Weekend Box Office (February 3 - 5, 2006)

*** 2006 Oscar Nominee Grosses ***

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND With millions of eyeballs fixated on Detroit for the Super Bowl, only two new films enter the marketplace with each targeting female moviegoers who may not be as excited by football as their male counterparts. Sony unleashes its latest thriller When a Stranger Calls while Focus debuts the romantic comedy Something New. Meanwhile, many Oscar nominees will expand on Friday hoping to capitalize on their nominations and turn them into extra cash.

Teen terror is back in the suspense thriller When a Stranger Calls which finds a babysitter being tormented by a mysterious caller threatening the children under her care. Directed by Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), the PG-13 film is targeting teenage girls and young women although the male horror audience should take some interest too. Sony is hoping that the quadrant that typically takes the least interest in the Super Bowl will find Stranger to be a nice alternative, even if success will only be short-term. Though lacking in starpower, the chiller has a creepy premise that should connect with young audiences. This is a marketing-driven film anyway and the studio's efforts in that area have been respectable. Breaking into 2,999 theaters, When a Stranger Calls could open with about $18M this weekend.

A cross-cultural love affair is at the center of the romantic comedy Something New which stars Sanaa Lathan (Brown Sugar, Love & Basketball) as a professional black woman who falls for her white landscaper. Simon Baker, Blair Underwood, Mike Epps, and Alfre Woodard co-star in the PG-13 release from Focus. Something New will find the bulk of its support from African American women, but as a date movie, the cross-gender appeal is there. Direct competition will come from Big Momma's House 2 which is pulling in plenty of dollars from the exact same audience. However, Focus believes in their offering and has done sneak previews over two different weekends to help get buzz spreading. That should help out on opening weekend. Debuting in 1,266 theaters, Something New could gross about $9M this weekend.

Box office champ Big Momma's House 2 should see a sizable second weekend fall like most sequels do. Plus, with Something New playing to adult women and African American audiences, sales for the Fox title should take a hit. A 45% drop would give Momma about $15M pushing the ten-day cume to $47M. Universal's Nanny McPhee also witnessed a strong launch last weekend and is set to enjoy a solid sophomore session with no new family pics hitting theaters. A 30% decline would give the Emma Thompson comedy around $10M for a total of $27M after ten days.

Sony's Underworld: Evolution might fall by 50% to $5.5M putting the Sony vampire sequel at $53M overall. The second weekend for Buena Vista's Annapolis could see a 40% drop to $4.5M for a $14M cume after ten days.

With Oscar nominations now out, moviegoers are focusing their attention on a short list of acclaimed films now that the Academy has given them their stamp of approval. Top contender Brokeback Mountain with its eight nods will expand again going from 1,654 to 2,089 theaters on Friday. The Ang Lee hit may pop back into the top five with about $7.5M which would boost the total to $61M.

Fellow Best Picture contenders Capote and Good Night, and Good Luck will also see major boosts in screens. Sony Classics will expand the Philip Seymour Hoffman film to roughly 1,200 locations from 325 while Warner Independent boosts George Clooney's directorial effort from 105 to 929 which will be its widest point of distribution in its 18th week. Media attention surrounding the Academy nods this week will help boost interest and test the appeal on a national scale. Both films could enter the top ten with weekend grosses in the mid-single digits.

Be sure to check back on Friday for the NEW weekly Oscar Spotlight column which features a one-on-one interview with Cathy Konrad, producer of Walk the Line. Check in every Friday for a new interview that goes behind the scenes of some of the most acclaimed films up for Academy Awards.

For reviews of Nanny McPhee and Imagine Me & You plus a DVD review of The War Within, visit The Chief Report.


LAST YEAR Sony topped the charts with its suspense thriller Boogeyman which opened at number one with $19M beating out fellow freshman The Wedding Date which debuted in second with $11.1M. The horror flick went on to gross $46.4M while Universal's Debra Messing pic, which played in fewer theaters and generated a slightly better average, reached $31.6M. Rounding out the top five were Are We There Yet? with $10.6M, Hide and Seek with $8.9M, and Million Dollar Baby with $8.5M.

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Last Updated : February 2, 2006 at 10:15AM EST