Ben Stiller Squashes The Terminator

LOS ANGELES — "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" claimed a box office victory over "Terminator Salvation."

The live-action family comedy starring Ben Stiller won $70 million over the Memorial Day weekend, according to estimates from distributor 20th Century Fox. That put it well ahead of the first "Night at the Museum" movie, which had a $30.4 million three-day opening in December 2006.

"It's blown away our expectations," said Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox. "We've nearly doubled the opening of the first 'Night at the Museum.' It's an incredibly strong No. 1 that beats out 'Terminator,' which I think most people thought would win the weekend."

"Terminator Salvation" pulled in $53.8 million over the four-day holiday weekend _ plus $13.4 million on opening day Thursday _ bringing the post-apocalyptic action film starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington to a total of $67.2 million since debuting, according to distributor Warner Bros.

With a three-day total of $43 million, that puts the fourth movie in the "Terminator" series behind "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," the last of the franchise's installments to star Arnold Schwarzenegger. The third chapter took in $44 million in its first weekend in 2003.

"I think people expected it to be No. 1 because of that 'Terminator' name alone," said box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. "If you look at it objectively though, it's a sci-fi action film that played to an older audience. It didn't have the broad based appeal of 'Night at the Museum.'"

Paramount's "Star Trek" held up well with $29.4 million, warping down to the No. 3 spot but raising its total to $191 million. The sci-fi franchise reboot directed by J.J. Abrams is on the verge of becoming the year's top-grossing movie so far, approaching the $193.5 million gross of DreamWorks Animation's "Monsters vs. Aliens."

"'Star Trek' is living long and prospering," said Dergarabedian. "It's just one of those movies we knew would hold up. People are enjoying it and talking about it. It's unusual for a summer blockbuster to be propelled by word of mouth, not just the typical marketing push for a big opening weekend. I think it's going to continue to do well week after week."

Story continues below

advertisement

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Sony's "Angels & Demons," fell to fourth place with $27.7 million, lifting its domestic haul to $87.8 million.

On the whole, it was another strong weekend of business at movie theaters, which have been drawing large crowds throughout the recession. Dergarabedian pegs the year-to-date attendance at a nearly 12 percent increase over last year. The top Memorial Day weekend at the box office remains 2007, which featured the third installments of "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Shrek" and "Spider-Man."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," $70 million.

2. "Terminator Salvation," $53.8 million.

3. "Star Trek," $29.4 million.

4. "Angels & Demons," $27.7 million.

5. "Dance Flick," $13.1 million.

6. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," $10.1 million.

7. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," $4.8 million.

8. "Obsessed," $2.5 million.

9. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $1.9 million.

10. "17 Again," $1.3 million.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

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

[imsosure]

wow, what a guy, and the terminator too, go get 'em crusher

[Rockwell]

I was compelled to take my nephew to Night at the Museum. It wasn't as loathsome as I'd expected which isn't saying much. The pacing was completely wrong until about the last 10 minutes. The dialogue was lame. Talk, talk talk and not very interesting talk. Some of the main characters spend almost the entire movie in a storage crate.

I was in the crowded theater and I heard maybe half a dozen snickers and I notice several people yawning (yeah, it was so slow in places that I was staring around at the audience)

They had a great cast that was wasted on a lame script, poor directing and horrible editing. This was 2 hours of missed opportunities.

Long as I'm spouting my opinion on Summer movies:

Angels and Demons - two thumbs up. The critics had it wrong. This movie is compelling, well paced with some great moments of tension. Much better than Brown's book.

Star Trek - AWESOME. I've seen it 3 times so far. Going back for more while its still on the big screen.

Terminator - haven't seen it yet. Not sure if I will. Not a big Bale fan after he threw his big movie star tantrum.

[WRPrintz]

Hank Azaria really makes the film....his recreation of Bill Pratt (Boris Karloff) as a mummy, voice and all, is quite good.

The script is fun (same guys that do Reno 911) and Amy Adams is the cat's wiskers. There were some holes from the first one (No Dick VanDyke, no Mickey Rooney), and the love interest changed...but they did a nice job managine a huge number of characters.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

I'll tell you why T4 hasn't done so well.

1- People are bored with the Terminator franchise.
2- It's too depressing and loud
3- It looks rubbish compared to Star Trek
4- Bale isn't that popular
5- No Arnie in this one
6- Not really family friendly
7- "A Night At The Museum 2" has Amy Adams wearing incredibly tight trousers in it.

[deckard70]

I'd argue that the special effects in Terminator are better than Star Trek, in that Star Trek didn't have to look realistic, but in Terminator, they had to be integrated into reality. There's no doubt in my mind that Terminator Salvation has the best effects that have ever been in any Terminator film before, partly because today we can do amazing things with effects, and partly because the new owners of the Terminator story are really huge fans and wanted to do their best.

I agree that Terminator isn't family friendly -- it's meant for fans of the Terminator, or Mad Max, or Resident Evil, or other apocalyptic-action films.

It's certainly not meant for the same audience as Night at the Museum -- the dead silence the audiences of Trek, Wolverine, and Terminator gave to the unfunny preview fof Night at the Museum foretold that!

[WRPrintz]

I aggree Deckard...but I need you to retire the films writer for Terminator, as while the special effects and sound were excellent...the story stunk up the joint.

[robXdion]

*Spoiler*!! ~ Arnie DID make an "appearance" in this one actually. The problem was the main story line veered away from the ongoing Terminator plot line (distracting) and they're not even trying to clear up the time-travel paradoxes, the fact that Cyberdyne's AI T-800 chip was destroyed in the 1991 movie, show how things led to the 1984 movie, or even link the story to the TV show which is only causing more confusion with new characters and time line. Christian Bale just really isn't that arresting and charismatic for this bleak role. 'Batman Begins' notwithstanding. Plus the supporting cast was weak. A mute lil girl did the best acting job. . . it was really THAT bad. Fact is, these days they're trying waaaaaaay too hard to appeal to teens and the early-20 crowd. If the 1984 movie was made today Kyle Reese would be some unknown teen star with about all the gumption of a medicated Hayden Christensen.

[Dailykook]

and makes fun of the French at the same time.

[BeansHarpoon]

GOOD! I flatly refuse to watch anything directed by someone named “McG”.

[UncleJimbo]

People say all publicity is good publicity but not in Christian Bale's case! The negitive stories about his family and the on set rant cost Teminator millions if not tens of millions!

[Cosmic-Zantor]

Um...no.

What happened is on Memorial Day weekend, families are more inclined to go see a family film than a violent PG-13 film.

Nobody doesn't see Terminator 4 because the actor freaked a few months ago.

[yellowdoggie]

My congratulations on your use of a not only a double negative, but also the correct subject-verb agreement. Tricky!

[yellowdoggie]

And I should have proof-read my own comment! lol

[Joye]

Yea!!! I am very glad. Being a Californian, Arnold Schwartzenegger is not one of my favorite people right now. California is worse off now, than when former Grey Davis was governor..

[lpeggy]

Just as movie goers during the depression wanted to see uplifting flicks, today with two wars and a economic crisis, who wants to drop 10 bucks to see a bleak apocalyptic future in Terminator? All you have to do is watch cable to get bad news for free. People are looking for a hopeful/Earth united future (Star Trek) or light entertainment (Night at the Museum II). That is why those two did well, and Terminator did not. I saw all three movies and defiantly was not impressed with Terminator.

[Hagar7]

Not surprised. People are suffering from sequel fatigue with the Terminator franchise (three movies plus a TV series), and once word got out (SPOILER FOLLOWS) that "Salvation" doesn't actually close the loop by getting us to where John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to meet Sarah Connor, meaning that we're going to have to be bothered with a Terminator V, I think interest levels dropped significantly. I think that most folks assumed that this was the final chapter and were annoyed to find out that it was just a "To be continued" installment.

[InconvenientTruth]

Ya it is getting a little repetitive isn't it. I think its funny though because our country isn't doing very well and its great to see that most people that are going to the movies are seeing uplifting movies such as the "Night at the Museum." I wanna see it

[yellowdoggie]

I didn't think it was quite as amusing as the original, but it was still very funny. Hank Azaria is a hoot, and Amy Adams is wonderful.

[ozwald888]

No doubt they made more money than Terminator. I was excited to see the new Terminator movie, but came out disappointed.

It's a movie that's NOT worth all of the hype.

Save your money!

[Madmac]

A message to those people who "own the rights" to The Terminator Franchise. If you want to make a fifth Terminator movie that people will want to watch and not the pile you just released, Give James Cameron ANYTHING he wants to get him to make it. Salvation was a disappointment

[Mike Butson]

I read the negative comments on Night at the Museum with amusement. Simply put, this was a fun movie with plenty of innuendos, gags and rolling action. One could easily put a bad rap on many of the rides at Disneyland too, but for most of us, it's time to let go of the dour attitudes and just be entertained. Since when does a simple flick have to fit a social mode? I say pay your eight bucks, put another small fortune towards popcorn and soda, turn off that cell phone and enjoy!

[jena132]

I wasn't all that entertained.......I thought they tried to do too much and should've kept it mORE simple. My 6 year old was bored and so was I. They gave away some of the funniest things in the commercials.

[jesuslovesObama]

Gawd this movie was funny! So many great jokes and sight-gags.

[RoadCrossingChicken]

Some people have got to be pretty desperate for entertainment if the go to the movies these days. Good movies are so rare!

But, then you can't go by what I say... the adverts for these movies say they are "The BEST." "Breathtaking!" "Amazing!" and lost of other exessive adjectives. Kinda silly to call TRIPE "colossal and amazing.