Top 10 for March 11-13, 2005 Summary: Final numbers are in.
It was a solid but slightly disappointing opening weekend for Fox and animation house Blue Sky Studios, as their
computer-animated feature Robots topped the box office in convincing fashion (more than doubling
its next closest competitor The Pacifier), but failed to debut with the kind of gargantuan numbers
we've been accustomed to seeing from computer-animated releases over the past few years. Opening in an ultrawide
3,776 theaters, Robots grossed $36 million, making it the second biggest March opening ever.
The March record holder remains Fox and Blue Sky's first animated effort Ice Age, which took in a surprising
$46.3 million in its opening weekend and a sizeable $176.4 million domestically, dealing a blow to Disney that
arguably signaled the demise of that studio's famed traditional animation department.
Compared to recent 3D efforts by Pixar, DreamWorks, and DreamWorks subsidiary PDI, Blue Sky's Robots finished significantly off
the mark. Pixar's Oscar-winning The Incredibles (distributed by Disney) opened in November to $70.4 million and $260.2 million domestically.
DreamWorks Animation's Shark Tale (distributed by DreamWorks) debuted with $47.6 million in October, on its way to $160.8 million domestically,
while PDI's cash-cow Shrek 2 debuted to a record $108 million last May, becoming the third highest grossing
film in history with $441.2 million domestically. Whether the opening signals a downward trend for computer-animated films has yet to be determined,
but mixed reviews from critics certainly didn't help the cause (critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com gave Robots a lackluster 59%
recommendation rating). With little direct competition on the horizon, look for the $75 million budgeted Robots to make a steady march towards $100 million
for the remainder of the month.
Apparently the oncoming Easter holiday couldn't rekindle passion for Mel Gibson's re-release The Passion Recut,
an edited (less violent) version of the ridiculously successful The Passion of the Christ .
Playing in 957 theaters, the film (which already saw a succesful DVD launch last August) grossed just $240,000,
averaging a pathetic $251 per theater. The original run of Passion netted NewMarket $370.2 million domestically.
Apparently violence sells...
Last weekend's champ The Pacifier fell a notch to second with $18.15 million, bringing the $56m budgeted Disney
comedy's ten day total to $54.4 million. MGM's comedy Be Cool fell 56 percent to an estimated $10.3 million, bringing its
ten-day take to $38.4 million. Miramax's action-thriller Hostage took in an estimated $9.8 million in 2,123 theaters for a disappointing fourth place.
The debut was similar to star Bruce Willis's Hart's War, which opened with $8.9 million on its way to $19 million domestically.
Despite losing 463 theaters, Sony's blockbuster romantic-comedy Hitch took in another strong $8.7 million,
falling just 28% and bringing its five week total to $149.7 million. Warner's Oscar juggernaut Million Dollar Baby
saw its sharpest decline in weeks, falling 37% to an estimated $5 million, bringing its cume to $83.9 million.
Fellow Oscar-winner The Aviator remained just out of the top ten with an estimated $1.3 million, bringing its
13 week total to $99 million.
The top ten films grossed $100.7 million, down 1% from last year's comparable frame when
The Passion of the Christ held the top spot for the third week in a row with $32.1 million.
