Things were quiet at the box office this week. The only new release, Æon Flux received a lukewarm welcome making only $13,100,000. That's the kind of response I would have expected given the generally deflated box office lately, but with Potter making such a stir in the last few weeks it's been a little tough to come back to reality. Don't get me wrong, Æon Flux is a mediocre movie at best, but in a weekend where there's no other new competition itcould have expected a much better turn out this time last year. Unless your movie is based on a popular children's book or directed by Peter Jackson, it's looking like you can anticipate a generally cold reception from the box office this winter.
Everything else stayed pretty balanced from last week. Harry Potter is dropping in sales as would be expected since it's entering it's third week, but there's still enough to keep it in the number one spot. Folks who weren't interested in watching Charlize Theron run around in a black unitard or seeing Harry Potter again chose to catch up with some Thanksgiving left overs like Pride and Prejudice and Just Friends, both of which climbed a notch. Chicken Little's sky fell down around him this weekend, dropping from number 4 to number 8. Nothing to be ashamed of though. CL and company have stayed in the top ten for five weeks now, a feat few movies get to claim.
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Syriana is the real winner this weekend, making an incredible $490,000 despite being in only 9 theaters. ($54,444 per theater is a rarely seen number for a movie in its second weekend of limited release). Last weekend it culled a phenomenal $79,000 per theater. Why so popular? It's a movie about terrorism and, as our own Edward Darell put it, "the morally murky interactions between big business and government." It's sounds like the kind of anti-Iraq war poli-sci flick that some folks in LA and NY would flock to. Does the rest of the country buy in? We'll see when the film opens wide next weekend. In all odds, it won't, but then it's up against some pretty steep competition, too.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe descends with a Lion's roar next weekend. It's poised to be one of the biggest films of the year, competing with the other mammoths like Star Wars and Harry Potter. Literary clubs, schools and church groups have already begun purchasing whole showings and the marketing campaign has been enormous. It's the second to last blockbuster film release this year and if Harry Potter's smashing success is any indication, people have been saving up their movie pennies for events like this.
