U.S Box Office Report - 28th - 30th July 2006

1. Miami Vice - $25.2M - $25.2M
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - $20.5M - $358M
3. John Tucker Must Die - $14.1M - $14.1M
4. Monster House - $11.5M - $43.9M
5. The Ant Bully - $8.14M - $8.14M
6. Lady in the Water - $7M - $32.1M
7. You, Me and Dupree - $7M - $59M
8. Little Man - $5.1M - $50.2M
9. The Devil Wears Prada - $4.78M - $107M
10. Clerks II - $3.94M - $18.5M

The reign of the pirates comes to an end in its fourth weekend, but only just. Miami Vice takes the top spot with a $25M opening weekend, which falls in line with Michael Mann's previous movie, Collateral. Early word had been mixed on the remake and its extended running time (146 minutes) and R rating might have hindered it from making more. (the latter being the big hindrance here). A few have suggested confusion over the movies given that it bears little in common with its 80s heritage other than character names. How much this had an effect is debatable.


With that knowledge in mind, Vice probably opened about right for expectations. The movie needs to show some staying power in the coming weeks in order to make a dent in its production budget. Perhaps the movie will go down as being the one that took Pirates 2 off the top rather than anything else? Time will tell. Personally I think it looks pretty damn good.

Pirates drops just one spot and still manages a weekend of over $20M. It's current total sits at $358M and it can counted on to not drop quietly into the night.

The surprise this week was teen comedy John Tucker Must Die, which covered over 2/3 of its budget in its opening weekend. Tapping into the same market that made movies like Mean Girls a success, it appealed to teenage/female demographic who aren't currently being served by any other movie in the top ten. The film features Desperate Housewife player Jesse Metcalfe as a guy cheating on three different girls who join forces and cause him to fall for a girl they've set up to break his heart.

Monster House saw a 48% drop in business from last weekend which is probably a little higher than Sony would have liked but the movie did face competition from this week's CGI film, The Ant Bully, which had a poor opening of just $8M.

Again, like Superman Returns, fingers are already being pointed at the marketing department of Warner Bros for mishandling the movie. Perhaps the market has just become aware that CGI movies aren't always going to be of Pixar standard simply because they're CGI. Furthermore, if they don't like this one they there will be yet another weekend.

After a lacklustre opening weekend for You, Me & Dupree, the movie is showing some staying power, chalking up another $7M this weekend, bringing its overall taking to $59M. This weekend sees the movie surpass its production budget.

Lady In the Water sees a massive drop of 61% this weekend. The movie has so far taken $32M from a budget of $55M but opinion on the movie seems to have fiercely divided cinemagoers, with some seeing it as charming & delightful, others a self-indulgent mess. With a number of new movies opening next weekend it'll need all its luck to stay in the top ten after just three weekends. A far cry from Signs & The Sixth Sense.

After a near neck and neck start with Dupree, Little Man has seens its takings diminish much quicker on a week by week basis. The Wayans comedy sits at $50M this weekend and won't recoup its production budget before it ends its run. Expect a swift DVD release to follow. The Wayans previous flick, White Chicks, had stronger box office and a good DVD run to follow up with. Little Man might find a home yet on DVD.

In its 5th weekend The Devil Wears Prada has finally seen off the man of steel, someone it has been fighting ever since they clashed on opening weekend 5 weeks ago. Devil is a resounding success, seeing itself cross the fabled $100M barrier during the week. The movie has nearly tripled its production budget.

The top ten is rounded out by Clerks 2, which saw a predicted large drop from last weekend. Smith's films are heavily front-loaded, with many core fans going on the first weekend, leaving a weaker box office in its second weekend. Still the Weinstein brothers are on record as saying that if they movie does $20M during its run then they're more than happy. The movie should cross that line by next weekend. Technically the movie recouped its production budget a few months before it was even released thanks to the foreign pre-sale market.

One new entry opening limited was Scoop, the new flick from Woody Allen, starring Hugh Jackman & Scarlett Johansson. A disappointment for Allen after the success of Match Point last year.