"Sex And The City" Box Office Doubles Expectations

%meta(topic:01005000;ap_topic:general entertainment;subtopic:movies;%)

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Sarah Jessica Parker and her gal pals have not lost their sex appeal. The big-screen " Sex and the City " _ reuniting Parker and TV co-stars Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon _ strutted to a $55.7 million opening weekend, far exceeding Hollywood's box office expectations.

That was nearly twice the forecast by distributor Warner Bros., whose head of distribution, Dan Fellman, said he had hoped the movie might deliver a $30 million debut.

"Women power," Fellman said. "It was outstanding this weekend."

Analysts had figured Paramount's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" might stay atop the box office heap, but it slipped to second place with $46 million in its second weekend. "Indiana Jones" raised its 11-day domestic total to $216.9 million.

"Sex and the City" put up numbers never before seen for a movie aimed mainly at women, who do not tend to rush out in huge numbers for opening weekends the way males do.

"Sex and the City," released under Warner's New Line Cinema banner, had the best debut ever for an R-rated comedy, topping the $45.1 million opening of "American Pie 2."

The movie landed at No. 5 on the all-time list among R-rated films, behind "The Matrix Reloaded" ($91.8 million), "The Passion of the Christ" ($83.8 million), "300" ($70.9 million) and "Hannibal" ($58 million).

Story continues below

advertisement

"This is a blockbuster for women. This was to women what `Indiana Jones' and `Star Wars,' let's say, are to men," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers.

The movie picks up four years after the series finale, in which Parker's Carrie Bradshaw and her Manhattan buddies left behind their randy ways to settle into monogamous relationships. In the film, they deal with family and commitment issues while still flaunting their bawdy humor and trendy sense of style.

Hollywood skeptics had doubted the commercial prospects for a movie adaptation of "Sex and the City," which ended its six-year run in 2004. Originally airing on premium cable channel HBO, the show had a loyal but limited fan base and held little appeal for young males, the backbone of the box office.

However, "Sex and the City" mania grew as the movie's release approached, with many women organizing girls-night-out parties to see it with friends on opening day Friday.

"That's why Friday was quite a frenzy," Fellman said. "There were women that came in and bought out entire theaters in advance and invited all their friends."

Women made up 85 percent of the audience on Friday, Fellman said.

The movie pulled in $26.9 million on Friday. On Saturday, however, it took a steep drop with ticket sales dwindling to $17.7 million. Most big films take in more money on Saturday than Friday, so the decline was a sign that the audience for "Sex and the City" could dry up quickly.

Still, the film was on its way to becoming a $100 million hit that could spawn more sequels.

The weekend's other new wide release, Universal's fright flick "The Strangers," debuted solidly at No. 3 with $20.7 million. It stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a couple terrorized by masked invaders at their vacation home.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Sex and the City," $55.7 million.

2. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," $46 million.

3. "The Strangers," $20.7 million.

4. "Iron Man," $14 million.

5. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," $13 million.

6. "What Happens in Vegas," $6.9 million.

7. "Baby Mama," $2.2 million.

8. "Speed Racer," $2.1 million.

9. "Made of Honor," $2 million.

10. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," $1 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.mediabynumbers.com/

___

Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Comments

[starkravingmadeleine]

It makes me sad that as women we can't come up with a better fantasy life than the shallow, desperate materialism of Sex and the City.

- I'm an independent single girl, now hear me beg/mope/w­hine/bitch over men, while shoe-shopping myself into debt and having sex to prove I'm as cool as a man. -

Is this really what my grandmother protested for?

[Gary47]

The TV series was a total yawner, especially for the women I know. Can't imagine the movie's any better.

[BlondieM]

Good for you hartkid!
What can I say? Magna cum laude plus Sex and the City = WTF
It was good and it was fun. We had rum and cokes as we watched with our favorite gay friend. A spectacular evening all around. It's about defining love for yourself and being forgiving. And nobody was murdered or blown up. It doesn't get much better than that.
Go Obama with your bad self.

[ProudLiberalDan]

I loved, loved, loved this film.

There is one group of men who love this film. Gay men are flocking to this film.

Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are as much like gay men as they are like women. One reason I think this show appeals so many of us is the relationship of the four ladies. They've formed a close knit bond with their friends, as close as the ones with their official families. They are loyal to each other and depend upon each other.

If you notice, we may learn a lot about the families of the men in their lives, but we learn very little about the immediate families of these four women prior to the show. Many gay men know what it is like to be disowned or pushed to the margins of their families, then moving to major urban centers and forming family knit bonds with their friends to replace the bonds our families are unwilling to provide.

As my friend Ari, a gay Rabbi, says, "boyfriends come and go, but girlfriends are forever."

The men are interesting and the meditations on modern dating, relationships and sexuality are insightful and pointed in Sex and the City. It's the really the bond of these four women deep down I think really draws me in each week. The true value of loyal friendship shown on SATC is much deeper than anything that was superficially shown on "Friends" each week.

[loki]

Just an FYI... I was told the other night on our weekly stop at BlockBusters where my kids pick out movies for the weekend, Even if you pay the extra for the Rewards program, all movies are going to $4.50 , new and old. No more $2.99 movies. The Rewards program will be basically useless. I guess they really want to kill off the stores. I mean, we usually rent 5 old or more movies a week and maybe 2 or 3 new. Now I thinking about ending that.

[gailmforrest]

Sex and the City is the chickiest chick flick ever! It is truly a film for those of us who were "junkies"
for the tv series. Having been forced to go cold turkey since the show ended I excitedly downed Cosmos with the girls and went openning night. Oh ,I'm going to forgive the writing this time; which I rarely do... because I'm an addict ! Who cares if they forgot how to develop plot , re-define characters ,or maintain the edge we all fell in love with. My girls were back and I got the fix I craved....
I also think I need some more high heels!

[Chuckwheat]

Pavlovian.

[NoSillyName]

Those clothes hurt my eyes.

[loki]

I like how its called Sex in the city, and there is not really any sex in it at all.

[moneyshot]

Its geared to women.

Clothes and money make women horny. Sex is an accessory.

[ProudLiberalDan]

Many of the more explicit sex scenes and jokes are unfortunately edited out of the broadcast version in syndication.

Rent the DVDs to see the version originally aired with all the jokes and sexual lingo unedited.