Archive for the ‘Box Office History’ Category

7. Meet Dave – $5.3M

Thursday, July 17th, 2008
Eddie Murphy stars in this sci-fi comedy about a spaceship that looks like a normal human being and its crew of microscopic humanoids. The script for MEET DAVE is co-written by MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 actor-scribe Bill Corbett.

8. Kung Fu Panda – $4.4M

Thursday, July 17th, 2008
With 2008's KUNG FU PANDA, the talking-animal CGI film enters a new era, one that makes room for both painterly artwork and fierce martial-arts action. Po (voiced by Jack Black), a clumsy and ever-hungry panda, is a huge kung fu fan, but seems destined to sell noodles like his father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), who inexplicably happens to be a goose. When Po literally crashes a ceremony involving martial-arts masters Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) and their pupils, the Furious Five--which includes Tigress (Angelina Jolie, in a surprisingly small part) and Crane (David Cross)--he ends up being selected by the latter elder as the revered Dragon Warrior. As the skeptical Shifu reluctantly trains the hapless Po, his former star pupil, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), escapes from a high-security prison, setting up a collision course between the bumbling bear and the powerful villain. One of the finest animated films released under the Dreamworks banner, KUNG FU PANDA deftly avoids many of the pitfalls of the genre (i.e. cheesy musical sequences), juggling action, heart, and humor in a highly entertaining way. While Black (in endearingly restrained mode), Hoffman, Kim, and McShane voice their characters with verve, the real stars of PANDA are directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson and their animators, who lovingly depict ornate Chinese chambers and vast mountainous vistas, as well as blazing kung fu battles. A movie with remarkably wide appeal, KUNG FU PANDA delivers on its quirky, high-concept title with gleeful aplomb.

9. The Incredible Hulk – $2.3M

Thursday, July 17th, 2008
Dr. Bruce Banner continues to find a cure for his gamma-radiation induced affliction where anger causes him to become the giant, green-skinned Incredible Hulk.

10. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl – $2.3M

Thursday, July 17th, 2008
A favorite from the American Girl historical doll collection, Kit Kittredge makes her big-screen debut with this feature. Oscar-nominated actress Abigail Breslin (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) brings the doll to life and lights up the story's Depression-era setting with her precocious charm. Kit is aware that the Great Depression is under way, but she feels lucky it hasn't directly touched her. While other people in the country struggle to find work and food, the 10-year-old plays comfortably in her tree house and writes articles she hopes will be published by the Cincinnati Register. But everything changes when Kit's dad (Chris O'Donnell) loses his job, forcing Kit and her mother (Julia Ormond) to turn their home into a boarding house while he goes to Chicago in search of work. As a colorful assortment of characters fill Kit's home, Kit learns how to be resourceful. When she gets to know a pair of child hobos, she realizes how kind and friendly homeless people can be. With her journalistic mind in overdrive, she sets out to clear their name in print, dispelling rumor with hard fact and a child's fresh perspective. But when her house is burglarized and all fingers point to her trusted new friends, Kit doesn't know where to turn. Will her investigative skills be able to save her family from the poorhouse? Only time will tell. KIT KITTREDGE offers something for young viewers and adults alike, and boasts an all-star cast (including Stanley Tucci, Jane Krakowski, and Joan Cusack) in addition to its likable young star. Little girls and American Girl fans should delight in the film's faithful recreation of the character's beloved period costumes. Children may even learn a thing or two about history as they watch Kit's thrilling adventures unfold.

7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – $3.8M

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
In 1957, Indiana Jones is thrust back in action, venturing into the jungles of South America in a race against Soviet agents to find the mystical Crystal Skull.

9. Sex and the City – $2.4M

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
The continuing adventures of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda as they live their lives in Manhattan four years after the series ended.

10. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan – $2.0M

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Dennis Dugan (BIG DADDY, HAPPY GILMORE) directs this comedy co-written by Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel. Disco- and hummus-loving Zohan (Sandler) is the Israeli army\'s best weapon. He can single-handedly take out terrorists and swim like a dolphin, and still find time to charm the ladies. But this lethal weapon is tired of fighting Palestinian terrorists like the Phantom (John Turturro). He has bigger dreams: he wants to cut and style hair. Unfortunately, once Zohan arrives in New York City with a new look straight out of the 1980s and an assumed identity after faking his own death, his lack of experience gets him laughed out of salon after salon. Finally, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a Palestinian salon owner, gives him a shot, and the older patrons love him. But just as Zohan is hitting his stride, Salim, a Palestinian New York City cabbie (Rob Schneider) recognizes him, and suddenly the Zohan\'s dream is in jeopardy.<br><br>To confuse matters more, there is a Trump-like developer (Michael Buffer) who is trying to clear out the Manhattan neighborhood where Israelis and Palestinians peacefully coexist in order to build a mall. A bulked-up Sandler is amusing as Zohan, and this is Schneider\'s best performance in years. Despite the extreme stereotyping, there is an underlying message about the futility of war and fact that people really are, after all, just people. The film is peppered with brief appearances from a menagerie of celebrities, including Chris Rock, Dave Matthews, Charlotte Rae, Kevin James, John McEnroe, Mariah Carey, George Takei, and Bruce Vilanch. Lainie Kazan and Nick Swardson also star in this film as a mother and son who befriend the new immigrant.

4. The Love Guru – $13.9M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Pitka (Mike Myers) is an American who was left at the gates of an ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus. He moves back to the U.S. to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality. His unorthodox methods are put to the test when he must settle a rift between Toronto Maple Leafs star hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) and his estranged wife. After the split, Roanoke\'s wife starts dating L.A. Kings star Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake) out of revenge, sending her husband into a major professional skid - to the horror of the teams\' owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) and Coach Cherkov (Verne Troyer). Pitka must return the couple to marital nirvana and get Roanoke back on his game so the team can break the 40-year-old "Bullard Curse" and win the Stanley Cup.

5. The Happening – $10.5M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
In THE HAPPENING, M. Night Shyamalan serves up over-the-top, apocalyptic strangeness. The film opens onto New York City\'s Central Park with a crowd of people enjoying an idyllic summer day. The carefree scene soon takes a terrifying turn, when out of nowhere, hordes of people begin to commit suicide en masse. People scramble to make sense of the pandemonium, and many believe it is a terrorist attack. It appears that some sort of deadly toxin is being released into the air. Cut to Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) a science teacher in Philadelphia. When he learns of the attack on New York, he meets up with his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), his friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and Julians\'s daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez). They make plans to get out of the city via train, but the train is evacuated in the middle of a small Pennsylvania town. When they learn that the mysterious toxin is spreading its way across the Northeast, they break up into groups, with Elliot, Alma, and Jess running through open farmland in search of safety. They are unsure of where to hide, or what exactly they are hiding from, until Elliot slowly forms a theory about the threat. He fights to keep Alma and Jess free from harm, and the film builds to a bizarre, unsettling climax, with Shyamalan\'s usual surprise ending.<br><br>Shyamalan\'s premise of escaping an unknown, unexplainable attack is a timely one, and is quite chilling in concept. However, while he at times appears to be groping for the frenzied scariness of THE BIRDS, THE HAPPENING\'s outlandish death scenes and implausible plot line often veer closer to B-movie classics. The film doesn\'t match the clever creepiness of THE SIXTH SENSE, but for fans of campy horror à la THE EVIL DEAD, it is truly something to behold.

9. Iron Man – $4.0M

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Tony Stark is a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man.