Super Wookiee
May 17th, 2002, 11:15:17 AM
From BoxOffice Mojo
"HOLLYWOOD (Box Office Mojo) - Maybe George Lucas' concentration of Midi-chlorians was somehow diluted, because if early estimates hold true, the Force wasn't fully with Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones on opening day.
Though figures are still being finalized, Attack of the Clones appears to have grossed in the vicinity of $27 million on Thursday from approximately 6,100 screens at 3,161 theaters, falling short not only of Spider-Man but of The Phantom Menace as well.
Benefiting from 16 years of pent-up demand, The Phantom Menace launched on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 to a then record $28,542,349, playing on around 5,500 screens at 2,970 theaters. It then plunged 57% to $12,307,918 on Thursday, leading to $64,810,970 over Friday through Sunday, the second biggest opening weekend ever at that point. It left theaters with $431,088,297, a total that stands as the fourth highest of all time.
Still, Clones had a huge day. In fact, it was the fourth biggest opening day of all time, should the estimate hold. But it's somewhat of a letdown, especially since prior to this each subsequent Star Wars movie had a much larger opening than its predecessor.
The real casualties of all this, if business doesn't pick up considerably over the weekend, could be the exhibitors. Fox and Lucasfilm required theaters to keep Attack of the Clones for a minimum of four weeks, and they demanded 70% of the box office for the first three weeks, 60% the next two and 50% the two weeks after that. Many exhibitors balked at these terms, and in Quebec many refused them, resulting in Star Wars playing at virtually none of the province's 363 independent screens."
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They are looking at this all wrong. 27M is good really, it should be compared to the 12 million thursday of TPM rather than the 28M Wed of TPM.
"HOLLYWOOD (Box Office Mojo) - Maybe George Lucas' concentration of Midi-chlorians was somehow diluted, because if early estimates hold true, the Force wasn't fully with Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones on opening day.
Though figures are still being finalized, Attack of the Clones appears to have grossed in the vicinity of $27 million on Thursday from approximately 6,100 screens at 3,161 theaters, falling short not only of Spider-Man but of The Phantom Menace as well.
Benefiting from 16 years of pent-up demand, The Phantom Menace launched on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 to a then record $28,542,349, playing on around 5,500 screens at 2,970 theaters. It then plunged 57% to $12,307,918 on Thursday, leading to $64,810,970 over Friday through Sunday, the second biggest opening weekend ever at that point. It left theaters with $431,088,297, a total that stands as the fourth highest of all time.
Still, Clones had a huge day. In fact, it was the fourth biggest opening day of all time, should the estimate hold. But it's somewhat of a letdown, especially since prior to this each subsequent Star Wars movie had a much larger opening than its predecessor.
The real casualties of all this, if business doesn't pick up considerably over the weekend, could be the exhibitors. Fox and Lucasfilm required theaters to keep Attack of the Clones for a minimum of four weeks, and they demanded 70% of the box office for the first three weeks, 60% the next two and 50% the two weeks after that. Many exhibitors balked at these terms, and in Quebec many refused them, resulting in Star Wars playing at virtually none of the province's 363 independent screens."
.......................
They are looking at this all wrong. 27M is good really, it should be compared to the 12 million thursday of TPM rather than the 28M Wed of TPM.