Things went much as predicted this Fourth of July weekend. New Yorkers fell in love with a homeless wino with a penchant for busting road signs and throwing live whales into the ocean. Hancock landed on top of Manhattan's sales charts with an $850,956 box office showing. It was the same story nationally. Sony's film scored $66 million in ticket sales, putting it way ahead of Wall-E ($33.4 million) and Wanted ($20.6 million). Since first hitting theaters on July 2, Will Smith's jaded superhero has made a total of $107.3 million.

Much like his alky antihero, Smith is a force to be reckoned with.  read more »

Manhattan may be famous for its plummeting crime rate (Oslo has four times as much crime as New York this year!), but it's clear its residents still have a taste for violence — that, or they prefer Angelina Jolie's slender arms and James McAvoy's glistening chest to a dented metal-box with eyes. Either way, last weekend New Yorkers resisted the calls of ecstatic critics and chose Timur Bekmambetov's kill-fest Wanted — in which Jolie and McAvoy star as members of a secret gang of assassins — over Pixar's Wall-E. Wanted raked in just over a million dollars locally during its opening weekend, making it the city's no.  read more »

Lesson learned this weekend: Martin Lawrence still has it, while Vince Vaughn doesn’t always. Out of five—yes, five—comedies released this weekend, Lawrence’s Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (No. 1) was easily the fan favorite in Manhattan, out-grossing its closest competition, the Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey romantic barnstormer Fool’s Gold by over $60,000. (Gold did, however, get the last laugh by claiming more cash nationally.) So, where did Vince Vaughn’s stand-up travelogue, Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show, end up? Well, for starters, not on our top 10.  read more »

With only one wide release—MGM’s Awake (No. 6)—the box office had a slow weekend, with few, if any, changes either here or nationally in the top five. But that didn’t keep The Savages (No. 8) from making an impression. On two screens in the city, the Tamara Jenkins family drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney averaged close to $40,000—a stellar opening for such a slow time.

In the wake of so many dysfunctional Thanksgiving dinners, perhaps receipts were buoyed by people’s desire to see a family more messed up than their own. The film has also certainly been helped by the skillful word-of-mouth and marketing campaign launched by Fox Searchlight—they of Sideways and Little Miss Sunshine fame. Don’t be surprised if this one meets the same Oscar fate—both good and bad.  read more »

While the rest of the country gravitated toward the family fare over the Thanksgiving weekend, New York’s tastes were a bit more of a mixed bag. Sure, Enchanted (No. 1) topped our box office charts—just like it did the nation’s—with a strong per screen average of $33,000. But Bee Movie (No. 8), ranked fifth nationally, dropped 4 spots, while Fred Claus, ranked sixth, went poof!

Despite the fact that five movies opened wide on November 23rd, No Country For Old Men (No. 2) actually moved up a spot by expanding into two more theaters for a grand total of nine. The Coen brothers spent Thursday giving thanks for Javier Bardem.  read more »

Robert Zemeckis used Beowulf (No. 1), once the scourge of high-school English classes nationwide, to lure unsuspecting children and families to the box office this weekend, promising a 3-D spectacle the likes the which they had never seen. Improbably, he ended the weekend at the top of the box-office charts both in Manhattan and across the country. What's next? The Finnish national epic, the Kalevala?  read more »

The box office was awakened this weekend from its fall slumber, as if it too had just been hit by the first cold spell of the season. American Gangster (No. 1) may have only grossed one and a half times as much as Bee Movie (No.2) nationally, but here in the city, it almost tripled the cartoon’s gross, averaging an astronomical $91,969 per theater. Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, broke all types of genre-specific records, en route to smashing the personal opening weekend records for both actors.

A thanks from Universal, who are distributing the film, is in order to the New York Post, who keep giving wood to organized crime and feeding the city’s unquenchable thirst for news about its dons. Like one of Frank Lucas’ finely tailored suits, this film was made for Manhattan.  read more »

Heartbleeders, both literally—ew!—and metaphorically—aw!—speaking, ruled over the weekend. Saw IV (No. 1) grossed over $32 million nationally and averaged over $53,000 at 8 theaters in the city, while Dan in the Real Life (No. 2) took in a respectable $12 million in national receipts, and did similarly respectable business in the city with an over $23,000 average on 8 screens.

Perhaps there is a little surprise that Steve Carell and his first foray into serious acting couldn’t pull stronger in the city, but the film did around the business its reviews suggested: above-average. A film that defied expectations, including those of the critics, was Bella (No. 9), a drama set in New York City surrounding a pregnant hostess and a mysterious chef, who seeks to help her. Apparently targeted at Christians and Latin-Americans by Roadside Attractions, the film, which was directed by first-timer Alejandro Gomez Monetverde, averaged a surprisingly strong $36,000 in the city. If the film can keep this up, it’ll be another example (See Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?) of how intelligent niche fare can be successful despite the opinions of the mainstream press or expensive publicity campaigns.  read more »

New Yorkers hate the Red Sox. To suggest that New Yorkers also hate Red Sox fans is therefore a bit tautological. But this weekend, New Yorkers—lots of them—defied the national trend and went and saw Gone Baby Gone (#3), which was written and directed by the most famous Sox fan apart from John Kerry—what auspicious company!—Ben Affleck. While it failed to outgross (double entendre alert) vampire flick 30 Days of Night (#1) and that other movie about blood suckers, Michael Clayton (#2), it may be a sign that New Yorkers are maturing, willing to let bygones be bygones. Nah! No idea why people chose to see this movie. Not having Ben star in it couldn’t have hurt …  read more »