U.S Box Office Report - 27th - 29th January 2006

It might not look like it but this box office report taught me a valuable lesson. After slating Big Momma's House 2 I got pulled up by 11 Herbs N Spices, an RLLMUK regular. He argued that just because I didn't enjoy a film didn't mean others wouldn't - and perhaps I was being a bit of a film snob. From this point on I tried my best not to bring my personal thoughts on a movie/star/director into the box office report. I can't confess to always succeeding, but lesson learnt.

1. Big Momma's House 2 - $28M - $28M
2. Nanny McPhee - $14.1M - $14.1M
3. Underworld: Evolution - $11.1M - $44.3M
4. Annapolis - $7.71M - $7.71M
5. Hoodwinked - $7.38M - $37.7M
6. Brokeback Mountain - $6.35M - $50.8M
7. Glory Road - $5.16M - $34.8M
8. Last Holiday - $4.8M - $32.6M
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - $4.41M - $278M
10. The Matador - $3.8M - $5.5M

Well what is there to say about a box office weekend that gives us Big Momma's House 2 at the top of the charts? Scarier still is that the movie took more than its predecessor by almost $3M! Reviews were universally bad so god knows who's going to see it? Perhaps there's nothing else to see?

In at two is the Emma Thompson/Bad Mary Poppins movie Nanny McPhee. Doing much better than it did the UK where it sank without much of a trace really. Amazing what Colin Firth can do for a movie. It had the 2nd highest screen/showing total of any movie in the top ten.

Last weeks number one drop two places and loses 58% of its box office in the process. Underworld 2 should slink into profit soon and possibly secure a third movie. Doing respectable elsewhere too.

At four is the last of the new entries this week. A slightly reworked take on An Officer and a Gentleman, Annapolis was pretty much dumped onto the market at a time when some studios are clearing out their backlog of movies.

Hoodwinked doesn't seem to be doing as well as the studio had hoped. After a strong start the movie is struggling to pass the $40M mark. Certainly not anything for Pixar to worry about or even Disney, who's Chicken Little did sterling business.

Brokeback Mountain drops a place even though it added another 450+ screens to its total. Certainly the sleeper hit of the start of the year but box office wise it has probably reached its pinnacle. Come Oscar night it'll probably be heading to DVD so it won't pick up a great deal of business that way. Still, the movie has excellent word of mouth, a bundle of plaudits already, not to mention a good profit.

Glory Road and Last Holiday both continue to drop down the charts, neither getting close to recouping their takings. Perhaps cinema-goers have had enough of feel-good sports dramas and Queen Latifah vehicles. Narnia at no.9 crosses the $275M mark.

Finally, after being in a limited release for a few weeks, the Pierce Brosnan Hitman-over-the-hill comedy/drama has entered the top ten with $3.8M. The movie has so far taken over $5M for a production cost of $12.5M.

A few films opened in very limited numbers, such as Soderbergh's experimental movie "Bubble" which received an almost simultaneous cinema, DVD and download release. Tristram Shandy opened on just three screens and took about $60,000. The movie will add screens in the coming weeks.