I always find it interesting to track box office figures, esp. for films
which remain in release but are past their sell by date. The following
comes from VARIETY, with films ranked by USA box office gross. The second
figure represents cumulative world-wide totals including the USA. Note some
films which are flops here are successes overseas (Ridley Scotts Kingdom
of Heaven, ranked 19th here, but doing OK overseas).
Looking at these latest numbers for cumulative totals ending August 18, you
see the two biggest disasters relative to production cost are Cinderella
Man (which got good reviews, with talk of a re-release this winter) and
The Island (no hope for a re-release). Whats heartening is to see a
documentary like March of the Penguins, which has an A+ exit rating,
doing well enough (at #21) to make its money back many times over its
original cost. Some films like Tim Burtons remake of Willy Wonka are
doing far better than expected because of support from family audiences,
while others like Fantastic Four have tanked.
Deeper in the list (not shown) are some mildly surprising disappointments
like the remake of The Bad News Bears (#26 with $31 million) and bigger
ones (Stealth, #27 with $30 million). By looking at this list you can
draw your own conclusions about mass audience taste, USA vs. world and how
so-called art films, still make more money relative to cost, such as
Crash, a critically praised work with stars who worked for near nothing.
1. STAR WARS: EP.III-REVENGE SITH
$378,650,106 $829,350,106
2. WAR OF THE WORLDS
$229,557,485 $563,742,485
3. BATMAN BEGINS
$201,653,269 $363,637,870
4. MADAGASCAR
$190,001,070 $444,884,222
5. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE...
$188,203,635 $279,704,004
6. MR. AND MRS. SMITH
$182,928,911 $383,928,911
7. WEDDING CRASHERS
$169,639,990 $200,778,668
8. THE LONGEST YARD
$157,100,023 $173,014,256
9. FANTASTIC FOUR
$149,635,878 $287,035,878
10. ROBOTS
$128,179,627 $255,979,627
11. MONSTER-IN-LAW
$82,761,757 $130,430,424
12. HERBIE: FULLY LOADED
$64,148,239 $105,211,239
13. THE DUKES OF HAZZARD
$63,092,236 $63,092,236
14. BEWITCHED
$62,027,998 $71,054,827
15. SPACE STATION 3-D
$61,257,095 $88,933,772
16. CINDERELLA MAN
$61,201,835 $61,201,835
17. CRASH
$52,846,372 $57,989,193
18. T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS
$50,040,202 $89,644,156
19. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
$47,383,539 $210,383,539
20. SKY HIGH
$46,827,637 $46,995,637
21. MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
$41,956,522 $53,912,328
22. THE ADVENTURES OF SHARKBOY...
$38,826,841 $47,220,006
23. SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING...
$38,711,605 $40,222,637
24. MUST LOVE DOGS
$36,787,080 $36,787,080
25. THE ISLAND
$34,853,346 $98,016,669
-koose.
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