‘Cat In Hat’ purrs to 40.1m$
The Cat in the Hat had a near perfect opening, despite all those critical hisses.
The adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, starring Mike Myers as the disruptive furball, debuted with an estimated $40.1 million, as audiences ignored the vicious clawing the nation’s film reviewers gave the family film.
“Do you know anyone under 12 who reads reviews?” Nikko Rocco, Universal’s head of distribution, remarked to Reuters. To the Agency she commented, “It’s not about entertaining parents or reviewers. It’s about entertaining kids, and that’s what happened,” Rocco said. “It’s whether or not your audience was satisfied, and every time I saw the movie with an audience of kids, they loved it.”
However the PG rated live action comedy, slammed for being crass and potty-mouthed, didn’t debut as well as the studio’s previous Dr. Seuss fantasy How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Jim Carrey as the green grouch, which opened with $55.1 million in 2000.
Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Inc., the company that tallies the grosses, says it’s possible Universal hoped for more in the kitty from The Cat debut, but nevertheless the solid opening at 3,464 sites for a per screen average of $11,570, proves the studio “marketed the movie extremely well. Every kid in the country had to know it was opening.” Consequently it was virtually “review proof,” especially for youngsters who get in on discounted tickets.
In second place Gothika, a low budget thriller starring Oscar winner and high profile beauty Halle Berry, as a bedraggled psychiatrist flipped out by an accusation of murder, debuted with a lively $19.6 million, despite also being knocked by critics.
Dergarabedian says the R rated Warner Bros. thriller’s initial success proves the strength of the genre: “Horror fans buy a concept. They want to be scared.” The movie debuted at 2,382 sites, averaging $8,237 per screen.
The newcomers pushed last week’s top movie Elf, starring Will Ferrell as the misfit Santa-helper, down to third place. Earning $19.1 million on the strength of good reviews and good word of mouth the holiday comedy has now grossed a jolly good $95.1 million in three weeks of release.
In fourth place Russell Crowe’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World sailed on against the tide, dropping two spots from its debut, to earn $15.2 million, bringing the lavish seafaring saga’s current gross to just $47.3 million.
Moving into more theatres the ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually edged up a slot to fifth place, earning $9.1 million. Its current three week gross is $30.8 million.
The Matrix Revolutions continued its freefall, dropping 59 percent from last weekend, down to sixth place where it made $6.7 million to bring its three week total to $125 million, a faint carbon of the spectacular $281 million total gross earned by The Matrix, the first flick in the cyberspace trilogy.
In limited release Focus Features’ R rated intense personal drama 21 Grams, starring critically praised actors Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro, weighed in with a very impressive $32,054 per screen at just eight sites in Los Angeles and New York, earning $256,434, and inspiring Oscar chat.
The overall gross for the top 12 films was $129 million, off 11 percent compared to this time last year, when Berry was looking her best alongside James Bond in Die Another Day.
Final figures are due Monday, meantime here are the estimates for the top 10 movies:
- The Cat in the Hat, $40.1 million
- Gothika, $19.6 million
- Elf, $19.1 million
- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, $15.2 million
- Love Actually, $9.1 million
- The Matrix Revolutions, $6.7 million
- Brother Bear, $5.5 million
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action, $4.1 million
- Scary Movie 3, $3.3 million
- Radio, $2.6 million