Analysis

'Thunder' Reigns Supreme Once Again

Phil Contrino

Thursday, September 4

Once again, Tropic Thunder was able to fend off the competition on Wednesday to remain on top of the box office. Meanwhile, The Dark Knight was able to move into second place.

It seems audiences are just as interested, if not more so, in the seven-week-old Knight as they are in Vin Diesel's Babylon A.D.. Knight was able to push Babylon into third place on Wednesday and the futuristic action flick fell an unhealthy 23% from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Death Race was also able to drive past Traitor in order to claim the #4 spot. Race is shaping up to be one of Jason Statham's more successful starring vehicles.

After cracking the top 10 yesterday, College fell into 11th place on Wednesday after it dropped a disconcerting 16% from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The only film set to open in wide release this weekend is Bangkok Dangerous starring Nicolas Cage. Dangerous lands at 2,650 locations and it should be the film that finally ends Thunder's streak at #1, although it probably won't have a massive box office impact.

Numbers

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

Title Daily Gross Location Avg. Distributor Total Gross Locations Weeks
Wide
1 Tropic Thunder $751,881 -16% $216 Dreamworks/ Paramount $88,587,469 3,473 +121 3
2 The Dark Knight $536,323 -13% $158 Warner Bros. $505,954,123 2,750 -313 7
3 Babylon A.D. $516,263 -23% $152 Fox $505,954,123 3,390 -- 1
4 Death Race $469,345 -14% $185 Universal $25,754,235 2,537 +5 2
5 Traitor $460,173 -20% $224 Overture $12,545,216 2,054 0 1
6 The House Bunny $416,402 -22% $153 Sony/ Columbia $30,678,683 2,714 0 2
7 Mamma Mia! $354,240 +3 $180 Universal $133,211,120 1,968 -94 7
8 Pineapple Express $302,228 -63% $148 Sony/ Columbia $81,471,802 2,047 -368 4
9 Disaster Movie $185,313 -32% $70 Lionsgate $7,403,662 2,642 -- 1
10 Mirrors $175,709 -12% $97 Fox $25,770,403 1,820 -721 3
11 College $172,673 -16% $81 MGM $2,998,328 2,123 -- 1
12 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emporer $128,475 -21% $75 Universal $98,963,190 1,713 -438 5
13 Hamlet 2 $119,129 -16% $75 Focus $3,413,682 1,597 +67 2
14 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 $104,218 -5% $83 Warner Bros. $41,749,938 1,252 -602 4
15 The Longshots $101,196 -29% $48 MGM $8,434,437 2,089 0 2
Title Daily Gross Location Avg. Distributor Total Gross Locations Weeks
Limited
1 Vicky Cristina Barcelona $195,151 -4% $282 MGM $13,709,007 692 0 3
2 Journey to the Center of the Earth $78,489 -25% $98 Warner Bros. $95,377,261 801 -152 8
3 Fly Me to the Moon $60,264 -37% $96 Summit $6,939,261 630 +90 3
4 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $25,137 -13% $83 Paramount $315,898,859 303 +167 15
5 Kung Fu Panda $23,384 -23% $51 Paramount $213,816,074 460 +23 13
6 Brideshead Revisited $22,823 +6% $98 Miramax $6,016,294 232 -212 6
7 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army $12,240 -8% $60 Universal $75,445,475 204 -36 8
8 Wanted $12,085 -7% $65 Universal $134,040,510 186 -42 10
9 Iron Man $10,305 -8% $47 Paramount $317,869,143 204 -36 8
10 Sex and the City $8,401 +21% $79 Warner Bros. $152,540,581 107 -82 14
11 Get Smart $8,164 -7% $69 Warner Bros. $128,481,759 118 -3 11
12 The Incredible Hulk $5,495 +10% $55 Universal $134,528,880 100 -42 12
13 Henry Poole Is Here $5,061 -3% $50 Overture $1,656,729 102 -404 3
Title Weekend Location Avg. Distributor Total Gross Locations Weeks
Platform (Updated Mondays)
1 Transsiberian $361,722 +95% $4,466 First Look International $919,085 81 +43 7
2 Frozen River $319,974 +54% $4,637 Sony Pictures Classics $812,557 69 +28 5
3 Man on Wire $302,336 -1% $3,322 Magnolia $1,526,761 91 +17 6
4 Sea Monsters 3D $113,482 -67% $2,467 National Geographic $18,500,492 46 +2 48
5 The X-Files: I Want to Believe $97,192 -39% $1,034 Fox $20,847,266 94 -69 6
6 Bachna Ae Haseeno $77,907 -59% $2,226 Yash Raj Films $691,678 35 -32 3
7 Dolphins and Whales $71,246 -43% $5,480 3DE $4,423,054 13 0 29
8 I Served the King of England $68,460 -- $9,780 Sony Pictures Classics $68,460 7 -- 1
9 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian $63,496 -42% $765 Disney $141,614,023 83 -63 16
10 The Wackness $52,287 -17% $1,025 Sony Pictures Classics $1,892,817 51 0 9