Strong Sophomore Session puts 2004 in the Lead

March 8, 2004

Another good news bad new weekend. Bad news, the total box office was down 8% from last weekend. Good new, it was up 31% from last year. Good news, 2004 has finally surpassed 2003 year-to-date. Bad news, that's due to inflation as admissions are still lower. Really bad news, the jump is thanks entirely to one movie, or the controversy surrounding one movie.

Just 12 days into its run, The Passion of the Christ crossed the $200 million mark. 2003 didn't see its first $200 million movie till mid-May. Its second weekend was almost exactly on target, with the movie taking in $53.2 million. It should easily take in $300 million before its run is done.

Starsky & Hutch was a nice surprise taking in $28.1 million, more than predicted. And with reviews at 61% positive it also did better than the buddy cop comedy genre usually does. Obviously people still want to see their favorite TV turned into a movie.

There have been complaints about the authenticity of Hidalgo. We know a couple of things for sure, Frank T. Hopkins really existed and there are horse races in the Middle East. The rest has to be taken with a grain of salt. The film did earn more at the box office than expected with $18.8 million. But medicore reviews will probably keep it from having long legs at the box office.

Over the weekend 50 First Dates pulled in $7.6 million, leaving it just $600,000 from $100 million. It should reach that milestone by Tuesday.

The battle for fifth place turned out to not be as competitive as I thought it would be with Twisted beating Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen $5.1 million to $4.0 million. Neither film has made as much out of their run as the studio had hoped, but at least Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen should show some life at the home market.


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Filed under: The Passion of the Christ, The Matrix Reloaded, 50 First Dates, Starsky & Hutch, Hidalgo, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Twisted