Box Office Weekend in Review: Bruno Wins the Weekend
I'm quite suspicious of any movie that reports a shattering 38% drop from Friday to Saturday, and then only a 18% drop from Saturday to Sunday. Point being, Universal really needs to be able to advertise that '$30 million!' figure and I completely expect it to end up around $28 or $29 million by tomorrow. As of now, its weekend multiplier is 2.14x, the seventh worst of all time. And there is but a single percentage point separating Bruno from 3rd place, so I expect the Sasha Baron Cohen comedy to jump up a few spots by tomorrow. By the way, thank you Brandon Gray for finally making a list of the very worst opening day-to-weekend multipliers, as I've had to do the math by hand for over a year now. Point being, Bruno was heavily front loaded and there are countless reports of mass walkouts as the film apparently proved too vulgar and/or extreme for even many Borat fans. Naked wrestling aside, Borat wasn't a terribly vulgar picture and the character of Borat was a much more audience-friendly lead (he was a bumbling innocent as opposed to an in-your-face exhibitionist). Expect an epic crash for this one next weekend, as those seeking R-rated comedy will again turn to The Hangover. Regardless, Universal picked this up for $42.5 million, and they've already made $50 million worldwide just this weekend. Even with marketing costs factored in, this will be a solid longterm moneymaker.
Speaking of which, The Hangover just will not die, no matter how much direct competition (Transformers 2, Bruno, etc) you throw at it. Now at $222 million, it passed Saving Private Ryan yesterday as #5 on the all-time R-rated list. It'll easily end up as the number 3 R-rated film of all time (behind The Matrix Reloaded and The Passion of the Christ and ahead of the $232m and $234m grosses of The Exorcist and Beverly Hills Cop). But even as someone who really likes the movie, I'm shocked by the 14% drop of The Hangover. You have Bruno, an R-rated comedy aimed squarely at the same demographic, and The Hangover still has the smallest weekend to weekend drop of its run. Forget about the R-rated movie list for a moment, this thing may end up threatening Meet The Fockers or Home Alone for the top-comedy of all time crown ($279 million and $281 million). Not a certainty or even a likelihood of course. But at this point, the continued success may mean that The Hangover may keep screens in the weekends ahead while newer, less successful stuff (I Love You Beth Cooper, for example) lose them instead. I'm guessing that's already happening (it lost 455 screens last weekend but only 68 this weekend).
With little fanfare, The Proposal will be Bullock's highest domestic grosser in about a week (Speed's $350m worldwide is likely out of reach). But it seems like Reynolds is getting more credit than Bullock (hence the Green Lantern casting). I Love You Beth Cooper opened to just $5 million, so if you want to see it, you'd best hurry up. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is now at $339 million and will fall behind the day-to-day grosses of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest by next weekend, as it's now only $9 million ahead at the respective 19-day mark. So expect Transformers 2 to crawl to $400 million and then get kicked aside for Paramount's GI Joe (it should end up just ahead of Spider-Man's $405 million). As for really good movies, The Hurt Locker did $623,000 in 60 theaters and crossed the $1 million mark. It expands on July 24th.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs dropped a decent 31% for a new total of $120 million. It's now almost exactly tied with Ice Age: The Meltdown at the 12-day mark, so expect a domestic total that is right between the first film's $174 million gross and the sequel's $195 million take (the third film's second weekend total is actually the lowest second-weekend gross of the series, but the smallest % drop). Public Enemies dropped a hard 44% and now sits at $66 million. It has an outside shot at $100 million+ as there is no real action competition until GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra opens on August 7th. It'll break my heart not seeing Up get to $300m, but even with a 27% drop this weekend, I can't see it happening (it's at $273 million). Cameron Diaz's My Sister's Keeper has surpassed Diaz's terrific In Her Shoes and now sits at $35 million. Alas, it's already bleeding screens due to the volume of new product. The Taking of Pelham 123 has surpassed $60 million (which would be fine if Sony hadn't spent $100 million on it) and Night at the Museum 2 has crossed the $170 million mark.
And that's all the big news for this weekend. Join us at Mendelson's Memos for updates as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince lays waste to the box office starting Wednesday at 12:01am (review coming on Monday night or Tuesday morning). For a look at what went down this weekend last year, go here. For a look at why IMAX won't be showing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening day, go here.
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Maybe it is generational, but I don't find this man's humor funny. I am gay and the film just plainly sucks. Borat put me to sleep. Ali G bored as well. I appreciate true satire; this is just crap.
Couldn't agree with you more. It is just crap. Glad to find someone of a like mind on that subject.
I actually think the major reason anybody might walk out, and the real reason so many middle-americans are so shocked, is not so much a "gay theme" as male nudity--lots of it. As my husband put it before we went, "I heard there's a lot of nudity, and not the good kind." The good kind?! Turnabount is fair play. If I have to continue to see tons and tons of T and A (american films) and full female frontal nudity (foreign films), usually utterly unrelated to the film's subject matter, every damn time I go to the cinema, maybe people should just get over the fact that men, too, are naked under their clothes.
Bruno is going down.
So to speak.
Not sure I trust the reports of walkouts. The audience applauded in the theater I was in. VERY mixed crowd. Anybody saying that this movie will bee "Fodder" for the anti-gay crowd is being ridiculous. For one. The star in real life is straight, two, a bunch of drunk, speed freak red necks don't need some movie about a mock European gay guy as an excuse to go and hate and beat up gays. They aren't going to see movies like this. Saying that this movie is going to increase anti-gay violence is like saying that Borat increased Anti-Kazakh violence.
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Nor would I, but I've heard anecdotal evidence from trusted friends, as well as other columnists, bloggers, and film critics. This film, for differing reasons, is apparently causing walk outs on the level of Punch Drunk Love and Sweeney Todd.
The walkout reports are real. There were two peple who walked out at a screening I was in. Hey, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
I witnessed several people walk out of Brokeback Mountain. Gay themes just terrify some otherwise ordinary looking people.
Why they give SBC money to make ANY of his drivel is beyond me. He's NOT funny in ANY way. never has been. What a waste of time, film and money.
"Borat" is hysterically funny.
I thought Borat was pretty boring. Typical with no shock value.
I think Bruno only helps The Hangover, frankly. All due respect, it's NOT going for the same demographic. My wife refused to see Bruno, but has expressed interest in The Hangover, which I'll be taking her to see this weekend.
I went to see Bruno with a friend of mine (after dropping my wife off to see The Proposal, so we were both happy), and we laughed hysterically throughout. Then, while leaving, my friend says to me, "It was ok...but it was just too gay." I just shook my head.
Its dazzling to see that most of the Top 10 money making movies of all time, have come within the last 15 years. Kind of fanstastic in an unpleasant way, since the price of tickets have risen exponentially and been the cause of this factor.
What's funny is that people complain about gas prices, but will shell out $12 a person, to go see a movie. Movies that are pretty forgetful too after a year.
Another odd thing, is that during this depression
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At the end of the day, movies are still the cheapest form of mass entertainment. Even at the most expensive theaters in the biggest city, $15 (and pretty much under $10 in most places) still gets you 2-3 hours (counting commercials and previews) of entertainment. Sporting events, amusement parks, most restaurants, live theater, and what not are all far more expensive.
well of course. People NEED to buy oil. They don't NEED to go to a movie. It makes sense to worry or complain more about the cost of a necessity than the cost of entertainment.
GLAAD's opinion is their own. As a gay man, I didn't find "Bruno" any more offensive than "Borat." Granted, a couple of scenes went out of their way to shock and came across as a little stupid because it was so obvious, but for the most part I thought it was a funny and kind of sweet film. The message I got from the movie was how some people become so offended by things that don't really matter (like being gay), which was definitely illustrated by the audience in the wrestling scene at the end. Bruno is a buffoon - similar to Borat - but a likeable one who means well, but doesn't quite "get it." We're no longer in the seventies and eighties protesting "Cruising" and "Basic Instinct..
Once upon a time, Your Anonymous Correspondent negotiated the MPAA rating of a well-known movie with a major star from an NC-17 to an R. This was all done over the phone. I dealt with a woman on their ratings board who sounded like she might have been a schoolteacher. She was totally uncomfortable discussing what was going on on screen in the movie, so we developed some code phrases and euphemisms. It was vaguely amusing. What it came down to, in the end, was a matter of frames (and remember that there are 24 of those per second). We agreed to cut a few if these frames (again, only a matter of a couple seconds in total), and we got our R rating. The woman from the MPAA was pleased. She had done her job. This little anecdote is for the benefit of anyone who finds the ratings process mysterious. Oh, I should say that we were submitting our movie as an indie (although we had already sold it to a studio). The rumor on the street is that studios get the ratings they ask for, but that's maybe just indie p___s-envy, or sour grapes.
By the way, despite all the plugs it has received on this website, Brüno looks truly awful. So I'll stay home with my nice bottle of wine and Ingmar Bergman movie on VHS . . .
you prudish (and hypocritical) Americans: Nobody in Toronto (Canada) walked out of the movie, people laughed their heads of, applauded during the film and at the end. Same in Europe from what I hear. The movie is hilarious, satirical, funny and does absolutely not describe the typical gay scene.Ther
far from being a prude - if you talked to any of my friends, they would laugh their "arses" of at that one! There is no redeeming value to the movie, except Sasha Cohen. I hope the movie flops (after this weekend). I pity the people that actually applauded this piece of crap movie.
Sooooo. All Americans are anal retentive prudes and all Canadians are sophisticates. Got it. Thanks.
I think one could argue that Toronto is not necessarily representative of the rest of Canada. I think moviegoers in cities are much more tough skinned in general. They have to be, they come across outrageous behavior all the time.
I'm really disappointed that no one is making a big deal about the shocking R rating of Bruno which should have been rated X or NC17. Is this a nation where anything goes? So many young people walked out of the film and at the end of the move they were visibly upset and made comments about how nasty and bad the movie was. In your comment all you talk about is the revenue generated. Is that what it's all about, putting an R rating so it would be distributed into more movie theaters, as some theaters won't even show NC17? Or the fact that all the adults will be unaware of the new hardcore R that has weaseled it's way into the American Motion Picture films without any protest. Is this Bruno Porno setting the standard for R ratings. It's just another sign of rampant decay of our morals and standards and greed in our society and culture.
the only reason NC17 even exists is because people ignore what the R rating is supposed to mean, which is NO CHILDREN under 17, unless accompanied by an adult. Instead, theaters do not enforce this rule -teens get in all the time- and some parents don't take their parenting responsibilities seriously and think that an R rating is no big deal. Also, to be fair to the parents, because the rating system is not based on any solid criteria, some R films are harder than others. The point is, Bruno is a film for adults and that's that.
Oh come on... moral decay of our society? It's a poorly made, tasteless movie that has NOTHING to do with moral decay. The best you can do is tell everyone not to see it b/c it is just that, a poorly made movie! The REAL MORAL decay of our society is our GREED and WAR MONGERING WAYS. Look to the mega-corporations, making profits and any cost for our moral decay. Wanna know about moral decay, listen to what an ex-executive from CIGNA said on Bill Moyers' show on Friday night no PBS... then we'll talk moral decay!!!
"Upset[ting], nasty, bad, hardcore, porno, rampant, decay, greed..." I think I got 'em all.
You equate all these terms as though they were synonymous, but provide absolutely no relation to the film you're condemning. One has to suspect you haven't _seen_ the film you're condemning, and are just one more mindless knee-jerk lemming twitching on the end of the hype electrode.
If you're actually interested in film and the hypocritical system by which America rates commercial releases, I recommend "This Film Not Rated," a fine documentary on the subject. Otherwise, when it comes to "our" morals and "our" standards and "our" culture... What is this _we_, Kimosabe? It's clear from your single paragraph that I don't share your morals, standards, or culture, and will fight to my last breath to avoid being forced to do so.
Gosh, those allegedly many and purportedly upset young people... First, do you have any idea what upset them, or does that not matter. Second, do you have any problem when those innocent young people walk out of a theater absolutely thrilled to have watched 90 minutes of violent death? Is it just the sex/gay/stereotype thing that has you all lubriciously quivering with the very outrage your demographic is based on?
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Uh hem... I talk purely about the revenue generated because this is a BOX OFFICE REVIEW column. As for why I don't discuss my personal thoughts on the film, that one is easy: I haven't seen it yet.
Save your money. I won't watch this drivel, even when it reaches cable. He's NOT funny.
What kind of "responsible" parents take their whining brats to see an R-rated film, particularly one where they know there will be overtly sexual situations?
I saw the movie today and must say I wanted to walk out. This movie will be fodder for the homophobes and anti-gay crowd. I am not in the least uptight and can laugh at my own gay community ["it takes all kinds to make a village"]. However, I really don't know anyone in my "village" that even comes close to Brúno and his stupid antics (movie or not, satire or not - a lot of people will think this is what a gay person is, trust me, some will!). And, after laughing my ass off at Borat, I found myself wondering just how necessary were some of the scenes - especially with Ron Paul, which ones were "set up" and which were authentic.
"I really don't know anyone in my "village" that even comes close to Brúno and his stupid antics"
This is exactly the point of the film. People are way too willing to believe that this character was real because they perceived him to be a eurogay weirdo. Their reactions are what SBC is after. He is not making fun of the gay community.
Was there a typo? You have "The Hurt Locker" expanding on June 24th.
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