reason remakes SHOULDNT be done. If you are a fan of shallow movies that you can take your girl to so you can fingerbang her during the shitty parts, you're liable to get carpal tunnel with this one.

[pomeroy]

... so you can fingerbang her during the shitty parts...

Sooo classy.

[Kelegacy]

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith beat two strong newcomers to remain the top movie with $70.75 million over the long Memorial Day weekend, though Hollywood again failed to climb out of a prolonged revenue decline.

If you look at the amount of trash that trickles into the theatres each week...then you can see why people have stopped going.

Hollywood can blame the internet and piracy all they want...but I dont think that's the problem. Shitty summer blockbusters and lackluster sequels that are created just to cash in really hurt too. The great movies are never given enough face time (until the Oscars, and even then it's iffy)

I havent been to the theater in about 2 years. Great movies have been released that I wanted to see, but i never went. It's expensive and two hours out with a date is like an entire week's worth of groceries (or more!) for me. It's insane.

[Kagger]

I never saw the original, but I thought the Longest Yard was funny. Awards, heck no, enjoyable, yes.

[splatstick]

Sooo classy.

This is the reason I love Evil Avatar. :D

[Hieremias]

If you look at the amount of trash that trickles into the theatres each week...then you can see why people have stopped going.

I would say this same statement, except the "trash" I'd refer to would be the people, not the movies. Going to a theatre is a painful experience now, with every idiot kid or nerd or redneck yelling at the theatre or talking or kicking your seat. Either it's gotten much worse in recent years or I'm just becomming more sensitive to it, but either way I now make a conscious effort to plan my trips to the movies when they won't be crowded, or just skip the theatre experience altogether.

If I were running a cinema I'd increase everyone's ticket price by 50 cents to pay for a bouncer in every theatre, and I'd advertise that I'm doing such. Throw the assholes out and I'm sure you'd get a larger overall audience.

[Kelegacy]

I would say this same statement, except the "trash" I'd refer to would be the people, not the movies. Going to a theatre is a painful experience now, with every idiot kid or nerd or redneck yelling at the theatre or talking or kicking your seat. Either it's gotten much worse in recent years or I'm just becomming more sensitive to it, but either way I now make a conscious effort to plan my trips to the movies when they won't be crowded, or just skip the theatre experience altogether.

If I were running a cinema I'd increase everyone's ticket price by 50 cents to pay for a bouncer in every theatre, and I'd advertise that I'm doing such. Throw the assholes out and I'm sure you'd get a larger overall audience.

haha, yeah I forgot to mention that too. I cant stand high school kids laughing or talking through a movie, reeking like potsmoke. Yes, i was one of those kids in past years, but now i just want to break the little turds' necks.

I hate people. And people go to the movies. Thus I dont go to the movies because I see people. It's a compound problem.

[Dirty Harry]

haha, yeah I forgot to mention that too. I cant stand high school kids laughing or talking through a movie, reeking like potsmoke. Yes, i was one of those kids in past years, but now i just want to break the little turds' necks.

I hate people. And people go to the movies. Thus I dont go to the movies because I see people. It's a compound problem.
so you eat on like 40 dollars a week, thats three meals a day, so what do you just eat mr noodle every other day and eat decent food?.

[KarmaGhost]

... so you can fingerbang her during the shitty parts...Sooo classy.Just like school on Sunday...

Anyway, I submit that while the 2nd and 3rd highest grossing movies this week got poor reviews, this was certainly a very strong weekend for the movies. Let's see how long this lasts...

[Visitor Q]

This whole movie business works against itself. People who like movies say they don't go because there is only shit in theaters. And the idiots who don't care watch the dumbest movies out there, which puts them at the top of the box office charts. Studios, seeing that the highest grossing movies are idiotic crap continue to produce idiotic crap because they make whatever sells.
And forget anyone who would rather watch a movie on dvd or HDDVD of blueray or whatever crap they're going to push on us next. I don't care how big your plasma screen is, or what resolution. It will never compare to film on the bigscreen.

[mulligan]

i usually go to the movies at 5:00 pm.. on a monday... a few weeks after the movie opening, no lines, no kids, no making out couples... movie heaven.

[Morrolan]

I listen to reviews for dramas. I listen to reviews for action movies. I do not, under any circumstances, listen to reviews for comedies. Reviewers are, in many cases, completely without a sense of humor.

I thought The Longest Yard was funny.

[BleedTheFreak]

I listen to reviews for dramas. I listen to reviews for action movies. I do not, under any circumstances, listen to reviews for comedies. Reviewers are, in many cases, completely without a sense of humor.

I thought The Longest Yard was funny.

It was pretty funny. I really liked the original, but it's humor was a bit.. dark. One gag in the original was when a clothesline by the big polish guy broke a guards neck. "I think I broke his neck!" and then everyone chimed in with "I think he broke his neck!" until it was declared the guys neck was in fact broken. Funny. In the new one, he shits his pants instead. "I think I made him shit himself!" Vulgar, sure, but much funnier than breaking his neck. Though it's still hard for me to root for convicts who landed in maximum security prison. Really. ;) Sandler was lots of fun and it's probably worth matinee prices.

[RMan]

Well, I think the fact that people's home theater equipment is much better plays into it as well. I kinda feel like the movie theater experience is nice, but not the draw it used to be, so it’s mostly about whether or not I want to wait the extra 4 months to watch it at home, and for all but one or two movies a year I can handle the wait.

[dr_qwandry]

Ebert and Roepert saying that Madagascar would have been better if the lion atually at the other characters

ahhh
good times.

[Abash Alarmist]

I just saw Hitchhiker's Guide recently...and I was amazed at how awesome that movie was. "Hello Ground!"

[Rommel]

The number 3 movie opened with 50 million dollars and it was a bad weekend. Hmph. No wonder no one likes Hollywood.

[Zanzibar]

Has anyone seen Madagascar? It looks pretty funny, but I'm not sure if I should wait for the DVD.

Depends on what you're looking for from your CG entertainment. It ain't 'The Incredibles' or 'Toy Story'. It's DEFINITELY geared towards younger kids. It has several VERY funny moments (the Penguins commit grand larceny every time they're on screen by stealing the show), but it's probably not worth full movie price.

Matinee? Maybe. DVD definitely.

[bradlay]

The number 3 movie opened with 50 million dollars and it was a bad weekend. Hmph. No wonder no one likes Hollywood.

Hey look! An angry white person!

[Chagrinful]

Its great to see a powerful and important movie still anywhere on there(Crash #6) although its a damned shame it's not bigger, ah well I guess thats what makes america, america always with the blinders on.

[Furious Wang]

I just saw Hitchhiker's Guide recently...and I was amazed at how awesome that movie was. "Hello Ground!"

You're joking, right?

[ttoastt]

^^
Your opinion is different from mine, and therefore you're an idiot!

[Grimgrock]

Personally, I am glad that Hollywood movies are doing so "poorly". Perhaps this will eventually result in a quality over quantity effect. I dream of the day we have less of the "Sorority Boys" type movies and more of the "Collateral" type movie. Of course, my examples here are personal choices.

[Rommel]

Yes, Collateral was fantastic. But how is that not Hollywood? I was more concerned with the dislike of the attitude than their product.

[Furious Wang]

^^
Your opinion is different from mine, and therefore you're an idiot!

Well I wouldn't go that far. But let me tell you something, I can pick up the HHGTTG books for the billionth time and drop the book over and over from laughing so hard. I didn't laugh at the movie once. Not once. Not even a smile. I don't know what it was. I just have no clue how they made a film that horrible. Maybe it was the casting or the editing or the narrator or the soundtrack I dunno. The whole thing just made me sick.

[screwtape]

Well I wouldn't go that far. But let me tell you something, I can pick up the HHGTTG books for the billionth time and drop the book over and over from laughing so hard. I didn't laugh at the movie once. Not once. Not even a smile. I don't know what it was. I just have no clue how they made a film that horrible. Maybe it was the casting or the editing or the narrator or the soundtrack I dunno. The whole thing just made me sick.
I enjoyed HHGTTG. Wasn't fantastic, but it was amusing enough to make it worth my seven bucks. My buddy, on the other hand, didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did. He's read the books multiple times, and I have never read the books. Perhaps I enjoyed it because I didn't know what it was "supposed" to be.

Oh, and I'm sick of Adam Sandler. Really, really sick of Adam Sandler.

[anakin876]

As regards to the Hitchhiker's movie:
I've read the books many times as well - and I found the movie to be entertaining. However, I do believe You have to be able to divorce yourself from the mental imagery that is created by reading the books many many times in order to appreciate the movie at all. Those who have read the books many times are the worst possible people to ask about the movie - all they can talk about is how it did not meet their standards. By readin the books so many times they've created a purely subjective and individualized standard that would be impossible to live up to - because every single person's standards are different.

[Abash Alarmist]

Not exactly true. Look at LOTR. I am sure that individuals have read these books thousands of times in the past, but there is a general consesus movies are the best book-to-movie translation for something so epic. I personally think that the LOTR movies are amazing, and are actually some of the best movies that I have ever seen. But that is just me, I suppose.

[Reanimated]

I have several problems with going to the theatre that hold me back most of the time.

1. Idiots. They're everywhere and they're unavoidable. Talkers, seat kickers, fatasses, people who can't figure out that they should piss BEFORE the movie, people who walk in 20 minutes late, people who feel the need crinkle their candy bag for 20 minutes, people who answer their phone during the movie... I mean I could go on all day.

2. Kids. People who take their small children to the theatre should be shot in the face.

3. Shitty picture and/or sound and intemperate theatres. Half the time I go to the Regal 18, I end up in one of the large theatres where they haven't bothered to replace 2 or 3 speakers that have gone out... or there's some problem with the screen that has gone ignored. Not to mention the fact that there is no digital cinema here, which in the year 2005 seems like a fucking tragedy. These problems, of course, are all in addition to the fact that I have rarely walked into a theatre where the temperature was a comfortable 68-72 degrees. No sir, it's always either 85 or 50... so you're either freezing your ass off or stripping down to your undies.

4. No digital cinemas. I know I already said this, but it's really a goddamn injustice in a city this large. The nearest digital cinema is 2 hours away.



I mean I could go on forever. My home movie watching experience is just FAR superior to going to the theatre. I know that when I'm at home I'm guaranteed the best sound and visual experience because I have a kick ass home theatre setup. I know that it's going to be quiet in my house. I know the thermostat will be set right. Best of all, I know that the only idiots I'll ever have to deal with are the ones that I invite over.

Why doesn't Hollywood come up with an On Demand system for new release movies? I would pay the ticket price for the ability to order a new release from my couch and have 24 hours to watch it. They do it for Pay Per View movies, so why not do it for new releases? The rampant piracy will continue as long as there is no alternative. And sure, it will continue afterwards, but at least you've given the honest people an out.

[darkwarrior]

Kids.

Parents made the choice to have kids so its not fair that everyone is forced to suffer when you bring your snarling, screeching brats/babies into a film and you can't control them or don't bother to. We made the choice to not have them at all/yet or are too young to and we want to watch the film.


It also isn't funny to throw shit. I dunno who thinks paying £5 for a ticket to watcha bunch of trailers and then spending your time dicking about for the duration was a wise investment.

[Zanzibar]

Not exactly true. Look at LOTR. I am sure that individuals have read these books thousands of times in the past, but there is a general consesus movies are the best book-to-movie translation for something so epic. I personally think that the LOTR movies are amazing, and are actually some of the best movies that I have ever seen. But that is just me, I suppose.

While in principle I agree with you - that LOTR is the best book-to-movie translation EVER - you'll still find hardcore people that are so beholden to their own mental imagery that they can only be disappointed that their 'true' vision isn't put on the screen. I hadn't read the books for 10 years prior to the LOTR movies, so I was amazed at how good they were. But some friends of mine (arch-geeks) wanted to see Tom Bombadil etc. etc. etc and other minor stuff that I had completely forgotten about.

HHGG, however, would be a nearly impossible feat to faithfully recreate the best moments of the book in any kind of coherent form. Why? Because the best moments are almost always delivered in narrative. It's Adams' prose style that is hilarious, not the actions itself. His asides/footnotes are what really drive the entire HHG series. The entire gag about the tea was entirely unfunny in the movie because they didn't connect it later with the entire ship's computer becoming inoperative because it was busy calculating out how to make tea.

Best HHG moment, for me, is the description of the Kill-O-Zap gun. Arthur and Ford, our heroes, are cornered by a guard with a gun. He points it at them, and Adams describes it:

"Turn around slowly," barked the voice, "and put your hands up. Any other move and I blast you into tiny tiny bits."
"Hello?" said Ford, turning round slowly, putting his hands up and not making any other move.
"Why," said Arthur Dent, "isn't anyone ever pleased to see us?"
Standing silhouetted in the doorway through which they had entered the vault was the man who wasn't pleased to see them. His displeasure was communicated partly by the barking hectoring quality of his voice and partly by the viciousness with which he waved a long silver Kill-O-Zap gun at them. The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. "Make it evil," he'd been told. "Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with."
Ford and Arthur looked at the gun unhappily.


The last word, of course, is the punch line, and the entire paragraph before would have been incomplete without it. How do you translate something like that into a movie? You can't. That's what makes Adams a genius.

Anyone who hasn't read the books: Go do it and don't waste your time with the movie. Hell, for the cost of seeing the movie you could buy it in paperback, and it'll give you days of enjoyment instead of a coupla hours.

[PacerDawn]

...though Hollywood again failed to climb out of a prolonged revenue decline.
I think the fact that they are pricing themselves out of the average family budget might have something to do with that. Matinee, popcorn, drink, candy =~ $20 per person to go to a single show for 2 hours of entertainment. And even the entertainment part is moot since the movie could very well suck hard. It's far cheaper to rent (or even BUY) the DVD. The fact that movies are currently going through a decline in revenue shouldn't be a "huh?", it should be a "duh".

[NACIONAL]

i support the version that says the decline is all about the crappy movies... well when i say crappy i say FUCKING BAD!...

House of Wax?.. come on!

[bradlay]

House of Wax?.. come on!

Yeah, encouraging Paris Hilton to act is no way to reverse a box office trend. They're fucking desperate.

[danhoo]

My personal favorite types of folks that make going to the movies fun:

1) The slumber-party girls. Teenage girls that talk during the _entire_ film. I'd guess that if you asked them what the movie was about afterwards, they'd say, "there was a movie?"

2) Mr. Cheap-Eats. The guy that brings in 20 sandwiches wrapper in paper and meticulously unfolds one every 5 minutes during the movie. Oh, and that slurping of the extra-large coke isn't winning him any fans either.

3) Crazy guy. You know him. The guy with the wild look in his eyes that probably is evading his parole officer. Sits down and starts yelling at the person sitting next to him. Holds the record for getting thrown out of a theater. Always makes you wonder how many people he's actually killed.

[PixelSamurai]

HHGG, however, would be a nearly impossible feat to faithfully recreate the best moments of the book in any kind of coherent form. Why? Because the best moments are almost always delivered in narrative. It's Adams' prose style that is hilarious, not the actions itself. His asides/footnotes are what really drive the entire HHG series. The entire gag about the tea was entirely unfunny in the movie because they didn't connect it later with the entire ship's computer becoming inoperative because it was busy calculating out how to make tea.


You, my friend, have hit the nail on the head. This is exactly why I have been nonplused about seeing this movie and instead resorted to re-reading the books. It's like trying to make a movie out of a painting, the good things just don't translate into a film.



As for the Hollywood slump, as long as the DVD sales remain strong, nothing will change. These days, the theater experience is the "trailer" for the DVD, which is where they make the money. Somewhere, someday soon, a parent will blind-buy "The Pacifier" for their child..."Well, he liked that ugly Riddick movie..."

[Kelegacy]

so you eat on like 40 dollars a week, thats three meals a day, so what do you just eat mr noodle every other day and eat decent food?.

Actually I can eat on 50 bucks a week rather easily. I'm not overly cheap, but if i can buy a generic brand, i'll usually do it (not for every product though). Generics are the same shit with a different package anyway. It's retarded. My friend works for a distributor and the basically lets me know which of my favorite foods are made by the same people, but sold as generics.

Anyway, I usually only eat a sandwich or a lean cuisine for lunch at work, along with some bananas, yogurt and water. I dont drink soda. I am not a fat ass that needs tons of sweets or fatty foods in the house. For breakfast I might have a banana, or like this morning, eggs. Supper is usually a more expensive meal, but not by much. So yeah, i can eat for 50 bucks a week...the weekends, though, can be a differnt story so that's not entirely accurate. Depends on if i go out, hang with friends, or get drunk. Those factors always make me eat more, pricier, and worse.

:) of course, this allowance does not include my beer addiction...

[Drinking_Buddy]

Jesues legionnaire loving Christ, some of you bastards are really picky about your movie experances.

"OMG that guy got up to go the bath room and now I cant see 1% OF THAT HUGE FUCKING SCRENE!"

[51|RandoM]

In NYC, you just gotta wait till a couple weeks go by, then pick an early weekday showing and you'll be in an almost empty theater. I did this with the latest star wars movie. Second week it was playing, went in on a tuesday around 11am, was only about 8 people in this huge theater.

Only problem with this plan is you have to go with a DLP theater because almost any of the places using prints have fucked up their prints by then. I'll take a brand new print over DLP, but how often is that going to happen? Right, never...

I only hit the theaters nowadays for something that I know is gonna be on their biggest screen. It kind of sucks to go in for something like Kung Fu Hustle and realize their screen isn't significantly bigger than my projector, and their sound is significantly worse.

[Reanimated]

Jesues legionnaire loving Christ, some of you bastards are really picky about your movie experances.

"OMG that guy got up to go the bath room and now I cant see 1% OF THAT HUGE FUCKING SCRENE!"





Let me guess... YOU'RE the dipshit that has to get up to take a piss during the most pivotal moment of a movie. And I'm betting you plop your fatass right in the middle of the aisle, therefore banging your big ass all over everyone's knees on your way out and back in.

[Rommel]

As regards to the Hitchhiker's movie:
I've read the books many times as well - and I found the movie to be entertaining. However, I do believe You have to be able to divorce yourself from the mental imagery that is created by reading the books many many times in order to appreciate the movie at all. Those who have read the books many times are the worst possible people to ask about the movie - all they can talk about is how it did not meet their standards. By readin the books so many times they've created a purely subjective and individualized standard that would be impossible to live up to - because every single person's standards are different.

I did divorce myself, and found the movie decent in its own worth. The problem was the new stuff wasn't bad because it was new, it was bad because that forty minutes of the flick was *not funny.* Had they used those forty minutes to finish the punchlines they cut out (Yet inexplicibly left the set up in for) they would have had a better film I believe. Not translation, a better film.

[mister_slim]

Depends on what you're looking for from your CG entertainment. It ain't 'The Incredibles' or 'Toy Story'. It's DEFINITELY geared towards younger kids. It has several VERY funny moments (the Penguins commit grand larceny every time they're on screen by stealing the show), but it's probably not worth full movie price.

Matinee? Maybe. DVD definitely.
Or should we buy the game? Actually, the bit in Play Magazine was interesting, so I may pick it up eventually.
Not exactly true. Look at LOTR. I am sure that individuals have read these books thousands of times in the past, but there is a general consesus movies are the best book-to-movie translation for something so epic. I personally think that the LOTR movies are amazing, and are actually some of the best movies that I have ever seen. But that is just me, I suppose.
But look at the strength of the work. LOTR was epic, which works well on the screen, and the writing's strength was in overall pacing and description, which good cinematography can capture. H2G2 was motley and chaotic, and relied primarily on Adams' gift for phrasing and paragraph pacing, which is hard to depict on a screen.

[Drinking_Buddy]

Let me guess... YOU'RE the dipshit that has to get up to take a piss during the most pivotal moment of a movie. And I'm betting you plop your fatass right in the middle of the aisle, therefore banging your big ass all over everyone's knees on your way out and back in.

No, and chill out.

[emjoi]

Sheesh. Some people just seem to go to the movies with a chip on their shoulder. Grumpy at everyone.

It aint that bad, for heavens sake.

[Rommel]

It aint that bad, for heavens sake.

There is no fun in moderation!