Monday, April 24, 2006

Weekend Box Office -- "Idol" Spoof Flops

"American Dreamz" -- the "American Idol" spoof starring Hugh Grant -- was the biggest flop in memory over the weekend, grossing only $3.7 million. Even awful movies are supposed to make SOME money on opening weekend if the studios spend enough money on advertising. "Basic Instinct 2" also failed to open, but that was so clearly a turkey that no one could care about that it doesn't seem as telling as this bomb. And while studios are notoriously tight-lipped about budgets, suddenly Universal is letting slip that "American Dreamz" only cost $17 million, in a desperate attempt to pretend they wagered so little on this movie that its disastrous opening is meaningless. Yeah right -- $17 million. Clearly they spent more than that on advertising, but when was the last time a major studio produced a film on its own for $17 million? Don't believe a word of it.

1. Silent Hill -- $20.2 million
2. Scary Movie 4 -- $17 million ($67.7 million total)
3. "24: The Movie," I mean "The Sentinel" -- $14.7 million
4. "Ice Age: The Meltdown" -- $12.8 million ($167.9 million)
5. "The Wild" -- $8.1 million ($22 million)
6. "The Benchwarmers" -- $7.3 million ($47.1 million)
7. "Take The Lead" -- $4.3 million ($29.6 million)
8. "American Dreamz" -- $3.7 million
9. "Inside Man" -- $3.67 million ($81.2 million)
10. "Friends With Money" -- $3.6 million ($5.3 million)

No comments: