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December 19, 2005

Weekend Box Office Report: King Kong Just A Big Ape

King Kong opened strongly with $51 million on the weekend and $66 million since its mid-week release. However, the totals will be considered a disappointment as expectations were higher, ranging from $75 million to $100 million for the 5 days of release. The film is from Universal Pictures, which is part of NBC Universal and 80% owned by General Electric (GE).

All is not lost, however, as there are several good signs that the film will have legs during the next few weeks....

Remember the film opened while kids were still in school and every night is a weekend now that schools all over the country are off the holiday period and many individuals are taking vacation as well. Among the good signs is a strong increase of 40% in the Saturday gross vs. the Friday gross. This compares to a gain of less than 10% of the Narnia film last weekend, while also comfortably exceeding the pickup for the first Lord of the Rings film, although that film had an incredible mid-week opening due to pent up demand from devotees of the books (yours truly saw all three films at the midnight opening and saw all three again the next morning or afternoon). King Kong also had a strong hold on Sunday with a decline of just 24%, if studio estimates are to be believed. Again, this is a good number compared to similar films. Finally, overseas box office was quite good with $80 million on the weekend and $146 million since the Wednesday opening. So, it is too early to call the domestic box office a disappointment and weekday and second weekend figures will tell the tale.

I think Disney (DIS) will be happy with the second weekend of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe. The film grossed $31 million, falling a respectable 52% considering the marketing muscle behind the big ape which was directed at a similar audience. The film has grossed $112 million to date in the U.S. and with a heavy family-orientation and overtures to churchgoers seems likely to hold well during the Christmas school holiday.

Finally, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire pulled in another $6 million this weekend and now stands at $252 million domestically. By the end of next weekend it should be the #2 grossing film in the so far four film series, and it stands a good chance of matching the $317 million for the first and thus far highest grossing film in the series. Warner Brothers a division of Time Warner (TWX) produced and distributed the film. While the action is at AOL for TWX these days, the latest Potter film should provide a nice boost to 4Q05 and 2006 financials.

Posted by Steve Birenberg at December 19, 2005 09:37 AM in Box Office