Nothing really works well this Labor Day Weekend in theaters

By Keith Williams  

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 8/31/08 — Tropic thundered, Babylon quaked, and Disaster Movie imploded, being neither as scary or epic as its predecessors in the most cursed box-office weekend of the year.

Unless you’re horror, dive for cover as it’s Labor Day Weekend – the last gasp of summer when bargain bin action pics open, and close shortly afterwards, plus movies you’ve never heard of, since potential patrons are too busy preparing for work and school and will only emerge for something worth their time and credit-crunched wallets.

Opening on 3390 screens, the latest Vin Diesel offering, Babylon AD – think a XXX remix of Children of Men – took an estimated $9.7 million over three days, potentially ending up with $12 million to come in second for the 4-day marathon.  Not good, Vin, even by Labor Day’s exacting standards.  Much has been made of the studio-hacked version that escaped to theaters, and while it is undoubtedly flawed, particularly the last incoherent third, what’s left is interesting enough to have done better.  Certainly not  enough to dethrone Tropic Thunder which rustled up $11.5 million for three days, $14 million for four to maintain its position as the most popular movie in America .

Disaster Movie, the other main contender of the new releases aiming to score big, didn’t, taking $6.17 million on 2642 screens for three days, maybe $8 million for four.  Hopefully this signals the end of these mercilessly unfunny pop-culture reference movies which play like Vaudeville in Hell.  When the Zucker Bros did this kind of thing, their spoofs were witty, inventive and hilarious.  These current day efforts aren’t, being mean-spirited, lazy and doomed to date quicker than Paris Hilton’s Facebook account.

Other new releases included Traitor, Don Cheadle’s thriller which did quite well in the circumstances, taking $7.9 million for three days, $10 million for four on 2054 screens.  And to think this earned more than Disaster Movie!  Does this spell the return of Hope?  Not for College, scrounging $2.1 million off 2123 campuses over the three day weekend, with $3 million for four.  Had you heard of it?  Can you name who’s in it?  Grade Z for you, then, especially as it didn’t even make the nation’s top ten.

In the weekly Dark Knight section, the Caped Crusader crossed the $500 million mark at the US box-office with another $8.7 million for three days, $11.3 million for four, placing itself third for the weekend and directly behind Titanic in the all-time top ten.  Unlikely now to catch up with that sinking ship, it’s still an incredible achievement where even Warner Bros must be in deep shock at how mega-successful their erratic franchise has been since Tim Burton revived it. 

In its second weekend, Death Race stalled, taking $6.2 million for three days, $8 million likely for four, The House Bunny hopped happily along with $8.3 million for three, $10 million for four, while Mamma Meryl warbled up more money, money, money with $4.4 million over the three-day weekend, $6 million for four.  Stoners continued to support Pineapple Express, adding $3.3 million tokes for three days, $5 million or so for four. 

Mention should also be made of Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona entering the top ten with $3 million for three days, $5 million possibly for four, with a grand total of $ 12.7 million so far in three weeks.  His best since Match Point, it also scores the highest per-screen average in this week’s top ten releases.

WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, AUGUST 29-31, 2008

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. Tropic Thunder (Paramount (DreamWorks))
$11.5 million | 3,473 | $83.8 million | 3

2. Babylon A.D. (Fox)
$9.7 million | 3,390 | $9.7 million | 1

3. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.)
$8.8 million | 2,750 | $502.4 million | 7

4. The House Bunny (Sony / Columbia)
$8.3 million | 2,714 | $27.9 million | 2

5. Traitor (Overture Films)
$7.9 million | 2,054 | $9.4 million | 1

Three day estimates courtesy of boxofficemojo.com