March 10 - 12, 2006
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | Failure to Launch * |
| $24,600,000 - Total: $24,600,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3057 |
| 2. | The Shaggy Dog * |
| $16,024,000 - Total: $16,024,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3501 |
| 3. | The Hills Have Eyes * |
| $15,500,000 - Total: $15,500,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2620 |
| 4. | 16 Blocks |
| $7,306,000 - Total: $22,704,000 | |
| LW: 2 WR: 2 THTRS: 2706 |
| 5. | Tyler Perry'sMadea's Family Reunion |
| $5,800,000 - Total: $55,754,000 | |
| LW: 1 WR: 3 THTRS: 1812 |
| 6. | Eight Below |
| $5,412,000 - Total: $66,424,000 | |
| LW: 3 WR: 4 THTRS: 2970 |
| 7. | Aquamarine |
| $3,650,000 - Total: $12,165,000 | |
| LW: 5 WR: 2 THTRS: 2538 |
| 8. | Ultraviolet |
| $3,600,000 - Total: $14,751,000 | |
| LW: 4 WR: 2 THTRS: 2558 |
| 9. | The Pink Panther |
| $3,600,000 - Total: $74,603,000 | |
| LW: 6 WR: 5 THTRS: 2302 |
| 10. | Date Movie |
| $2,500,000 - Total: $44,264,000 | |
| LW: 8 WR: 4 THTRS: 1812 |
This weekend Failure To Launch did anything but. The romantic comedy which stars Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker opened with a healthy $24 million. Ironically, it was the worst reviewed movie among the three new releases in the top ten. The number one spot isn't a surprise given that the competition included only remakes: one children's fare and the other a cookie cutter horror flick.
Tim Allen's rehashing of The Shaggy Dog and The Shaggy D.A. took a distant number two with $16 million. It's a less than stellar showing considering the movie is playing on a hefty 3500 screens. The ravaging mutants of The Hills Have Eyes trailed the hairy pup by a narrow margin but accomplished something neither Shaggy Dog nor Failure to Launch were able to manage: it made back its production budget in its opening weekend. Granted, Hills didn't have the big star salaries of Allen, McConaughey and Parker to contend with, but you can bet this kind of relative success will continue to inspire studios to churn out low budget, horror remakes.
The Libertine opened in limited release to little box office fan fare, eeking into 11th place. As one of the last of the films to come out of the embattled pre-sellout Miramax vault it was only granted 800 screens but that was probably for the best. A dismal film, it began losing money from the day they started shooting and it's apparent it has no hope of regaining much of its expenses. The less money spent distributing it the better.
The Academy Awards didn't do much to improve the outlook for most of the big winners. Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line and Capote all continued to slide in sales. Only one improved: Crash. In the light of its Best Picture win Lion's Gate has rereleased the film in 175 theaters with potential plans to go a little wider if this mini revival shows promise. Prior to the Academy Award nominations few people were aware of the movie and even fewer had seen it. I'm not sure why audieces would go catch it in the theater now that it's already out on DVD, but as proud producers you can't blame Lions Gate for gloating a little by tossing the film back onto the big screen.
Next week promises to be huge both for the box office and movie goers. V for Vendetta, the first truly exciting original movie of 2006 in many people's books, comes to the screen. The action thriller will hopefully toss Madea out of the top seat for best opening weekend of the year. Also opening is the latest Shakespearean aberration She's The Man starring Amanda Bynes. Based loosely on the Bard's "Twelfth Night", it will likely have to compete with Failure to Launch for second place.
