Madagascar wins weekend, breaks $100million

[speck76]

All Reuters Movie News
Cartoon animals beat up Crowe at U.S. box office
Sunday June 5 2:22 PM ET

The cartoon critters of "Madagascar" ended the two-week reign of the final "Star Wars" movie at the North American box office on Sunday, while Russell Crowe's acclaimed boxing movie "Cinderella Man" opened at a disappointing fourth.

"Madagascar" sold about $28.7 million worth of tickets for the three days beginning June 3, according to closely held DreamWorks SKG, which distributed the film on behalf of corporate sibling DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Its two-week total rose to $101 million.

The company's stock fell 7 percent on Tuesday, the first day of trading after the U.S. Memorial Day holiday, amid investor disappointment with the film's $61 million opening.


"Madagascar" reached the century mark five days earlier than the studio's "Shark Tale" last fall and one day faster than the first "Shrek" in May 2001. The plot revolves around the residents of a zoo who break out and discover that life in the wild is not what they expected.


Days to reach $100 million in sales:
Shrek 2....5
Finding Nemo....8
The Incredibles....8
Monsters Inc....9
Madagascar....10
Shrek....13
Ice Age....15
Shark Tale....15
Toy Story 2....16
Tarzan....17
Lilo and Stitch....17
The Lion King....20
Dinosaur....20

 

[Computer Magic]

The longest yard bet Star Wars this week but only with estimates totals. It was very close. Does this mean Star Wars is losing steam?


<TABLE id=boxinline cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=583><TBODY><TR vAlign=center align=middle><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=20>This Week</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=20>Last Week</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff">Film Title</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=70>Weekend Gross</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=45>Theaters</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=55>Theater Average</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=60>Weeks in Release</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" width=75>Total Gross</TD></TR><TR vAlign=center align=middle><TD>1</TD><TD>3</TD><TD style="FONT-STYLE: italic; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e9eaf0">Madagascar</TD><TD>$28,700,000</TD><TD>4142</TD><TD>$6,929</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>$100,968,000</TD></TR><TR vAlign=center align=middle><TD>2</TD><TD>2</TD><TD style="FONT-STYLE: italic; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e9eaf0">The Longest Yard</TD><TD>$26,100,000</TD><TD>3634</TD><TD>$7,182</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>$95,804,000</TD></TR><TR vAlign=center align=middle><TD>3</TD><TD>1</TD><TD style="FONT-STYLE: italic; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e9eaf0">Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith</TD><TD>$26,000,000</TD><TD>3650</TD><TD>$7,123</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>$308,805,000</TD></TR><TR vAlign=center align=middle><TD>4</TD><TD>-</TD><TD style="FONT-STYLE: italic; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e9eaf0">Cinderella Man</TD><TD>$18,615,000</TD><TD>2812</TD><TD>$6,619</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>$18,615,000</TD></TR><TR vAlign=center align=middle><TD>5</TD><TD>-</TD><TD style="FONT-STYLE: italic; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e9eaf0">The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants</TD><TD>$10,245,000</TD><TD>2583</TD><TD>$3,966</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>$13,987,000</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[NemoRocks78]

Does this mean Star Wars is losing steam?

It definitely is....$400 million is no longer a realistic finishing number, especially since films like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Batman Begins are opening in the coming weeks.

As for Madagascar....it still has a shot at $200 million. On this same weekend in 2001, Shrek made $28.1m (the only competition being Pearl Harbor). Shrek and Madagascar also had similar Memorial Day Weekends ($55.2 and $61m). Shrek had a 41% drop the next weekend, pulling in $16.1m, and then had drops of less than 25% for the next four weekends. If Madagascar can pull off a similar run (which isn't hard, especially since the only kid film out until 7/15 is The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3D and that will only appeal to 7-10 year olds, whereas Madagascar is for everyone) with strong weekday numbers (schools are starting to get out now so that's possible), it should be able to get past $200 million. If it can't do that though, it should definitely be able to pass Shark Tale and Ice Age.

 

[KevinPage]

"Madagascar" sold about $28.7 million worth of tickets for the three days beginning June 3, according to closely held DreamWorks SKG, which distributed the film on behalf of corporate sibling DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Its two-week total rose to $101 million.

As they say, there really is no accounting for 'taste' these days :lol: