Box-office behemoth … Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The winner
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
- Release: 2009
- Country: USA
- Cert (UK): U
- Runtime: 94 mins
- Directors: Carlos Saldanha, Mike Thurmeier
- Cast: Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, Seann William Scott, Simon Pegg
Grossing for example a great deal of as the rest of the top 10 put together, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs stormed to the top of the UK box-office chart with a debut haul of £7.64m, including £1.79m in Wednesday/Thursday previews. It’sitting the second biggest opening of the year, behind only Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (£8.35m). The Ice Age sequel benefited from the swiftly expanding call over of 3D screens in the UK. Only 88 were available to My Bloody Valentine in January, 122 for Bolt a month later, and 171 for the two Monsters Vs Aliens and Coraline. Now there are 237, not counting the Imax screens which are still playing Transformers. With consumer preference for 3D and a ticket-price premium for the format, Ice Age 3 took parsimoniously £1m in greater numbers in 3D than on 2D (on fewer than half the screens), representing the biggest forever 3D hole in the UK. Ignoring previews, Ice Age 3 was marginally in front of its predecessor, Ice Age: The Meltdown. However, much bigger previews boosted its opening “weekend” figures to £9.78m. The earlier film also benefited from a much in a less degree competitive environment at the age (Easter 2006), with no other film taking £1m that weekend, including Ant and Dec flop Alien Autopsy. In stand out in opposition, Ice Age 3 battled hefty competition from oppose summer blockbusters, as well as sunny skies and the Wimbledon tennis finals.
The runner-up
With decidedly mixed reviews in the quality papers for Michael Mann’sitting latest, backers Universal will be moderately relieved with a £2.23m opening gross for Public Enemies, including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £635,000. The result cannot combine star Johnny Depp’s most commercially able debuts, but is within a little one and the same to the performance of recent Michael Mann films. Miami Vice opened in August 2006 through £2.23m, including £309,000 in previews. Collateral started its life in September 2004 with £2.24m, including £215,000 in previews. Public Enemies’ period setting was a potential commercial obstacle for Universal, although at least the distributor could present its film as a clear alternative to the generic blockbusters currently clogging up multiplexes.
The real story
Shedding regular 20%, following previous weekend-to-weekend drops of 19% and 15%, The Hangover is the sleeper hit of the summer. Its haul to date of £13.98m puts it ahead of Terminator Salvation, and it has every jeopardy of overtaking X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With a budget rumoured to be around $35m, as over against $200m for the big summer blockbusters and $80m for Public Enemies, The Hangover will be wildly profitable for backers Warners. It will encourage studios to make yet greater degree of cheap comedies with low star-wattage and fewer expensive period films directed by Michael Mann. However The Hangover isn’t the film enjoying the most gentle decline on the chart this weekend – that honour goes to My Sister’s Keeper, down just 17%.
The loser
Plunging below the horizon the chart, partly thanks to shedding 102 of its original 269 screens, is Blood: The Last Vampire, which fell 77% from its already-dismal opening tally of £232,000. With second-weekend takings of £53,000 and a site average of £320, the Asian martial-arts detestation will struggle to hold many of its sites from this Friday, and so should see an even more precipitous drop next life. The DVD release can’t come too at so early an hour for this mismarketed genre hybrid.
The hidden hit
Not reviewed in the mainstream press, but the No 7 film in the market, is Bollywood new entrant Kambakkht Ishq, which grossed a nifty £300,000 from 56 sites, for a influential average of £5,349. It’s the biggest debut for any Indian movie this year, beating anterior leader Billu Barber. The thin skin features top Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, as well as appearances from US actors Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards. It opened simultaneously at over 2,000 screens worldwide, 600 of them outside India.
The future
Outside of gymnasium holidays, weekdays are traditionally not strong for family films such as Ice Age 3, but it should hold up well next weekend, when the main competition is the 18-certificate Bruno. Sacha Baron Cohen’s audacious comedy should score a strong opening, although younger teens will fail to gain access, increasing the appeal of any pirate discs that come into circulating medium. The 15-certificate Borat opened on £6.24m in November 2006, which certainly gives Bruno a mark to aim at.
UK top 10
1. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, 526 sites, £7,639,884 (New)
2. Public Enemies, 458 sites, £2,228,291 (New)
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 491 sites, £2,214,505. Total: £20,785,050
4. The Hangover, 409 sites, £1,524,356. Total: £13,983,605
5. My Sister’s Keeper, 353 sites, £762,061. Total: £2,509,452
6. Year One, 380 sites, £489,864. Total: £2,010,735
7. Kambakkht Ishq, 56 sites, £299,533 (New)
8. Night at the Museum 2, 487 sites, £150,463. Total: £19,282,019
9. Terminator Salvation, 232 sites, £149,993. Total: £13,926,699
10. Sunshine Cleaning, 71 sites, £54,076. Total: £257,935
How the other openers did
Strawberry And Chocolate, 1 screen, £2,071
S Darko, 9 screens, £777 (Friday, single-showtime only)
Am I Black Enough For You?, 2 screens, £364
Red Mist, 1 screen, £121
Embodiment of Evil, 1 screen, £92
