U.S Box Office Report - 9th - 12th March 2006

1. Failure to Launch - $24.6M - $24.6M
2. The Shaggy Dog - $16M - $16M
3. The Hills Have Eyes - $15.5M - $15.5M
4. 16 Blocks - $7.3M - $22.7M
5. Madea's Family Reunion - $5.8M - $55.8M
6. Eight Below - $5.41M - $66.4M
7. Aquamarine - $3.65M - $12.2M
8. Ultraviolet - $3.6M - $14.8M
9. The Pink Panther - $3.6M - $74.6M
10. Date Movie - $2.5M - $44.3M

Well Failure to Launch certainly didn't have problems taking off. Seems like the horror movie, the rom-com will also always have a market. I'm guessing it has performed even better than studio estimates. The trailer didn't do much for me and I don't mind a good romantic comedy. Must be good news for Sarah Jessica Parker who is proving that she can have a career after Sex & The City.

Shaggy Dog drops in at number two with a decent amount but a disappointing return given that it was on 3,500 and was being pitched as family entertainment. Perhaps this tale of a man becoming a dog (and a better person at the same time) just wasn't what kids are looking for. Could CGI be killing the typical family movie off?

Horror remake Hills enters at three. Any other week this would have taken the box office no.1 but it'll have to settle for an impressive 3rd - impressive because it took only a million less than Shaggy Dog and was being screened on a thousand screens less. The movie has already recouped its low production budget proving yet again that horror sells and sells well.

16 Blocks holds on tight at four, dropping 38% of its business from last weekend. Still, a second weekend total of $7M doesn't bode well for the life of the movie given the number of new releases we'll see in the coming weeks.

Madea doesn't hold on as well as 16 Blocks and drops from the no1 spot to the no5. But things to bear in the mind - the film was made very cheaply, it's only on 1800 screens and it's already more than recouped it's production budget. Any money this movie made after that first Friday release date has been pretty much pure profit. The movie overtook Diary of Mad Black Woman's box office total over the weekend.

Eight Below continues to perform well in its fourth weekend, benefiting from good word of mouth for the cute huskie dogs and being on nearly 3000 screens. The same can't be said for Aquamarine, which lost over 50% of its business from last weekend, which wasn't that good to begin with. Plans for Splash 3 go back on the shelf.

Ultraviolet takes a hell of a tumble as well, losing 60% of its business in one week. Made quite cheaply, the movie may need to wait for DVD before it recoups its production budget and finds its audience, as Equilibrium did. Ultraviolet was apparently taken from director Kurt Wimmer, re-cut and released with little fanfare or hype. Wimmer refused to do any publicity and can you blame him?

The Pink Panther will drop out the top ten just shy of profit but Sony won't be too annoyed given this movie was handed less chance of success than a chocolate fire guard next to an inferno. The top ten is rounded out by Date Movie, which has quietly been taken in the cash for four weekends now and is comfortably into profit (and possible greenlight for Date Movie 2).

Of note in limited release is The Libertine. The Johnny Depp movie sits just outside the top ten having taken an impressive amount from just 815 screens.