17th Portuguese Box-Office Analysis

We are coming close to the dreaded Christmas season. This ofcourse is concerning box-office revenues. They tend to go down in this jolly season. The preparation to it is good but then it starts t go down.
But then again next week we have "King Kong" and i believe it will be king.

But for now the number of people in cinemas is coming down. With 254522 spectators and a 33% drop since last week we have the curse of Christmas coming to place. This is due to the big drops on all movies and the not so great openings as we would expect.
Despite of that we have a new number one. Which one you ask? Weel, continue to read and you wil find out...

We are considering the week between 8 to 14 of December

Legend

Position/Movie

Theather Count

Spectators (Week)

Percentage of spectators drop(-) or rise(+)

Spectators (Total)

Week of Release

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Warrior, the Witch and the Wardrobe

75

63160

-

63160

1st Week

.

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

79

55371

-58%

403930

3rd Week

.

3. Chicken Little

49

27817

-48%

207697

4th Week

.

4. Just Like Heaven

34

23697

-44%

66701

2nd Week

.

5. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

34

20874

-45%

59187

2nd Week

.

6. O Crime do Padre Amaro

29

18437

-36%

266488

7th Week

.

7. The Fog

24

14147

-

14147

1st Week

.

8. Flightplan

36

12812

-57%

235055

5th Week

.

9. Broken Flowers

12

11168

-

11512

1st Week

.

10. Oliver Twist

15

7039

-47%

20265

2nd Week

.

The Champion:

.

We have a new number one. But it´s this way thankx in part to the gigantic drop of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". With a decent but not impressive opening "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Warrior, the Witch and the Wardrobe" managed to get 63160 spectators. Not bad considering C.S.Lewis is not that much known around this parts. I already heard of the author but have to admit Chronicles of Narnia didn´t sound a bell in my brains. And yes, i have a brain to the english spoken readers. Nobody talks about him in here. So it was all due to a great marketing and a trailer remembering the long gone Lord of th Rings. But it isn´t the same right?

.

The New Players:

.

At number 7 (as predicted i might add-i´m good) is "The Fog". The new horror movie in town. And a very bad one if the critics word is to be taken. I was proven right more times than wrong so, i´ll take their word for it. Don´t go see it. Unless you wanna be scared by bad filmaking and a destruction of one more horror classic, this time by Carpenter (he even admits he did it for the money). Any more proof?

.

At number 9 (as not predicted-i´m bad) is "Broken Flowers" the award winning film at Cannes Film Festival. Jim Jarmusch did it again. And this time with (i suppose it is) the biggest opening here in Portugal. A very good result considering the 12 theathers it opened in. Very good indeed.

.

Not at the top 10 spots but still present, we have at number 16 "Noel" a film by Chaz Palminteri, with 2691 spectators in only 4 theathers. Considering the very small number it i a good result. And even more when i didn´t heard about the movie until it opened here. And we are talking an american movie. That is a very rare occasion.

.

At number 18 we have "O Fatalista" of João Botelho. A portuguese film and a adaptation of a Diderot book. He is a french writer long dead, so the movie is not a period movie but an adaptation of the book to modern time. Well loved byt the critic but as usual despised by the portuguese audience. Maybe "Odete" will have another history. As far as i am concerned to myself it will. I will go see it.

.

The Consecutive Players:

.

Due to a big drop of 58% (the biggest this week) "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" droped to the number 2 spot with 55371 spectators. It was expected a bigger drop this week but not that big. Next week the drop will also be big due to "King Kong" opening so the number 2 spot of the year is severely compromised if not out of reach. "War of the Worlds" will maintain that spot behind "Madagascar".

.

At number 3 "Chicken Little" maintain a strong presence at the box-office with 27817 spectators and a 48% drop. The only animation movie of the season is maintaing the top spots for the fourth straight week.

.

"Just Like Heaven" at number 4 is perfoming well despite the awful translation made of the english title. Believe it´s bad. It´s definetely lost in translation without hte quality part. Urghhhhhhh...

With 23697 spectators and a 44% drop the result was far from dazzling but still good.

.

The other half horror movie of the box-office "The Exorcism Emily Rose" isn´t doing as bad as expected in it´s second week. With 20874 in it´s second week and 45 % drop, not due to it´s quality but thankx in part because of the mix of courtroom and horror movie. it´s Ally Macbeal meets Exorcist.

.

At number 6, again, and still perfoming solidly is "O Crime do Padre Amaro". This is right out front, the surprise of the year in box-office terms. it´s a Portuguese movie (that means not american) and it is in the top 10 movies overall of the year in Portugal, above for example SinCity, The Aviator and others. That´s simply amazing. According to newspapers the main reason is Soraia Chaves a model turned Actress. And the reason is not her acting hehehe.

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At number 8 and going all the way down is "Flighplan". With 12812 and a 57% drop, it still is having a decent run overall with it´s 236000 spectators. A very good comeback from Ms Jodie Foster.

.

Finally at number 10 "Oliver Twist" ends the list with 7039 and a 47% drop. An ok turn, just ok. Just like the film. We really don´t want some more.

.

Next Week we will Have:

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- "King Kong" (nothing short of the number 1 spot. And this is one garanty i would bet my life in. Maybe not that much)

- "Shopgirl" (sure to remain forgotten. Will have some audience. The girl type. A number 8 spot for it)

- "The Great Raid" (anonymous, it will remain in this holyday season. Won´t get a top 10 spot. Bad opening time for a war movie. Just a theather filler altough as said it deserved better)