George Clooney may have wanted to seek treatment in the E.R. over the weekend as
he suffered a nasty beating at the box office. Although Leatherheads, the
film he directed and starred in, had been expected to earn $15-20 million and thereby
win the box office contest, it instead wound up with just 13.5 million and had to settle
for second place, according to studio estimates, with some analysts predicting it
will actually come in third when Sunday receipts are finally tallied. Sony/Columbia's
21, which surprisingly came in at No. 1 last week, surprisingly came in at No.
1 for the second week in a row with ticket sales of $15.1 million. The Jody Foster
family film Nim's Island from 20th Century Fox came in third with $13.3 million.
A third newcomer, the fright film The Ruins placed fifth with $7.8 million.
In limited release, Martin Scorsese's documentary concert film Shine a Light,
featuring a performance by the Rolling Stones, opened solidly with $1.5 million
from 276 theaters, 93 of them giant IMAX venues. Overall, the box office fell 23
percent compared to the same weekend a year ago. Some analysts blamed television's
coverage of the NCAA basketball championships, which in particular may have drawn
audiences away from the sports-themed Leatherheads.
The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media
by Numbers:
1. 21, $15.1 million; 2. Leatherheads, $13.5 million;
3. Nim's Island, $13.3 million; 4. Horton Hears a Who!, $9.1 million;
5. The Ruins, $7.8 million; 6. Superhero Movie, $5.4 million; 7. Tyler
Perry's Meet the Browns, $3.51 million; 8. Drillbit Taylor, $3.5 million;
9. Shutter, $2.9 million; 10. 10,000 B.C., $2.8 million.
07/04/2008
