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4 articles from 2004

6 April 2004 | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »

[/I] Home on the Range may have seemed like a firing range to some Disney studio executives after weekend box-office returns showed that the $100-million animated feature had grossed only $13.9 million in its first week, putting it in fourth place behind the second week of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times indicated that the studio may be forced to take a write-down on the film and quoted analyst Jordan Rohan of Schwab SoundView as describing the performance as "very disappointing." The result also increases the pressure on CEO Michael Eisner and his cohorts, who have promised prodigious earnings growth this year. Two other recent Disney releases, Hidalgo and The Ladykillers, also showed mediocre returns. However, several other analysts have observed that other animated features from Disney have opened poorly in the past but have gone on to become profitable -- largely as a result of strong home video sales and overseas performance.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Hellboy, Sony, $23,172,440, (New); 2. Walking Tall, MGM, $15,501,114, (New); 3. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Warner Bros. $14,788,422, 2 Wks. ($49,746,466); 4. Home on the Range, Disney, $13,880,771, (New); 5. The Passion of the Christ, Newmarket , $10,605,106, 6 Wks. ($330,856,971); 6. The Prince and Me, Paramount, $9,406,378, (New); 7. The Ladykillers, Disney, $7,090,016, 2 Wks. ($23,482,792); 8. Jersey Girl, Miramax, $5,124,554, 2 Wks. ($15,826,301); 9. Dawn of the Dead, Universal, $4,584,365, 3 Wks. ($51,759,940); 10. Taking Lives, Warner Bros. $3,495,271, 3 Wks. ($27,473,161). »

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5 April 2004 | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »

It was no Spider-Man, but Sony's Hellboy produced some super numbers at the box office over the weekend. The boy-out-of-hell movie debuted with an estimated $23.5 million to lead the domestic box office, performing as analysts had predicted. MGM's Walking Tall also fulfilled their predictions, earning about $15.3 million for second place. In its second week, Warner Bros.' Scooby-Doo 2, with $15.1 million, topped the debut of Disney's Home on the Range, with $14 million. A fourth new entry, The Prince and Me, starring Julia Stiles, took in $10 million. Meanwhile, in its sixth week, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ continued to attract devoted fans as it earned $9.8 million, to bring its total-to-date to $330.1 million. Ticket sales for the top 12 films came in at around $114.5 million -- some 39 percent above results for the comparable weekend a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Hellboy, $23.5 million; 2. Walking Tall, $15.3 million; 3. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, $15.1 million; 4. Home on the Range, $14 million; 5. The Prince and Me, $10 million; 6. The Passion of the Christ, $9.9 million; 7. The Ladykillers, $7 million; 8. Jersey Girl, $5.1 million; 9. Dawn of the Dead, $4.4 million; 10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, $3.6 million. »

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2 April 2004 | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »

The box office will be crowded with new entries this weekend, with two strong newcomers competing for the young male ticket buyer and one new family film vying with last week's top earner. Hellboy, based on the Dark Horse comic book character, played by Ron Perlman, will be going head-to-head against Walking Tall, starring The Rock (Dwayne Johnson). At the same time, Disney's hand-drawn animated feature Home on the Range will be competing against last week's champ, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. There's also a film aimed squarely at teenage girls, The Prince & Me, directed by Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl), and starring Julia Stiles. »

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2 April 2004 | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »

Many critics are giving The Prince & Me , starring Julia Stiles, the royal shaft. Lou Lumenick in the New York Post figures that the "only possible excuse for this interminable and hackneyed fairy tale is Stiles' real-life need to pay her tuition bills at Columbia University. It may beat waitressing, but not by much." Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post seems to think that the film is the kind that leaves hardly any impression on the memory. "The movie is too bland and immediately disposable to raise many hackles," she writes. "Bland" is an adjective used frequently in reviews of the movie, such as Manohla Dargis's in the Los Angeles Times, who calls the film "a blandly diverting, chastely conceived and grammatically challenged fairy tale for our bland, chaste and grammatically challenged age." »

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4 articles from 2004