September 1, 2003
When push comes to shove, releasing a movie is all about the bling bling. In an industry founded upon the sacred bond created through bragging rights, finishing at the top of the financial heap is the key to getting the best tables at snooty restaurants, buying the most luxurious automobiles and being offered the highest class of prostitutes. In Hollywood, winning is everything. The films listed below are the kings of the hill for summer 2003.
5. X-2: X-Men United – 20th Century Fox - $215 million
Fox tore the top off the box office with X2 on May 2nd, and because of that release date, the film’s box office won’t get the respect it deserves. The film drew a breathtaking $85.6 million in its opening three days, meeting most expectations. Was Fox looking for more? The distributor sent it out to a record 3,749 opening weekend venues, and knew they had to sell as many tickets as possible before The Matrix Reloaded came to town, only 13 days after the release of their $125 million film. As of May 14th, the X-Men sequel had grossed $155.3 million, which probably met Fox’s best expectations. Overall, the film grossed $215 million domestically; international sales pushed that number up over $400 million.
4. Bruce Almighty – Universal - $240.4 million
It was the smart move, but someone at Universal had to have balls of steel positioning Bruce Almighty only one weekend after the release of The Matrix Reloaded on May 23rd. The move worked beautifully, but the Universal brass had to be sweating it as Neo and the gang hogged the media like no other leading up to Almighty’s release. However, Jim Carrey and Bruce Almighty offered pure counter-programming for X2 and Reloaded’s male-action audience, and found $67 million over its opening three days. From there, that older, word of mouth audience crept out like the Spirited Away specters, and the usual Jim Carrey fall-off never happened. Bruce blew past Liar Liar’s $181 million gross in 22 days on its way to an overall take of $240.4 million domestically and over $425 million worldwide. Compared to the rest of the top five, Bruce Almighty had a relatively low production budget of $81 million.
3. The Matrix Reloaded – WB – $279 million
In April, if someone asked us if the second Matrix film was going to be the biggest film of the summer, we would laugh and mumble about how “summer would be just the beginning.” Though valiantly marketed, the terminal “questionable buzz” grew heading into opening weekend, and the film failed to achieve Spider-Man-type opening weekend numbers. The much-maligned R-rated film grossed $91 million through its first four days, made its production budget of $127 million back in less than a week, and went on to gross $279 million domestically. Before you awe yourself in the softness of that number, remember that Reloaded has grossed more than $725 million worldwide.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl – Disney/Bruckheimer - $275 million plus
Get ready for Pirate everything at the movies for a while. Out of nowhere, the dread pirates appeared amongst a litany of poorly accepted films and hit a home run at the box office opening weekend, garnering $46.6 million. From there, the filmed sailed from weekend to weekend, losing only 27%, 32%, and 18.5% of its audience over its first three weekends. At the time of this writing, Pirates has grossed $274 million, with $300 million in its sights. For Disney and Bruckheimer Films, Pirates was an expensive gamble that will pay huge dividends for years to come. The film cost the two companies $125 million, but after foreign totals are counted, it could gross $800 million.
1. Finding Nemo – Disney/Pixar - $330 million plus
That wacky pairing of Disney and Pixar made the bankers smile during this summer box office season. The instant animated classic mowed down rivals and records on its way to becoming the biggest animated release of all time. How did Finding Nemo achieve its success? The late May release date got it out of the pack early, which enabled the film to have a stellar opening weekend take of $70 million. It became only the third movie to open above $65 million and still keep its second weekend drop below 40% (the first Harry Potter film and Spider-Man are the other two). Nemo grossed $200 million in a slim 20 days and crossed the $300 million mark after 51 days. The crossover kids flick didn’t have a 40% weekend drop until its ninth weekend, which in today’s summer box office climate is virtually unheard of. In addition, Finding Nemo swatted away competition, leaving some thorns in rival studios like Paramount and DreamWorks. Nemo actually reclaimed the number one spot at the box office the weekend that Rugrats Go Wild opened, and finished fourth the weekend that Sinbad opened with a sixth place finish. Nemo easily became the biggest Pixar film ever, leaving Monsters, Inc.’s $255 million score in the dirt. At the time of this writing, Nemo has just passed $330 million mark, but could still pull another $10 million at the box office.
Read about the Summer Disappointments.
Read about the Summer Bombs.
Read about the Summer Surprises.
Read about the Summer Movers and Shakers.