Box-Office Wrap-Up: Aug 11 – Aug 13

There is no stepping over Ricky Bobby

By: Laremy Legel
Published: Sunday, August 13th 2006 at 6:30 AM

#1 movie predicted correctly: Eight Weeks In A Row

1. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby $23.0m (My rank:#1, $2.0m off)
It said it would win and it did. Keep that in mind when you see how royally I screwed up the second slot.

2. Step Up $21.0m (My rank:#3, $7.3m off)

Step Up delivers a massive week one. The buzz on this one proved to be bankable, people want to see movies where thugs dance and maybe learn a lesson too. Hollywood, you've got your formula, now run with it.

3. World Trade Center $19.0m (My rank:#2, $0.7m off)

I think $19m is a fantastic opening for this one and a real credit to the marketing behind it. I am really curious to see how well it holds up with word of mouth given how brutally sad it is.

4. Barnyard: The Original Party Animals $10.0m (My rank:#5, $2.7m off)

People still ate this modern day "Animal Farm gone illiterate" up, hopefully ensuring we'll get a sequel and go blind.

5. Pulse $8.4m (My rank:#4, $0.9m off)

I think this one was just a victim of competition. They should have thrown it out there in March against a bunch of tomato cans. They could've won a weekend in March, but not against big time films with big time ad dollars.

6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $7.2m (My rank:#7, $0.7m off)

I saw the original again this weekend and it still held up for me. This trilogy could take a place on the shelf right next to the Hobbit one as required ten hour viewing.

7. The Descent $4.6m (My rank:#8, $0.6m off)

Wouldn't it have been cooler if it was about cave diving?

8. Zoom $4.6m (My rank:#6, $2.7m off)

This one got nastied with the bonus being it should have been. The trailer looked straight out of hell.

9. Miami Vice $4.5m (My rank:#9, Dead On)

I read a great article that basically whined about how this Vice had nothing to do with the other one. I think that's a fair point and maybe reason number 42 that this one bombed.

10. Monster House $3.3m (My rank:Not Ranked)

Yeah, but I was within $2m on 60 percent of the whole weekend. That's using stats to win an argument! Check you next Thursday and we'll do it all over again (well, mostly I will).