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[Santo]

LOS ANGELES - Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" took in a whopping $21.8 million in its first three days, becoming the first documentary ever to debut as Hollywood's top weekend film.

If Sunday's estimates hold when final numbers are released Monday, "Fahrenheit 9/11" would set a record in a single weekend as the top-grossing documentary ever outside of concert films and movies made for huge-screen IMAX theaters.

"Bowling for Columbine," Moore's 2002 Academy Award-winning documentary, previously held the documentary record with $21.6 million.

1. "Fahrenheit 9/11," $21.8 million.

2. "White Chicks," $19.6 million.

3. "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," $18.5 million.

4. "The Terminal," $13.9 million.

5. "The Notebook," $13 million.

6. "Harry Potter (news - web sites) and the Prisoner of Azkaban," $11.4 million.

7. "Shrek 2," $10.5 million.

8. "Garfield: The Movie," $7 million.

9. "Two Brothers," $6.2 million.

10. "The Stepford Wives," $5.2 million.

link

eat that, bush.

 

[Dead]

White Chicks made way too much money

 

[Chesapeake Silt]

This is all part of GWB's plan to boost the economy. Piss off Michael Moore and get people to spend millions at the box office. HE'S BRILLIANT, I TELL YOU!

 

[Eggo]

White Chicks must be stopped. And why is Garfield still in the top 10? <loses faith in humanity>

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Early reviews for White Chicks were positive, remarking on how it's not focused on stereotypes exclusively but a good comedy.

Either way, congrats to Moore. It was a good film. I wonder if a wider release is on tap.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

"This is a testament to Michael Moore. His voice resonates across the country in what I think we can all now fairly describe as America's movie," said Tom Ortenberg, the president of distribution at Lions Gate Films, which backed the movie.

He said in a conference call that the film played strongly in both Democrat and Republican states, even drawing sell-out crowds in Republican strongholds like Nassau County, N.Y., and Fayetteville, N.C., home of Fort Bragg.

Lions Gate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., partnered on the film's distribution with IFC Films, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp.'s Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and Miramax co-chairmen Harvey and Bon Weinstein. The Weinsteins bought the movie's rights with their own money after Miramax parent Walt Disney Co. refused to let them release it under the Miramax banner.

The movie cost about $6 million to make, according to Moore. Additionally, the distributors spent less than $10 million -- a relatively modest sum -- to market the movie, said Ortenberg.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/27/news/box_office.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes
Some will be interested in reading this.

 

[Eggo]

White Chicks and Garfield both scored below 15% on rottentomatoes. Who supports these movies?

 

[fart]

White Chicks and Garfield both scored below 15% on rottentomatoes. Who supports these movies?

SHUT UP MEDIA PIRACY IS RUINING AMERICA

 

[sc0la]

well it looks to pass Bowling for Columbine in lifetimes ticket sales over one weekend.

 

[DMczaf]

Top 10 Documentaries at the box office

1 Fahrenheit 9/11 FAG $21,958,000

2 Bowling for Columbine UA $21,576,018

3 Winged Migration SPC $11,689,053

4 Super Size Me IDP $9,517,000

5 Hoop Dreams FL $7,830,611

6 Tupac: Resurrection Par. $7,718,961

7 Roger and Me WB $6,706,368

8 Spellbound Think $5,728,581

9 Touching the Void IFC $4,593,598

10 The Fog of War SPC $4,198,566


Jordan should be there!

Michael Jordan to the Max Imax $18,650,521

 

[Matlock]

Top 10 Documentaries at the box office

1 Fahrenheit 9/11 FAG $21,958,000

Haha!

 

[Socreges]

Didn't Fahrenheit 9/11 only open in select cities, too?

Early reviews for White Chicks were positive, remarking on how it's not focused on stereotypes exclusively but a good comedy.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/WhiteChicks-1133505/

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

In stories about F9/11 and BfC's money-making, I always see the disclaimer about it not including concert documentaries. What are some examples of these successful concert documentaries they're excluding? Box Office Mojo's documentary section just says NOTE: Large format, concert (music and comedy) , compilation and reality TV movies omitted., but I don't see that they have a separate section for those...


Regardless, topping an all-time record in one weekend is pretty impressive.

 

[Ripclawe]

Didn't Fahrenheit 9/11 only open in select cities, too?

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/WhiteChicks-1133505/

no, but it did drop from Friday to Saturday which is unusual.

 

[Socreges]

no, but it did drop from Friday to Saturday which is unusual.

Every commercial I've seen has said "Now playing in select cities. Open everywhere on July 2nd." -- but I guess that's just another calculated lie from the terrible Michael Moore, eh Ripclawe??

And you mentioned its drop surely as if to reply a significant reason. Do tell.

 

[Ripclawe]

Every commercial I've seen has said "Now playing in select cities. Open everywhere on July 2nd." -- but I guess that's just another calculated lie from the terrible Michael Moore, eh Ripclawe??

And you mentioned its drop surely as if to reply a significant reason. Do tell.

oy..

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040627/leisure_boxoffice_2.html

 

[Socreges]

oy..

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040627/leisure_boxoffice_2.html

That wasn't necessary. I didn't say you were lying. Just a sweet jab.

 

[fart]

he was asking you to explicate dude

 

[Ripclawe]

box office take usually jumps from Friday to Saturday, not drop, indicates to me this is a front loaded movie.

 

[Socreges]

box office take usually jumps from Friday to Saturday, not drop, indicates to me this is a front loaded movie.

I think the majority of the people that would see this film would be the type to watch it on the first opportunity. Therefore, Friday > Saturday. But I don't think that indicates a drop from here on out. If anything, I think it'll see one of the more minor declines from w/e to w/e.

Turns out that ad WAS half-way right:

All told, the movie's total stands at $21.96 million, because it got a head-start on Wednesday in two Manhattan theaters to help build more media buzz before expanding to a relatively modest 868 theaters two days later. (By contrast, most of the other movies in the top five were playing in more than 2,500 theaters each.)

I guess it will expand more next w/e.

 

[fart]

i don't think it's as simple as front-loaded vs back-loaded simply because it's still in limited release

 

[sc0la]

In stories about F9/11 and BfC's money-making, I always see the disclaimer about it not including concert documentaries. What are some examples of these successful concert documentaries they're excluding? Box Office Mojo's documentary section just says NOTE: Large format, concert (music and comedy) , compilation and reality TV movies omitted., but I don't see that they have a separate section for those...


Regardless, topping an all-time record in one weekend is pretty impressive.

I think a movie that is just showing a comedy show, or a rock concert is considered a documentary, but a "concert documentary."

Things they would be excluding would be Martin Lawrences Run Tel Dat, Notorious C.H.O. (or whatever), and anykind of movie that was actually a concert. They don't have a section for them. As far as I can tell the don't really track them.

 

[Fifty]

Imagine what this would have made if it had been on the same number of screens as White Chicks ;o

 

[Escape Goat]

I saw Chronicles of Riddick last night. Lord, I should have chose Dodgeball.

 

[All Hail C-Webb]

F911 will definately suffer big drops, though they may hold off untill after the July 4th weekend.
It's an "opening weekend" movie. Love it or Hate it. Spiderman 2. It's a tough sell to anybody but its core audience (who has already seen it).
It's still going to be the highest grossing (non Imax) documentary ever, and is currently the 3rd biggest suprise of the year after POTC and Shrek 2.

Great holds for Dodgeball (could top $100), and The Terminal, and a great start for White Chicks. Shrek 2 is continuing to have incredible holds, and it has a chance of reaching $450 mil and becoming the 3rd highest grossing (domestic) movie of all time.

Next weekend is a 5 day weekend, so you can expect small drops for all the holdovers, and Spiderman 2 to open north of $150 million.

Box Office Games
If you're interested in the box office, this site has some great games. THe seasonal challenges are the most popular, and though you will have no chance of winning, you could still sign up for the summer game so that you know what to do for next time.

 

[teiresias]

Box office total rankings also don't include IMAX films, most of which would be considered documentaries, and I believe the most succesfull, "Everest," made something like $121 million worldwide. Of course, IMAX films have weird booking schedules and often that total is spread out over an entire year of staggered releases at different groups of theaters.

Anyway, this is obviously going to be frontloaded, it's a documentary after all. Besides, anything opening this weekend is bound to look front-loaded after Spider-Man 2 comes out on Wednesday.

 

[sc0la]

Edit: ^^^Everest rocks.

Imagine what this would have made if it had been on the same number of screens as White Chicks ;o

I would guess not too terribly much more than it would otherwise. Other than the number of people who will want to see but will be anauble to because of location, which I don't guess is some earth shattering number, The ticket sales would have just diluted to other theaters. This wouldn't have sold to packed houses on all 2000 screens.

If anything being on "only" 800 screens contributed to the buzz because those places were selling out. Being a frontloaded movie, the "packed houses" effect may get some hype watchers to come in over the next week who may not have gone if the movie wasn't meeting crowds in its smaller distribution size.

 

[All Hail C-Webb]

Anyway, this is obviously going to be frontloaded, it's a documentary after all. Besides, anything opening this weekend is bound to look front-loaded after Spider-Man 2 comes out on Wednesday.

Actually, next weekend you will be comparing 5 days of grosses to 3 days, it will look like most movies have had very small drops, or more likely, increases.

We should start predicting Spiderman grosses since some of you seem to know your box office.
I'm predicting $170,000,00 for the 5 days.

 

[All Hail C-Webb]

Edit: ^^^Everast rocks.


I would guess not to terribly much more than it would otherwise. Other than the number of people who will want to see but will be anauble to because of location, which I don't guess is some earth shattering number, The ticket sales would have just diluted to other theaters. This wouldn't have sold to packed houses on all 2000 screens.

If anything being on "only" 800 screens contributed to the buzz because those places were selling out. Being a frontloaded movie, the "packed houses" effect may get some hype watchers to come in over the next week who may not have gone if the movie wasn't meeting crowds in its smaller distribution size.

I agree completely. Also, even though the movie was only playing in 800 theatres, it had as many theatres in Manhattan as most movies that open in 3000+. The movie would not do nearly as well in Middle America, where Bush has alot more supporters. The gross would have gone up if the movie had a wider release, but the PTA would have been alot lower.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

I'd like to see Two Brothers simply 'cause Jean-Jacques Annaud is awesome; The Bear reduces me to a blubbering mess every time it's on. I'm such a sucker for cute baby animal movies...

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

"The movie would not do nearly as well in Middle America, where Bush has alot more supporters."


"the film played strongly in both Democrat and Republican states, even drawing sell-out crowds in Republican strongholds like Nassau County, New York and Fayetteville, N.C., home of Fort Bragg."

 

[fart]

"The movie would not do nearly as well in Middle America, where Bush has alot more supporters."


"the film played strongly in both Democrat and Republican states, even drawing sell-out crowds in Republican strongholds like Nassau County, New York and Fayetteville, N.C., home of Fort Bragg."

hello, nurse!

 

[Manders]

Well I guess the only positive thing for me is that I bought a call option on F911 on hsx. Go me! :rock

 

[All Hail C-Webb]

Middle America is not Nassau County and New York. I am in New York, I used New York in my example. We fucking hate Bush over here, I don't care what this article said.

Edit: Did they call New York a Republican stronghold???? Just because we choose Republican Mayors in the city, doesn't make us a Republican state.

 

[sprsk]

the theatre here in knoxville was packed for every showing.

mind you it was playing in one theatre, it was still filled up to the brim and they were turning people away.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Everybody in NY seems to hate bush, at least in NYC...I think the reason they think of NY as a republican stronghold is because we have republicans as state governor and mayor.

 

[Che]

eat that, bush.

 

[Manders]

Yeah, Bush must be crying since he passed on being an executive producer.

 

[TekunoRobby]

I'll be avoiding this movie. Thankfully Spider Man is coming out next week so I'll have something decent to watch.

 

[xsarien]

Middle America is not Nassau County and New York. I am in New York, I used New York in my example. We fucking hate Bush over here, I don't care what this article said.

Edit: Did they call New York a Republican stronghold???? Just because we choose Republican Mayors in the city, doesn't make us a Republican state.

They called a specific county of New York a Republican stronghold, which, to certain varying degrees, probably does have an air of truth to it. But New York Republicans, like most elected California Republicans, are exceedingly moderate in their views. Throw them into the south, and they'd be labeled Democrats pretty quickly.

Also note that upstate New York (where "upstate" begins for you is up for debate, of course) is much, much more conservative than NYC and its outlying suburbs. It's why Hillary spends most of her time in the northern part of the state, and actively fights for that region as well. She needs/wants to show them that Democrats aren't so bad after all. And if a recent NY Times article is any indication, her efforts are kinda/sorta paying off.

 

[Malakhov]

This year's documentary is only coming out next month.

Some Kind Of Monster.

Thank you very much.

 

[mjq jazz bar]

I am in one of the most Republican counties in America, and the movie was sold out at every theater within.

Just for reference, I live in Collin County, Texas.

SUCK IT!

 

[All Hail C-Webb]

I am in one of the most Republican counties in America, and the movie was sold out at every theater within.

Just for reference, I live in Collin County, Texas.

SUCK IT!

Why would anyone suck it? Unless you've got a really great dick, you have to come up with something better than "Suck it" if you want to get some action.

F911 is just another movie, why would anyone (excluding Bush and his administration) be pissed off if it does well. People who hate Bush and see it will still hate him after the movie, and people who love him will still love him. Then you have the people in the middle, and I don't think they will be effected at all by the movie (no one is taking it as straight fact). It's a movie, and it's supposedly entertaining, it deserves to be succesful.

 

[xsarien]

Why would anyone suck it? Unless you've got a really great dick, you have to come up with something better than "Suck it" if you want to get some action.

F911 is just another movie, why would anyone (excluding Bush and his administration) be pissed off if it does well.

People who take politics to heart. Like, say, criticizing Bush is, to them, tantamount to punching their mother in the stomach.

Then sleeping with her.

 

[iapetus]

If White Chicks had been the number one movie, Michael Moore would be justified in hating America.

 

[mjq jazz bar]

Why would anyone suck it? Unless you've got a really great dick, you have to come up with something better than "Suck it" if you want to get some action.

F911 is just another movie, why would anyone (excluding Bush and his administration) be pissed off if it does well. People who hate Bush and see it will still hate him after the movie, and people who love him will still love him. Then you have the people in the middle, and I don't think they will be effected at all by the movie (no one is taking it as straight fact). It's a movie, and it's supposedly entertaining, it deserves to be succesful.

No. SUCK IT!

 

[Minotauro]

If White Chicks had been the number one movie, Michael Moore would be justified in hating America.

Please ignore if you were being sarcastic but can you please explain to me how Michael Moore hates America?

 

[sc0la]

Please ignore if you were being sarcastic but can you please explain to me how Michael Moore hates America?

I didn't take that he said he hated america, just that he wouldn't blame him if he hated america after white chicks beat it. Kind of like when Mikami hated Japan after Kingdom Hearts spanked RE's ass

 

[fart]

hey man, the wayans brothers are an american institution

 

[sc0la]

hey man, the wayans brothers are an american institution

Keanon maybe