Friday Box Office Analysis (11/5)
The Incredibles poster
By Lee Tistaert     Published November 6, 2004
If so, that would put the Pixar flick in the low-$70 million range for the weekend, which would put it face to face with Nemo?s $70.3 million bow.
Booked in almost as many theaters as Shrek 2 (which was 4,163), Pixar?s new adventure, The Incredibles, instead came closer to their debut of Monsters Inc. (in terms of per-screen average). The film took in a massive $20.9 million on Friday in 3,933 theaters, averaging a huge $5,326 per-screen. In comparison, Pixar?s Finding Nemo opened last year to the tune of $20.2 million, though in 3,374 theaters, for a more impressive $5,989 average; Monsters Inc. played in 3,237 theaters and grossed $17.8 million ($5,513 per-screen).

The Incredibles should find itself playing similarly to Monsters, with a Saturday increase of 45 - 50% likely (to $30/31 million), with a Sunday haul of possibly $22.0 million. If so, that would put the Pixar flick in the low-$70 million range for the weekend, which would put it face to face with Nemo?s $70.3 million bow, though easily beating Monsters? $62.4 million debut.

In the endless streak of remakes, Jude Law had to make it all happen in Alfie, which is based off the original Michael Caine-starring film of the 1960?s of the same title. Proving that he?s not a household name quite yet despite having previously co-starred with seat-filling names, Law only mustered up $2.3 million on Friday, averaging a really uneventful $1,020 per-screen. The movie was only booked in 2,215 theaters, which was not a real sign of confidence by Paramount, and appeared to be a similar move as their 1,500-theater release for Suspect Zero. I even had the guts to say that Marci X business (average wise) was even possible this weekend (in the absolute worst case scenario) given Alfie?s really sketchy story (the ads also said nothing other than that Law hits on women), but Law and a few recognizable faces likely helped.

The movie opened closely to Gwyneth Paltrow?s cutesy romance, View from the Top, which earned $2.6 million on opening day for a similarly slow $1,026 per-screen in 2,508 theaters. That romantic comedy was blessed with a 43% Saturday increase, which Alfie might not get considering the lack of crossover appeal amongst the leading star. View from the Top had various actors involved (in headlining and supporting positions) who could skew to different people, and while Alfie does have supporting actors who are known, it might not be enough to drive in ticket sales. Saturday could be roughly $2.8 - 3.2 million, which would put the weekend right around $6.5 million.
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'The Incredibles' Articles
  • Craig's The Incredibles review B+
    November 6, 2004    What Bird sets out to prove is that animation can also be a medium for other things, like action movies, and he has created one of the coolest and most spectacular ones of the year. -- Craig Younkin
  • Crowd Report: "The Incredibles"
    November 6, 2004    Around town, the movie was showing signs of The Bourne Supremacy business ($18.4 million - $5,825 per-screen), and even upwards of Shrek 2 ($28.3 million - $6,808 per-screen). -- Lee Tistaert