8th Portuguese Box-Office Analysis

It is in the week between 6 and 12 of October
We had a 11% drop since last week of spectators in the top 10 films from 126301 to 112481, this week. I guess the problem wasn´t the rain. The problems is that school is starting so people have less time to go to the movies and that is reflecting in the attendance and especially in the new openings. And since it started this is the 5th consecutive drop in number of spectators from 238000 to this week 112481. That´s more than a 50 % drop.

Legend

Position/Movie
Theather Count
Spectators (Week)
Percentage of spectators drop(-) or Rise (+)
Spectators (Total)
Week of Release

1. 40 Year Old Virgin
44
25260
-26%
59498
2

2. Brothers Grimm
34
15289
-36%
39605
2

3. Wedding Crashers
43
13232
-30%
141061
4

4. Serenity
48
11743
-
11743
1

5. Must Love Dogs
16
11195
-
11195
1

6. The Cave
21
8461
-
8461
1

7. The Dukes of Hazzard
41
8391
-32%
60167
3

8. Alice
10
6902
-
6902
1

9. The Night Watch
16
6615
-
6615
1

10. Goal!
35
5393
-27%
12737
2

This was a week with many openings also. Eight in total and a total of five did get to the top 10 spots. So this week we have a very different list from last week. We will start with the openings.

Opening at number 4 (with a very disapointing start, might I add) was “Serenity” with 11743 spectators. But I guess it was to expect when we are talking about something that was for a very selective audience. That be the audience of people who knew “Firefly” (about 50 people in all Portugal) and the sci-fi fans which aren´t much in our country. And to make it worse it didn´t opened in the summer when there are more people to see the movies (kids from school). So it was something doomed from the start. Just to have an idea, I went see it at opening day (that is Thursday in Portugal) at a session at 3 pm and only 20 people were in the room (they had loads of fun from the noise they were making but it was only 20 and cinema is still about money wether you like it or not. I expect a big drop next week since with the loads of openings they just got to make room.

At Number 5 opened “Must Love Dogs” with 11195 but in three times less theaters then “Serenity” so it wasn´t that bad. It´s a romantic comedy and they are always successful in here. Just out of curiosity the translation to portuguese of “Must Love Dogs” was “Mulher com cão procura homem com coração”. Kinda big…They just got to be original. Even if the title is gigantic.

At number 6 it was “The Cave” with 8461 spectators. It was a horror movie and has I said that is enough. People are not scared anymore. Specially with that kind of horror. The fast popcorn kind. And this opening is the proof they need. But hey they just don´t learn and next week “The Amytiville Horror” is to open..

At number 8 we have the portuguese sweetheart of the week. It´s “Alice” the first film from a very promising director Marco Martins which won the “Certain Regard Jeune” at this year Cannes film Festival. So it definitely is one to watch out there in the U.S if it ever opens there. It´s about a father and his search for his missing daughter. She was kidnaped. Already seen it and it is one to watch and be moved by it. It got 6902 with only 10 theathers. Expect it to rise a little bit next week because of the buzz it is getting here.

At number 9 the final opener to get to the select few top films. It´s “Night Watch”. It´s a russian blockbuster that I think still didn´t opened there but I think it might. Or with this result maybe it won´t. Only 6615 spectators is not very promising.. This one is to disapear in just a week. It´s called in here a bird film (I just made that up heheh)

Other 3 openers didn´t ge to the top 10 spot. They were “Sky High” which was a disaster. Almost an hecatomb. The other one was “Asylum” and the last one “Citizen Verdict” (yes the one with Jerry Springer from 2003 – You didn´t knew it – well neither did I but it still opened . Unfortunately).

The hold on´s were quite impressive. Still maintaining the top spot is “The 40 year Old Virgin” with 25260 spectors and a very small drop (just 26%). With th mood in Portugal beeing very low people just wanna have a good laugh. And this film is the best antidote for that. And it is proving it in the box-office.

“The Brothers Grimm” didn´t had an identical success but it was still a success. A mere 36% drop in a choked week of openings is a very good result for the Gilliam project. A much better perfomance that the one at the U.S. where the drops were gigantic after the first week. And a visual pinnata is always an appealing vision in here when you substitute it´s head with somebody you hate hehehe…

Closing and maintaining the top 3 spot is “Wedding Crashers” with a 30 % drop to 13000 spectators. It already has 141061 spectators total and that is a very impressing result for the month we are talking about. If only it had opened at summer…

At number 7 we have “The Dukes of Hazzard” that refuse to leave the top spots. They are only here for three weeks but it seems like a lifetime. A 32% drop made it possible but expect it to disapear next week.

At number 10 was “Goal”. Sorry I forgot the (!) point. That is vital in the title of the film. It almost looses it´s identity. A mere 27% made it hold on the top 10 spot. But next week only a miracle would save it. Or maybe just an additional (!) would be sufficient. It would be and almost different movie.

Next week we will have to consider at the box-office the following:

- “Howl´s Moving Castle” de Hayao Myazaki (I expect a good opening in here)
- “Stealth” de Rob Cohen (hey it has explosions so it´s always a hit)
- “Four Brothers” de John Singleton (we will see about this one)
- “Last Days” de Gus Van Sant (it is Gus Van Sant but it will be a bit hard to crank a spot at the top 10


Well see you guys next week to see what happens…