Monday's Box Office Roundup

Good morning movie lovers! Like most of you who participated in this week's box-office prediction, Patricia accurately guessed which movies would land in the top five, but who would've thought that there would be a Kazakh attack for No. 1? Here's what Patricia predicted:

But here's how the weekend grosses actually ended up:

Borat, $26.4 million

The Santa Clause 3, $20.0 million

Flushed Away, $19.1 million

Saw III, $15.5 million

The Departed, $8 million

And after a lot of simple addition, here's where everyone is in the weekly standings:

Patricia -- this week: 7 points/total: 46 points (after 4 weeks)
chrisnbn -- 16 points/45 points (4 weeks)
zsxxx03 -- 12 points/37 points (3 weeks)
crzydcguy84 -- 9 points/35 points (4 weeks)
drurd2006 -- 11 points/23 points (2 weeks)
mrheenster -- 6 points/20 points (3 weeks)
brldisteach -- 12 points (1 week)
aargabrite -- 11 points (1 week)
zippylizardhead --10 points (1 week)
golfman -- 7 points (1 week)
jecmen24 -- 7 points (1 week)

On paper, 'Santa Clause 3' looked like the perfect first choice. It's the last in a popular holiday franchise that has grossed $285 million domestically. It once again stars Tim Allen, a comedic A-lister whose many films havemade more than $800 million to date. And then there's the fact that it opened in more than 3,400 sites. That's roughly 2,600 more theaters than 'Borat' debuted in on Friday, so how could it not outearn the competition? Obviously the facts didn't take into account the viral, inescapable, ubiquitous persona that is Borat Sagdiyev, the Kazakh "reporter" who has invaded all aspects of American media these last few weeks.

Good news, Borat. You will not be executed. In fact, you can now let the fermented goat urine flow freely and pay for more than $10 of hand relief. Despite showing in only 837 screens, 'Borat' got a huge high-five from the American audiences, averaging more than $31,000 per theater -- a feat usually reserved for 'Star Wars'-like openings.

The studios behind the No. 2 and No. 3 family-oriented films, 'Santa Clause 3' and 'Flushed Away,' shouldn't worry, though. With the holidays approaching, both flicks should expect to stay in the top 10 for quite a while. Because as much as Borat appeals to the teen (specifically male teen) demographic, it's about as kid-friendly as 'Saw III.'

Thanks for playing, and good luck with next week's predictions!

POST: What do you think of the weekend's box office?

Tags: Borat, Santa Clause 3, Saw III, Flushed Away, The Departed, Sacha Baron Cohen, box office

Written by summermovieblog Blog about this entry

This entry has 3 comments: (Add your own)

#3 Comment from nmgallery
11/7/06 12:53 PM | Permalink

Barat is a pathetic comedy wanting to make fun and insulting anything and anybody to make a buck . It is not a surpise, considering who made it. And to all Americans shame on you for supporting such trash of a movie. He used a poor country and deceived those people that he was making a comedy movie when in fact he was making a dirty story for a profit. Bet you money he did not give a penny to those poor folks he used in his movie.
#2 Comment from frn0003
11/6/06 7:27 PM | Permalink

We enjoyed this fun comedy to the fullest. We never laughted so hard . It truly made my hetick weekend with all smiles and jokes. Love it and want to see more.
#1 Comment from saltzman21
11/6/06 2:43 PM | Permalink

That makes this movie unique is the conflict comparison between what is considered politically incorrect as exibited by Borat, and accepted main stream USA values that some other people condider incorrect.

What makes it a boxoffice success is that the politically incorrect behavure can be inturpeted as snubing authority or the accepted values of authority.

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