Top 10 for March 10-12, 2006 Summary: Sunday estimates are in.
Despite a strong warning from critics to stay away, audiences flocked to the new romantic comedy Failure to Launch,
propelling the Paramount release to an impressive $24.6 million to top all films this weekend, posting the fourthd biggest debut of 2006. If estimates hold, Failure would become star Mathew McConaughey's biggest debut ever, surpassing the $23.7 million debut of another hit romantic comedy, the $105 million grossing How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003). His only other turn in a romantic comedy was in 2001's sleeper The Wedding Planner, which debuted on Superbowl weekend with $13.5 million on its way to a healthy $60.4 million domestically. Budgeted at $50 million, the film was easily a career best for co-star Sarah Jessica Parker, who has only had two other films break double digits in their opening: 2005's The Family Stone ($12.5m) and The First Wives Club ($18.9m).
Tim Allen's poorly received The Shaggy Dog finished a strong second with $16 million, averaging $4,576 in
a wide 3,501 theaters. A remake of Disney's 1959 classic, the release opened well below Allen's previous two family comedies
Christmas with the Kranks ($21.6m) and The Santa Clause 2 ($29m).
Fox Searchlight saw its $15 million budgeted horror thriller The Hills Have Eyes pull in a studio record
$15.5 million from 2,620 for a strong $5,916 average. A remake of the classic 1977 Wes Craven flick, the film saw a decent 9% increase
in ticket sales, which could indicate relatively strong word of mouth. As for Fox Searchlight, Hills surpassed the studio's record $10.7 million opening from 2002's Sanaa Lathan-Taye Diggs starrer Brown Sugar.
Holdovers rounded out the remaining two spots in the top five, with Bruce Willis's 16 Blocks finishing in fourth with
an estimated $7.3 million, pushing its ten-day cume to $22.7 million. Tyler Perry's sleeper hit Madea's Family Reunion tacked on another $5.8 million onto its total, bringing its three week take to an incredible $55.7 million. Budgeted at just $6 million,
the Lions Gate release is now the third largest grossing film in studio history.
Without a Best Picture win last week, Focus Features' Brokeback Mountain slipped 49% to $1.2 million in 16th place, bringing its 14 week total to $81 million. Also out of the top ten was Universal's Curious George, which finished its run with $52.4 million.
As for the box office, three new releases weren't enough, as the top ten films fell 13% from last year's comparable frame, when Fox/Blue Sky Studio's Robots topped the charts with $36 million.
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