Box Office Update 8/24-8/26: Superbad Keeps it Gangsta

In the weakest weekend in months, Suprbad succeeded in retaining the number one slot in its second week of release. This may just be the funniest film of the summer, in my humble opinion. None of this week's four wide releases made much of a dent in the box office. The decline can most likely be attributed to the fast approaching new school year. Colleges are going back to work this week with high schools and grade school's returning next week.

Back to Superbad, I never would have figured this would do as well as it is. When I first saw the teaser trailer, it looked like a goofy teen comedy. Then the full trailer came out, and the potential started to jump out at me. It looks as if audiences had similar reactions to me. The movie is funny, surprisingly smart in its crassness, and just a flat out surprise.

Three of the four wide release films made it to the top ten in their opening frames. The trio appear bunched up in the middle of the list. Leading the charge is the latest Rowan Atkinson outing as Mr. Bean in Mr. Bean's Holiday placing fourth, a frightfully dull outing for the character. I suspect it will fade rather quickly. Close on its heels is the Jet Li/Jason Statham actioner, WAR. I have not yet seen this one, but it looks like an adrenaline filled blast of action. I am surprised that this did not do better than it did. Finally, The Nanny Diaries placed sixth. This Scarlet Johansson vehicle has been accused of being a The Devil Wears Prada redux. I cannot answer to that, not having seen it yet, but I think it looks a bit more interesting than that.

There were two other notable releases this week, one wide and one a bit lesser so. First up is Resurrecting the Champ. It is an interesting look at ethics in journalism, but is only worth watching for the incredible performance of Samuel L. Jackson as homeless former boxer called Champ. The other film is the Puerto Rican gangsta film Illegal Tender, an overblown B movie that I found to be very entertaining and well worth checking out. It is likely to find a larger audience once it hits DVD.

Among the returning films, aside from Superbad, The Bourne Ultimatum is displaying its strong legs, slipping a mere 37% and moving up a spot from third to second. Even with its strong hold, there were three other films that had stronger holds. The top hold is owned by Hairspray, a gigantic crowd pleasing musical. Next up is Stardust, which I wish did better to begin with, but am glad to seeing it have something of a hold. Finally, The Simpsons Movie continues to impress, doing much better than I thought it was going to prior to its opening.

Next week will see Rob Zombie's reimagining of Halloween, James Wan's Death Sentence, and Balls of Fury entering the mix.

Three movies dropped off the top ten this week: Underdog (11), Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (12), and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (13).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	1	Superbad	$18,044,369	$68,616,643	2
2	3	The Bourne Ultimatum	$12,472,215	$185,253,615	4
3	2	Rush Hour 3	$11,706,643	$108,469,646	3
4	N	Mr. Bean's Holiday	$9,889,780	$9,889,780	1
5	N	WAR	$9,820,089	$9,820,089	1
6	N	The Nanny Diaries	$7,480,927	$7,480,927	1
7	4	The Simpsons Movie	$4,317,689	$173,354,858	5
8	6	Stardust	$3,872,560	$26,374,432	3
9	7	Hairspray	$3,265,384	$107,271,846	6
10	5	The Invasion	$3,093,428	$11,468,121	2

Box Office Predictions Recap
Two out of ten right. Not a terribly good week as most of the new releases failed to make much of an impact, thereby throwing off all of my predictions since I figured they would have had a stronger showing. That is why these are guesses for entertainment purposes only, and not a scientific representation of what the studios are expecting. Sometimes they are easy, other times a bit more difficult. I actually did a little better on the dollar predictions, but even there I was off on most. The best thing about making predictions is that regardless of how good or bad your guesses are, there is always next week.

Anyway, here is how I picked the field:

Actual	Prediction	Title	Wknd Gross	Prediction
1	1	Superbad	$18,044,369	$19 million
6	2	The Nanny Diaries	$7,480,927	$16 million
5	3	War	$9,820,089	$15 million
4	4	Mr. Bean's Holiday	$9,889,780	$11 million
2	5	The Bourne Ultimatum	$12,472,215	$10 million
3	6	Rush Hour 3	$11,706,643	$7.5 million
15	7	Resurrecting the Champ	$1,659,756	$6 million
7	8	The Simpsons Movie	$4,317,689	$4 million
10	9	The Invasion	$3,093,428	$3.5 million
9	10	Hairspray	$3,265,384	$2.25 million