July 28 - 30, 2006
THTRS = Number of Screens
* Denotes new release.
Click on title to read CB Review
| 1. | Miami Vice * |
| $25,195,000 - Total: $25,195,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3021 |
| 2. | Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest |
| $20,492,000 - Total: $358,372,000 | |
| LW: 1 WR: 4 THTRS: 3834 |
| 3. | John Tucker Must Die * |
| $14,075,000 - Total: $14,075,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2560 |
| 4. | Monster House |
| $11,500,000 - Total: $43,872,000 | |
| LW: 2 WR: 2 THTRS: 3553 |
| 5. | The Ant Bully * |
| $8,145,000 - Total: $8,145,000 | |
| LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3050 |
| 6. | You, Me and Dupree |
| $7,036,000 - Total: $59,049,000 | |
| LW: 4 WR: 3 THTRS: 2820 |
| 7. | Lady in the Water |
| $7,005,000 - Total: $32,064,000 | |
| LW: 3 WR: 2 THTRS: 3235 |
| 8. | Little Man |
| $5,100,000 - Total: $50,163,000 | |
| LW: 5 WR: 3 THTRS: 2175 |
| 9. | The Devil Wears Prada |
| $4,775,000 - Total: $106,664,000 | |
| LW: 9 WR: 5 THTRS: 1778 |
| 10. | Clerks II |
| $3,945,000 - Total: $18,473,000 | |
| LW: 6 WR: 2 THTRS: 2150 |
Three new movies - three seemingly random spots on the list. It was something of a crap shoot as to how the box office was going to turn out this week. Even the top prognosticators had a tough time figuring it out.
Michael Mann's Miami Vice took top honors, earning $25 million and finally dethroning Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest after its three week reign in the number one spot. It wasn't, however, a very exciting opening for Vice's Crockett and Tubbs. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx couldn't generate enough star power heat to overcome the movie's two and a half hours of stylized tedium leaving the movie with a long way from shore in recooping its $135 million budget.
With a solid $20 million Pirates held on to the number two spot and with a grand total of nearly $360 million in domestic sales, edges ever closer to the $400 million mark. Will it get there? At this point that's doubtful, but being the only movie so far to break $300 million, it's safe to say that this will almost certainly remain the highest grossing film of the year.
Young teenage girls obsessed with Jesse Metcalf's hotness turned out in droves to help hand teen flick John Tucker Must Die over $14 million and the third place in the top ten. CG animation feature The Ant Bully couldn't muster enough to beat out the animated competition Monster House. The Ant Bully barely scraped out $8 million while Monster House scared up $11 million in its second weekend out.
Superman Returns, which has generated all sorts of disappointing box office buzz, finally disappeared from the top ten this weekend. Clerks II edged it out by a small margin for the final spot. With only $186 million in total domestice sales, it's been a dismal outlook as to whether or not the movie would be able to earn back its massive $260 million budget. Thanks to a surge in foreign market sales things are looking a little brighter for the man of steel, but $200 million in domestic sales is rumored to be the benchmark set for whether or not Warner Brothers would green light a second film in the franchise. If they stick by that standard, Superman may only get to return once this time around.
With all the largely anticipated summer blockbusters out of the way studios continue to dump everything they knew wouldn't be able to compete into theaters. Two weekends ago saw four new films and last week three new entries crashed the party. Next weekend the barrage continues with a further round of vastly varied genres represented. Yet another CG animated movie, The Barnyard will go head to head with Will Ferrell's race car comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. In smaller releases, horror flick The Descent and thriller The Night Listener join the fray.
Of course, the madness won't stop there. Look for three to five new films every weekend right through to the end of the summer rush. It's a mad dash full of mostly derivative crap, the kind of dumping ground activity that helped lead to last year's decline in box office sales. The thing is, this year the glut is going to be even worse. This year's modest recovery may not be able to sustain to glut of mediocrity as kids go back to school and moviegoers start to face the financial burden of rising gas prices and soon-to-arrive summer cooling bills.
