Box Office Booty: November 12th, 2007
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Apparently the word-of-mouth for DreamWork's Bee Movie was exceptionally better than it's reviews were. Most critics seemed to agree that the film was basically about nothing at all. Some found that charming and relaxed, others were far less generous than that. The average user review of 55% wasn't much better than the 51% the pros gave, but that didn't stop the animated flick from shooting to the #1 spot in its second week hauling in a cool $26 million against $24m for Universal's American Gangster.New comers Fred Claus ($19.2m) and Tom Cruise's latest box office flop Lions for Lambs ($6.7m) couldn't manage more than a dent against last weeks crop. Lions is the first pic released by revamped United Artists under the new Management of Cruise and his producing partner, Paula Wagner. The dynamic duo who were unceremoniously booted from Paramount for costing more to hold onto than the gross domestic product of some small countries is learning quickly that the game of green lighting new pics is harder than it looks from the top of fort knox.
P2 crashed and burned this weekend, bringing in barely $2.2 million in proceeds, of which only $1.2m is making it back to the studio from which it was shat. Wait, was that supposed to be "born"? Oh well, a number of old timers from previous weeks are still hanging on to the remnants of the top 10 including Saw IV, which appears poised to join the ranks of previous films by overtaking the first iteration, but might be losing some of its gore appeal.
For what it's worth (and this is worth a lot in this day and age) Lionsgate must still be thrilled, given that what it costs to make these films is so incredibly low that $84 million worldwide is still likely to guarantee a 5:1 profit margin this year, and those numbers are only going to be more rosy when it hits DVD.
- Bee Movie ($26 million)
- American Gangster ($24.3m)
- Fred Claus ($19.2m)
- Lions for Lambs ($6.7m)
- Dan in Real Life ($5.8m)
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