Time's `Wedding Crashers' Is Weekend's No. 1 Movie

By Michael White
Bloomberg.com
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July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.'s ``The Wedding Crashers'' climbed to the top spot in ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters this weekend with $20.5 million, after finishing second the past two weekends.

``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'' also a Time Warner film, finished in second place with $16.4 million, beating out three films making their debuts. They were Walt Disney Co.'s ``Sky High,'' which was third with $14.6 million, followed by Sony Corp.'s ``Stealth'' in fourth place with $13.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. ``Must Love Dogs,'' also from Time Warner, opened in fifth place with $13.1 million

Time Warner had four films in the top 10, helping the company close in on 2005 box-office leader News Corp. Time Warner had about $918 million in sales as of July 24, trailing News Corp.'s $1.1 billion.

`` `The Wedding Crashers' illustrates the power of the word of mouth,'' said Richard Horgan, a film commentator with Fandango.com in Los Angeles. ``People got out the first week-and- a-half and are now telling people they have to see it and people are seeing it twice or three times. This is going to continue to make a lot of money this summer.''

Released by Time Warner's New Line unit, the movie features Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as divorce mediators who each week find their way into a different wedding and a different bridesmaid's heart. It spent two weeks in second place behind ``Chocolate Factory,'' from Time Warner's Warner Bros. studio, before rising to the top spot.

The last time such a move occurred was in 2003, when Time Warner's ``Elf'' opened in second place for the Nov. 7 weekend behind ``Matrix Revolutions'' and climbed to the top spot in its second weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Second place's ``Chocolate Factory'' is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as eccentric chocolate maker Willy Wonka. The film is a remake of the 1971 children's film and is based on the Roald Dahl novel. The film has taken in $148.1 million in three weeks of release.

``Johnny Depp has a tremendous fan base and it's impressive he remains at No. 2 with what essentially is a kiddie and family film,'' Horgan said.

`Must Love Dogs'

In ``Sky High,'' the son of superheroes enrolls in Sky High, a school for teens with super powers. Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston are the parents. Michael Angarano is their son.

``Stealth,'' which finished fourth, stars Jamie Foxx as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who must battle a computer-guided bomber that begins attacking targets on its own.

``Must Love Dogs'' stars Diane Lane as a divorced preschool teacher looking for romance. John Cusack co-stars in the film, which is based on the book by Claire Cook.

`` `Stealth' is a major disappointment in not cracking $20 million, while `Must Love' and `Sky High' did acceptable and I think their studios will be fairly happy,'' Horgan said.

News Corp.'s ``Fantastic Four'' dropped to sixth with $6.8 million. The film, based on Marvel Entertainment Group Inc. comic- book characters, tells the story of four scientists who acquire unique powers after being exposed to cosmic radiation during a space flight.

``The Island,'' from DreamWorks SKG, took in $5.6 million in finishing seventh. The movie follows characters played by Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as they try to escape a seemingly utopian world after learning they are clones created for their organs.

`Bad News Bears'

``War of the Worlds,'' a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks, dropped to eighth from sixth with $5.43 million. The film, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, has brought in $218.3 million in five weeks.

Viacom Inc.'s ``Bad News Bears,'' a remake of the 1976 comedy with Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal, fell to ninth place from fifth with $5.42 million. The Paramount Pictures release stars Billy Bob Thornton as a washed-up former baseball star trying to lead a Little League team of misfits and under performers.

Warner Independent Pictures' ``March of the Penguins,'' a documentary directed by Luc Jacquet that follows the annual migration of Emperor penguins to their breeding grounds, remained in 10th place with sales of $4.2 million. The film is playing in 778 theaters this weekend, up from 695 last weekend.

Sales Decline

Sales for the top 12 movies fell an estimated 21.3 percent to $112.1 million from the year-earlier period, Exhibitor Relations said in a statement.

This is the second weekend in a row revenue has dropped compared with the same period a year earlier.

``I think we are still in a slump,'' Horgan said. ``There is a certain sense that Hollywood is playing it safe.''

For the top 10, Time Warner films had the largest market share this weekend with $54.6 million, followed by Disney with $14.6 million, Sony with $13.5 million, Viacom with $10.8 million, News Corp. with $6.8 million and DreamWorks with $5.6 million. Among major Hollywood studios, only General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures failed to place a film in the top 10.

The following chart contains figures provided by studios to Exhibitor Relations. The weekend results were based on actual grosses for Friday and Saturday and estimates for today.

Rev Movie Weeks Avg/ Pct Total
($Mln) Screens Out Screen Chg ($Mln)

1. Wedding Crashers $20.5 3,030 3 $6,757 -20% $116.1
2. Chocolate Factory 16.4 3,775 3 4,340 -42 148.1
3 Sky High 14.6 2,905 1 5,022 -- 14.6
4. Stealth 13.5 3,495 1 3,863 -- 13.5
5 Must Love Dogs 13.1 2,505 1 5,210 -- 13.1
6. Fantastic Four 6.8 2,744 4 2,478 -46 136.1
7. The Island 5.6 3,138 2 1,785 -55 24.0
6. War of the Worlds 5.43 2,324 5 2,339 -39 218.3
9. Bad News Bears 5.42 3,183 2 1,704 -52 22.5
10. Penguins 4.2 778 6 5,341 -05 16.5

To contact the reporters on this story:
Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Posted by Christine at July 31, 2005 9:37 PM