Weekend Box Office

Disappointed that Down to You opened to less than half of She's All That's $16.1 million last year, Miramax overestimated the teen comedy's opening by a wide margin. They said it grossed $8.3 million for the top spot, when it actually made $7.6 million for second place behind Next Friday's $8 million. They say that it just took a bigger hit than they expected on Sunday. I don't buy that excuse. For the picture to have matched their estimate, it would have had to drop just 23% on Sunday (see the Daily Box Office), absurdly unrealistic. Based on the time of year and patterns of other teen comedies such as She's All That, their estimated drop should have been more in the 50% range. Perhaps they were trying to save some face by at least having everyone think they had the #1 picture.

At any rate, it is a bit of surprise that it didn't open better, given that it's been a while since the last teen comedy and that it looked almost as bad as She's All That. Perhaps the awkward title and the college setting alienated high schoolers. It would be nice, though, if it were a sign that this particularly pernicious strain of teeny-bopperism is waning.

Meanwhile, Next Friday plunged 45% to $8 million, good enough for #1 over the slow weekend. The drop was expected since it's both a sequel and a niche picture. Still, with $31.8 million grossed, it has already surpassed the original's $27.4 million, and with a production budget of just $9.5 million, it will be quite profitable.

The Hurricane went wider, going from 1,454 to 2,101 theaters, yet it still dropped 28%. Not a good sign for its longevity. The total stands at $22.9 million after four weeks.

Angela's Ashes was the only expansion to see even modest success. Going from 6 to 610 theaters, it garnered $3.2 million. It averaged $5,275, decent considering that its older skewing demographic is not the type to rush out to the theaters on the opening. However, with a reported production budget of $45 million, it won't likely reach the black.

Prior to going wide, Play It to the Bone played at one theater in L.A. for four weeks where it grossed a miniscule $26,270. Expanding to 1,556 theaters, it fared almost as poorly, grossing $3.4 million despite a more aggressive ad campaign.

Other expansions included The End of the Affair. It went from 92 to 686 theaters this weekend and managed only $1.7 million, bringing its total to $5.1 million. The Ralph Fiennes-Julianne Moore starrer averaged a meager $2,415. Cradle Will Rock fared even worse in its expansion from 56 to 506 theaters, grossing just $593,899 for an average of $1,174. The total for the Tim Robbins-directed drama stands at $1.9 million, and will end up deep in the red as it reportedly cost $32 million to make.

Overall box office totaled $82.2 million, down 36% from last weekend and down 3% from the same frame last year when Varsity Blues topped the chart with $10.6 million.