Well, I guess I was wrong about Happy Feet having a definite edge over Casino Royale this weekend. While it's still probably going to take the cake, estimates came in at $42 million for Feet and $40.6 for Casino Royale. I'm trying really hard to care about whether Royale's final numbers on Tuesday will overtake Happy Feet... but I don't. I will go out on a limb and say the one who takes the weekend is really cool and wearing a tuxedo.
Box office report after the jump. . .Borat fell almost 50% to $14.3 million for a $90 million total. Like I said last week, that's still extraordinary, but I think Fox left some money on the table by going from 800 to 2,000 screens, instead of widening more slowly and letting the buzz precede the movie in smaller markets, especially with the recent barrage of lawsuits coming against the film. Sorry folks, but if you weren't in on that joke, you got what you deserve.
Predictably, Happy Feet took away a big chunk of the audience for Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (get it? 'Clause'? Man, those Disney marketing people are just geniuses!) and Flushed Away (which has sent DreamWorks Animation's profit forecast into a tale spin). Each fell over 50% to $8.2 million and $6.8 million, and neither will finish much over $60 million. Still, that Santa Clause figure is enough to guarantee us at least two more years of Tim Allen movies. Personally, I'd rather have six more weeks of winter.
Stranger Than Fiction fell 50% to $6.6 million and a $20 million total. It'll finish with about $35, no awards, and no serious acting career for Will Ferrell. If Elf 2 goes double platinum, maybe they'll give him another shot at it. Babel fell a steep $47% to $2.9 million, not the strong legs Paramount Vantage must have been hoping for. While the film's supporters really love it, there are some adamant detractors as well (much as there were for 21 Grams and Amores Perros). Some serious awards consideration could push it past 21 Grams' $16 million, but not much further than that.
Saw III fell 60% to $2.8 million, and The Departed finally took a serious hit from Casino Royale, falling almost 50% to $2.6 million for a total of $113. I bet award nods will really help this one, though, and if they add some theatres early next year it could wind up with $125 million. Between this and The Aviator, both Marty and Leo have some serious box office clout, although whether or not audiences will buy DiCaprio's South African accent in Blood Diamond remains to be seen.
Seriously, though, if DiCaprio doesn't hook up with Scorsese after The Beach, are we even still talking about him? I like the guy, and I'm glad he's doing well, but I just feel like the Titanic hangover was too much for him until he hitched his wagon to Scorsese's similarly flagging career.
There's actually a little controversy in the number ten spot. Boxofficemojo is giving it to the After Dark Horror Fest, which is technically eight films released in less than 500 theatres, but collectively they earned about $2.5 million for a surprising $5,000 average. But The Hollywood Reporter doesn't seem to recognize this conglomerate of movies, and gives the 10 spot to The Queen with $2.3 million, which is holding up very well with $17 million in the bank and a best actress nod for Helen Mirren all but in the books.
I was traveling all weekend, so I didn't get a chance to check out any of the ADHF flicks, but I did watch the individual trailers on their website, and it really looks like someone just pulled a bunch of direct-to-DVD movies, pumped them up with a little marketing finesse (has anyone else noticed they're using the same sound and photo effect from the Texas Chainsaw remake trailer?), and dumped them into just the right markets to turn a nice profit. The eight films only run for one weekend, although 'audience favorites' will get encores throughout the week and next weekend.