U.S Box Office Report - 4th - 6th November 2005

1. Chicken Little - $40.1M $40.1M
2. Jarhead - $28.8M $28.8M
3. Saw II - $17.2M $60.5M
4. The Legend of Zorro - $10M $30.3M
5. Prime - $5.3M $13.5M
6. Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story - $4.8M $23.8M
7. Good Night, and Good Luck. - $3.1M $11M
8. The Weather Man - $2.94M $8.7M
9. Shopgirl - $2.52M $3.49M
10. Flightplan - $2.33M $84.5M

An insanely big opening for CGI kid movie Chicken Little. Disney are bound to be pleased with it considering it's their first attempt at an all CGI movie that didn't originate from Pixar, not to mention the almost universal panning the movie got by critics.

On the flip-side is Jarhead, the Sam Mendes gulf war drama that is being likened in some ways to a less action packed Three Kings. Starring Jake Darko (can't spell his real second name) the movie has had strong early word. Interesting to see that it has taken such money, especially with the 2nd gulf war still playing for real on CNN etc. It's not really anti-war as such or is it?

Saw II lost some of its box office from last week but still retained a good percentage (down 45% from last week). The film, apparently made for just $4M, has done amazing business. The same can't be said of Legend of Zorro or Prime, both of which have under performed, though out of the two, Prime lost the least box office ratio from last week.

Dreamer continues to attract from good word of mouth but a horse can't hold a candle to a CGI chicken and his friends. The George Clooney drama, Good Night and Good Luck added 385 screens to its total and saw its box office rise accordingly. The movie has been open for a number of weeks now but this is the first week the movie has gone wide (so to speak, it is still only being shown on 657 screens compared to the 2000-3000+ that the top four are being screened on. Good to see that intelligent historical drama (in B&W no less!) can still do the business.

Similarly but not as successfully, the Steve Martin movie Shopgirl added 451 screens to its total and has seen its box office improve by 444% (bear in mind it was on just 42 screens last week)

The Weather Man underperformed last week and continues to do so this week, losing another 30% of its already low box office for last week.

Flightplan still hangs in there at number 10 and refuses to go without a fight. Add it to the other sleeper hits of the year, The Wedding Crashers (which after 17 weeks of release is still in top 25!), March of the Penguins and the 40 Year Old Virgin.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang added a few more screens and will go wide next week