"Cat In Hat" Purrs to $40.1 Million

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,12981,00.html

 

"Cat In Hat" Purrs to $40.1 Million

 

by Bridget Byrne

Nov 23, 2003, 3:05 PM PT

 

The Cat in the Hat had a near purrfect opening, despite all those critical hisses.

 

The adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, starring Mike Myers as the disruptive furball, debuted with an estimated $40.1 million, as families and kids ignored the vicious clawing the nation's film reviewers gave the comic tale.

 

"Do you know anyone under 12 who reads reviews?" Nikko Rocco, Universal's head of distribution, remarked to Reuters. To the Associated Press she commented, "It's not about entertaining parents or reviewers. It's about entertaining kids, and that's what happened," Rocco said. "It's whether or not your audience was satisfied, and every time I saw the movie with an audience of kids, they loved it." a d v e r t i s e m e n t

 

However the PG rated live action comedy, slammed for being crass and potty-mouthed, didn't debut as well as the studio's previous Dr. Seuss fantasy How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Jim Carrey as the green grouch, that movie opening with $55.1 million in 2000.

 

Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Inc., the company that tallies the grosses, says it's possible Universal hoped for more in the kitty from The Cat debut, but nevertheless the solid opening at 3,464 sites for a per screen average of $11,570, proves the studio "marketed the movie extremely well. Every kid in the country had to know it was opening." Consequently it was virtually "review proof," especially for youngsters who get in on discounted tickets.

 

In second place Gothika, a low budget thriller starring Oscar winner and high profile beauty Halle Berry, as a bedraggled psychiatrist flipped out by an accusation of murder, debuted with a lively $19.6 million, despite also being knocked by critics.

 

Dergarabedian says the R rated Warner Bros. thriller's initial success proves the strength of the genre: "Horror fans buy a concept. They want to be scared." The movie debuted at 2,382 sites, averaging $8,237 per screen.

 

The newcomers pushed last week's top movie Elf, starring Will Ferrell as the misfit Santa-helper, down to third place. Earning $19.1 million on the strength of good reviews and good word of mouth the holiday comedy has now grossed a jolly good $95.1 million in three weeks of release.

 

In fourth place Russell Crowe's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World sailed on against the tide, dropping two spots from its debut, to earn $15.2 million, bringing the lavish seafaring saga's current gross to just $47.3 million.

 

Moving into more theaters the ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually edged up a slot to fifth place, earning $9.1 million. Its current three week gross is $30.8 million.

 

The Matrix Revolutions continued its freefall, dropping 59 percent from last weekend, down to sixth place where it made $6.7 million to bring its three week total to $125 million, a faint carbon of the spectacular $281 million total gross earned by The Matrix, the first flick in the cyberspace trilogy.

 

In limited release Focus Features' R rated intense personal drama 21 Grams, starring critically praised actors Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro, weighed in with a very impressive $32,054 per screen at just eight sites in Los Angeles and New York, earning $256,434, and inspiring Oscar chat.

 

The overall gross for the top 12 films was $129 million, off 11 percent compared to this time last year, when Berry was looking her best alongside James Bond in Die Another Day.

 

Final figures are due Monday, meantime here are the estimates for the top 10 movies:

 

1. The Cat in the Hat, $40.1 million

2. Gothika, $19.6 million

3. Elf, $19.1 million

4. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, $15.2 million

5. Love Actually, $9.1 million

6. The Matrix Revolutions, $6.7 million

7. Brother Bear, $5.5 million

8. Looney Tunes: Back in Action, $4.1 million

9. Scary Movie 3, $3.3 million

10. Radio, $2.6 million

[Mole 0]

Wow, Matrix has gone DOWN THE DRAIN. That's what you get when the movie sucks big balls.

 

I even think the first one was overrated.

[Tawren 0]

I even think the first one was overrated.

*gasp* NO!

 

Sarcasm aside, I wouldn't be surprised to see CitH to drop to below 15 mil next week.

[Guest NaturalBornThriller4:20]

I guess this is the Weekend Box Office Report, so...

 

Opening This Week:

 

"Timeline" (Paul Walker)

 

"BAD SANTA!" (Billy Bob Thorton, John Ritter(R.I.P.), Bernie Mac)

 

"The Haunted Mansion" (Eddie Murphy)

 

"The Missing" (Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett)

[NYU 0]

I expect "Haunted Mansion" to go #1 next week, possibly earning somewhere around $35-40 million. I'm not expecting Bad Santa or Timeline to do TOO well next week. The hype machine for Timeline isn't on very high, and I think they might have trouble finding an audience. And as for Bad Santa....eh.....I don't think it will do too good, despite John Ritter and Bernie Mac.

 

Top 5 for next week:

1. Haunted Mansion

2. Cat in the Hat

3. Elf

4. Timeline

5. Master and Commander

Edited November 24, 2003 by OlympicHeroRVD

[Guest FrigidSoul]

never under estimate the power of the whiney child audience

[Mole 0]

TimeLine will be number 1, the great Paul Walker is in it.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I've been reading reviews since I was under twelve, Rocco.

[claydude14 0]

No way Haunted Mansion will be #1, it should've come out a month ago.

[Mole 0]

It will be a horrible movie, but will probably be number 1.

[razazteca 0]

Timeline will be #6 behind all of the family movies.

[Guest NaturalBornThriller4:20]

1. The Haunted Mansion

 

2. Timeline

 

3. The Cat In The Hat

 

4. Elf

 

5. Master And Commander

 

-

-

 

8 . Bad Santa

 

I'm not sure where to place The Missing.

 

EDIT: Remember, it's a 5 day weekend, You never know.

[razazteca 0]

1. Haunted Mansion

2. Cat in the Hat

3. Elf

4. Master and Commander

5. The Missing

6. Timeline

[Guest Sturgis]

How would Haunted Mansion get #1? I've barely seen ads for it.

[razazteca 0]

Eddie Murphy and family movies are very profitable, well except Daddy Daycare.

[NYU 0]

Daddy Day Care was actually pretty profitable. The budget was around $60 million, but it wound up making about $105 million U.S. and $50 million overseas. Didn't do bad at all.

[Tawren 0]

I think Elf will take the top spot, maybe around 19 mil again. Cat will drop to 15 mil at most. Haunted Mansion will top out at 15 mil also. And Timeline will bomb huge.

 

Those are my predictions.

[Guest El Satanico]

1. Haunted Mansion

2. Elf

3. Cat in the Hat

4. Timeline

5. Master and Commander

6. Bad Santa

7. The Missing

 

 

Bad Santa or The Missing could surprise and make it into the top five.

[Guest Urine Sane]

I'm not expecting Bad Santa or Timeline to do TOO well next week.

 

I'll tell you right now, Bad Santa is gonna make some serious money. Everyone I know wants to see it.

[Guest El Satanico]

This could be a huge year for the thanksgiving box office.

 

There's 7 movies that have the potential to do big money. The varying target audiences will help. There's family movies, a movie the teens will want to see, adult dramatic movies and an r-rated comedy. In a weekend with either kid friendly humor or serious dramas, an r-rated comedy could be surprisingly well.

[cabbageboy 0]

Surprised no one pointed out an error in this article. It said the Matrix made 281 million, which is nowhere close to being true. Reloaded did make that much though.

[Vyce 0]

Glad to see that "Elf" is going to go over the 100 million mark - I'm glad to see Will Ferrell earn some success. He deserves it more than Mike Myers does these days.

 

"Master & Commander" did okay, I guess....I mean, it only lost what? A third of its audience? That's about normal, right?

 

Of the new films, the only one I think is even remotely interesting is "The Missing", but it'll do shit at the box office.

[the pinjockey 0]

M&C lost 40% since last week. And is up to 47 million, a long ways away from its total 180 million dollar budget. This is going to need to hang around for a while, to get near the budget.

[Guest El Satanico]

M&C lost 40% since last week.  And is up to 47 million, a long ways away from its total 180 million dollar budget.  This is going to need to hang around for a while, to get near the budget.

It still has foreign box office and DVD sales. Each are equally important as the US Box Office.

[Guest Choken One]

Thanksgiving is naturally a HUGE weekend...

 

With a Healthy dose of Family movies (Cat, Elf)...those two will split that market...

 

Haunted Mansion? WTF? Haven't seen ANY ads or HEARD of it...

 

Bad Santa could be a long term sleeper...Meaning it'll do modest (10-15 mil) the first week and catch good buzz...

[Guest El Satanico]

Haunted Mansion has been advertised where the target audience will see it. It'll take a peice of the family market, unless retarded parents think it'll scare little Johnny and Susie.

[the pinjockey 0]

M&C lost 40% since last week.  And is up to 47 million, a long ways away from its total 180 million dollar budget.  This is going to need to hang around for a while, to get near the budget.

It still has foreign box office and DVD sales. Each are equally important as the US Box Office.

Granted, but it seems like there is a glut of movies about to come out and they can't really afford to drop out already.

[Guest El Satanico]

It'll hang around for awhile. Down to around 10-12 mill next week, then around 7, then it'll hang around another 2 or 3 weeks making 3-5 million each.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Wow, Matrix has gone DOWN THE DRAIN. That's what you get when the movie sucks big balls.

 

I even think the first one was overrated.

Then you're bonkers.

 

As far as movies making money right now, it's the season for huge heartwarming family blockbusters, which is what I'd predict to do well in the upcoming weeks.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Master & Commander's success will come later, depending on whether it gets nominated for Best Picture or not.