‘Borat’ is No. 1 again at box office
For the political satire “Borat” and a pair of family films, “The Santa Clause 3” and “Flushed Away,” the weekend box office was as easy as one, two, three.
After shocking the movie business a week ago by topping the box office despite a scaled-back release in only 837 theaters, 20th Century Fox’s mock documentary “Borat” again finished at No. 1.
It generated an estimated $29 million in the U.S. and Canada after widening to 2,566 locations, the studio said Sunday.
Walt Disney Co.’s “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” and DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures’ “Flushed Away” again came in second and third, grossing $16.9 million and $16.7 million, respectively. It was the first time since July 2005 that the weekend’s top three films repeated a week later.
Although British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the star of “Borat,” is a relative newcomer to U.S. audiences, his politically incorrect comedy left in the dust new movies starring box-office powerhouses Will Ferrell and Russell Crowe.
This weekend’s 10% bump in business for “Borat” made Fox’s last-minute release strategy look shrewd. The studio created a ticket-buying frenzy last weekend by limiting showings, which helped build buzz as the movie tripled in locations this weekend.
“We made an event out of the first weekend,” said Bruce Snyder, Fox’s distribution president. “That’s hard to do in this business and it worked perfectly.”
“Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” averaged $11,302 per theater, down sharply from its opening weekend but by far the highest among the industry’s wide releases.
Starring Cohen as a boorish Kazakh journalist touring the U.S., “Borat” is drawing far bigger crowds in major cities than in the heartland, Snyder said.
Fox required the 1,729 theaters adding “Borat” this weekend to play the movie through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a move that is likely to help it sail past $100 million in domestic box-office receipts. Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the most lucrative holiday periods, and this year Fox and other studios will be jostling for theater space as a flurry of movies hits the market.
Among the weekend’s new wide releases, Sony Pictures’ “Stranger Than Fiction,” a comedy starring a relatively restrained Ferrell, opened to decent business in fourth place. But Fox’s romance “A Good Year,” starring Crowe, had a disastrous opening, and “The Return,” a supernatural thriller starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, launched with a whimper for Universal’s Focus Features label.
Bauer Martinez Studios and MGM’s “Harsh Times,” meanwhile, opened in moderately wide release and failed to crack the top 10.
“Stranger Than Fiction” met expectations with a $14.1-million launch.
“We think we’ve got a broad enough audience that this will work out fine as a start,” said Jeff Blake, Sony’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution.
“A Good Year” was bad news for Crowe, and for director Ridley Scott. Scott’s previous picture, “Kingdom of Heaven,” flopped.
“A Good Year” opened at No. 10 with a surprisingly low $3.8 million, averaging $1,827 per theater. The audience was 64% female and 53% older than 50, Snyder said.
“Therein lies the story: That’s a demographic that pays attention to reviews,” he said. “This movie needed to get the endorsements of the critics, but it got skewered rather harshly.”
“The Return” grossed $4.8 million, averaging $2,407 per theater. Familiarity may have hurt: Gellar was recently in the horror sequel “The Grudge 2.”
“Harsh Times” -- which Bauer Martinez bought for $4 million out of the 2005 Toronto Film Festival in its attempt to launch an independent distribution company -- fell shy of expectations with a gross of $1.8 million at 956 theaters.
That won’t help the awards chances of star Christian Bale, who has garnered glowing notices for his performance in the gritty thriller.
In their second weekends, “The Santa Clause 3” and “Flushed Away” held up strongly.
“The Santa Clause 3,” starring Tim Allen, dropped only 13%, while the animated rodent tale “Flushed Away” slipped a mere 11%.
Opening on the same day hurt both big-budget pictures last weekend by splitting the family audience. Both movies, however, benefited this weekend from the Veterans Day holiday.
In its first major expansion, Paramount Vantage’s “Babel” finished sixth, grossing $5.7 million. The drama, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, averaged $4,517 per theater after widening to 1,251 locations in its third weekend.
Among specialty releases, Sony Pictures Classics’ “Volver” averaged a solid $34,468 at five theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The distributor plans to add six more markets Nov. 22.
Industrywide, ticket sales were about even with the same weekend a year ago. Year to date, receipts are up 6.4%.
No three-peat is likely for “Borat” and the rival family films this weekend.
Two of the fall’s potential blockbusters, the James Bond series reboot “Casino Royale” and the animated penguin musical “Happy Feet,” are coming out Friday and are expected to battle for the top spot.
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Box office
Preliminary results (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:
*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Borat $29.0 $67.8
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause 16.9 41.1
Flushed Away 16.7 39.9
Stranger Than Fiction 14.1 14.1
Saw III 6.6 69.9
Babel 5.7 7.5
The Departed 5.2 109.8
The Return 4.8 4.8
The Prestige 4.6 46.0
A Good Year 3.8 3.8
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Industry totals
*--* 3-day gross Change (in millions) from 2005 $126.0 +0.2%
Year-to-date gross Change (in billions) from 2005 $7.99 +6.4%
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*--* Source: Exhibitor Relations Co. Los Angeles Times
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