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'Thunder' Strikes No. 1 Spot Again

Reuters
posted: 306 DAYS AGO
comments: 6
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(Aug. 31) - Action film parody "Tropic Thunder" clung to the top spot at the North American box office for a third straight week as the summer moviegoing season sputtered to a lackluster close, Hollywood studios reported on Sunday.
Paramount Pictures' farcical combat movie within a comedy, starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, sold an estimated $11.5 million in U.S. and Canadian tickets Friday through Sunday to bring its three-week tally to $83.8 million.
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While the final weekend heading into the U.S. Labor Day holiday is typically one of the slowest of the summer, the box office was especially lethargic despite five new films competing for attention in domestic theaters. None of those even managed to even crack the $10 million mark.
"It was an underwhelming end to a phenomenal summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of box office tracking service Media By Numbers.
Business also was likely dampened by the approach of Hurricane Gustav along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where many families were too busy boarding up their homes and fleeing to higher ground to go to the movies.
"Tropic Thunder," about a group of self-absorbed actors who get caught up in a real-life battle with narco-terrorists while filming a war movie in Southeast Asia, was the only film to post ticket sales in the double-digit millions.
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Box Office Behemoths

    10. 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)
    Domestic Gross: $377,027,325
    Fun Fact: With 11 Oscar nominations and a perfect 11 wins, including one for Best Picture, 'Return of the King' is one of two movies on the top 10 domestic grosses list to win moviedom's top honor.

    New Line

    9. 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' (2005)
    Domestic Gross: $380,270,577
    Fun Fact: Despite shattering numerous box office records and being the best-reviewed film of the prequel trilogy, 'Sith' is the only one of the three not to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

    Lucasfilm Ltd. / AP

    8. 'Spider-Man' (2002)
    Domestic Gross: $403,706,375
    Fun Fact: When 'Spider-Man' broke the opening weekend record with $114.8M, it was the third time a movie penned by David Koepp had held the honor. The other two: 'Jurassic Park' and 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park.'

    Sony

    7. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' (2006)
    Domestic Gross: $423,315,812
    Fun Fact: 'Dead Man's Chest' earned $135.3M in its opening weekend to crush the three-day record then held by 'Spider-Man' ($114.8M). 'Spider-Man 3' then broke that record with a $151.1M opening weekend in 2007.

    Disney

    6. 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' (1999)
    Domestic Gross: $431,088,301
    Fun Fact: George Lucas asked Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the scripts for 'Empire' and 'Jedi,' to pen 'Phantom Menace' -- but Kasdan turned him down because he felt Lucas should make exactly the movie he wanted.

    Lucasfilm Ltd. / AP

    5. 'E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    Domestic Gross: $435,110,554
    Fun Fact: This beloved alien flick was the highest-grossing movie of all time until the original 'Star Wars' was re-released in 1997.

    Universal

    4. 'Shrek 2' (2044)
    Domestic Gross: $441,226,247
    Fun Fact: It's the highest-grossing animated movie in history, and was the first film to be shown in more that 4,000 theaters.

    DreamWorks

    3. 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' (1977)
    Domestic Gross: $460,998,007
    Fun Fact: George Lucas' space opera almost didn't have its iconic score; Lucas had planned to use existing music from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' until he met composer John Williams.

    Lucasfilm

    2. 'The Dark Knight' (2008)
    Domestic Gross: $502.4 million (and counting)
    Fun Facts: The sequel to 'Batman Begins' broke the three-day opening weekend record with $158.4M and was the first movie to win the box office for four consecutive weeks since 'Return of the King' did it in '03-'04.

    Warner Bros.

    1. 'Titanic' (1997)
    Domestic Gross: $600,788,188
    Fun Fact: After sailing to a modest $28.6M opening weekend in December 1997, James Cameron's ocean-liner opus cruised along in the No. 1 spot at the box office for a record 15 straight weeks.

    AFP / Getty Images

Its biggest competition came from a real action flick, the sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." from 20th Century Fox starring Vin Diesel, which grossed an estimated $9.7 million in its first weekend to land at No. 2.
Blockbuster Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" climbed up a notch on the box office chart to No. 3 with weekend receipts of nearly $8.8 million, pushing its cumulative domestic haul to an estimated $502 million after 45 days in release.
"Dark Knight," a Warner Bros picture, becomes only the second film to cross the $500 million threshold. Two weeks ago, it surpassed "Star Wars" as the second highest grossing movie ever, behind only "Titanic" at $601 million.
Weekend ticket sales as a whole were sluggish, however, down 14 percent from the same period a year ago, as several new films failed to gain traction at the megaplex.
Two comedies opening on Friday, "Disaster Movie" and "College," plus Don Cheadle's thriller "Traitor," which debuted on Wednesday, and "Hamlet 2," a comedy that expanded nationally on Wednesday, grossed just $17.9 combined this weekend.
Together with "Babylon A.D." those films together accounted for $27.6 million in ticket sales, only about $1 million more than the top-grossing movie from last year's same weekend, "Halloween," managed all by itself.
The Labor Day holiday on Monday marks the official conclusion to the 18-week summer film season, which can account for as much as 40 percent of the movie industry's total business for the year.
When final studio figures come in later this week, Hollywood is expected to eke out roughly $4 billion in North American box office receipts, perhaps even slightly exceeding last summer's record $4.18 total.
But with the actual number of admissions down more than 3 percent from a year ago, the gain in revenues is fueled mostly by higher ticket prices.
Reuters/Nielsen
Copyright 2008, Reuters
2008-08-21 20:54:55
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Crosea12 12:07:34 PM Sep 07 2008

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when my dad and i were on a trip to san fransisco we saw the worst movie ever made. DISASTER MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was by far a disaster. Don't waste your money the only good movie out right now is tropic thunder. BOY movies really suck now a days.

jlarryo 01:34:05 PM Sep 02 2008

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This HAS to be close to the worst movie ever made.

ladybugget 11:39:35 AM Sep 02 2008

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My hubby and I went to see this movie yesterday - SO disappointed!! It was awful, esp. considering the actors who are in it. The "potty mouth" language was offensive - worse than teenage boys trying to impress one another. The theatre was pretty empty - someone must have warned the rest! The "acting" was lame. Our opinion of the actors in this film took a big nose dive!! Don't waste your time or money! Pathetic!!

ladybugget 11:35:39 AM Sep 02 2008

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My hubby and I went to see this movie last night - don't waste your time or money!! It was SO disappointing esp. considering the actors who are in this movie. The "potty mouth" language was awful - worse than teenage boys, and totally unnecessary. We should have had a red flag considering there were only a handful of people in the theatre - someone must have warned the rest. The "acting" was lame. Our opinion of the actors in this movie took a big nose dive. Pathetic!!

ike2082 09:07:24 AM Sep 01 2008

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u r write

sarahjules 04:58:29 AM Sep 01 2008

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I seldom go to the cinema anymore simply becuaus too many patrons behave as if they are in their living rooms: talking to friends or children or behaving otherwise inappropriately. Now with a large screen and excellent sound at home, I am content to wait for films to hit the DVD racks or Netflix. I also enjoy the opportunity to view alternative films ranging from "This Is England" to "Death at a Funeral" or "Children of Heaven" which unfortunately don't play at the local movie houses because they lack broad commercial appeal.

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