Box office's weekday warriors
Monday-Thursday tallies spread the wealth
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On July 21, "The Dark Knight" earned a staggering $24.5 million at the box office, by far the best gross ever for a regular Monday.
Though the mainstream media always focus on a film's weekend grosses, Hollywood execs know the unsung heroes in any film's B.O. life are weekdays. And this summer, that Monday-through-Thursday period is going gangbusters.
While summer 2007 brought record-breaking B.O. grosses of $4.16 billion, this summer's midweek numbers have been higher in seven out of the past 13 weeks.
Even better, the wealth is being spread wide. More films are running stronger, and doing it longer.
Last summer, the average gross for the top five films was $304.3 million, vs. this year's $288.6 million. This means 2007's sequels to "Spider-Man," "Shrek," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Harry Potter," along with franchise-starter "Transformers," hoarded a disproportionate amount of the box office.
This year, with box office 1% ahead of last year's, the films ranked No. 6 through No. 20 at the box office are ahead of last year's by a whopping 46%. The average gross this year is $101.6 million, compared with $70.2 million.
According to the Aug. 7 Wall Street Journal, a survey by research company Interpret said 52% of respondents are seeing fewer movies at the multiplex. In the long haul, the film biz may succumb to the recession, but so far, that's not the case.
It's not clear who was among that 52%, but the current trend of staycations and, frankly, unemployment mean that people are going to the multiplex a lot -- and they're doing it on weekdays.
Take the Monday-through-Thursday B.O. in one June week as an example.
On Monday, June 16, box office brought in a total $20.9 million, a big jump from the $17.4 million from the comparable Monday in 2007. Tuesday's haul was $18.8 (vs. $16.9 million); Wednesday, $18.4 million (vs. $16.1 million); Thursday, $17.7 million (vs. $15 million).
Given those jumps, one might expect this summer's B.O. to be 20% ahead of last year's. Instead, it's only 1% ahead.
The gains may be slight, but execs say any uptick is good news for Hollywood and theater owners, particularly when so many sectors are experiencing trouble in a dark economy.
But what accounts for the discrepancy?
There are many factors. For example, one weak spot this summer in terms of weekday numbers was the July Fourth holiday, which fell on a Friday. Sony's Will Smith starrer "Hancock" wasn't able to top 2007's "Transformers."
Days after "Transformers" opened last summer, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" bowed on a Wednesday, further boosting midweek averages.
This summer hasn't had any midweek openers on that level. The summer also has seen several high-profile disappointments, which drag down both the weekend and weekday bottom line. Duds include 20th Century Fox's Eddie Murphy starrer "Meet Dave" and Warner Bros.' "Speed Racer." Likewise, Fox's "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" failed to generate the sort of grosses the studio thought it would.
As a rule of thumb, films opening outside summer can expect 25% of their total gross to come from weekday traffic. In the summer, a film can see 30%-35% of its total gross come from midweek coin; sometimes, even more. That holds true this summer as well.
Chick flicks and family films have always done good midweek trade. But this year, the midweek bloom is extending to other genres, even to fanboy-driven pics, indicating strong repeat viewings during the week.
In 2007, "Spider-Man 3" kicked off the summer, opening to a record-breaking $151.1 million. This year, it was Paramount's "Iron Man," an untested film property.
"Iron Man" opened to a respectable $102 million. But by its first Thursday, "Iron Man" had caught up with "Spider-Man 3," at least in terms of weekday grosses. By its third week, "Iron Man" eclipsed "Spider-Man 3" in terms of Monday-Thursday performance.
Because of its bigger opening, "Spider-Man" still ultimately out grossed "Iron Man" at the domestic B.O., cuming $336.3 million. "Iron Man" grossed $314.5 million.
Comedies also are laughing it up. Studios often use a midweek opening to build buzz for midrange pics like Seth Rogen-James Franco stoner comedy "Pineapple Express," and not for big first-day grosses.
In earning $12.5 million on a Wednesday, "Pineapple Express" turned Wednesday into Friday, and laughed right past previous record-holdover "The Princess Diaries 2," which opened to $8.5 million on a Wednesday in August 2004.
After a movie opens, good word-of-mouth is like gold in terms of bestowing a film with strong legs, and the 2008 summer crop has been particularly blessed in terms of positive reaction. Strong legs mean consistently good grosses, not only big weekends.
Or, as Disney prexy of distribution Chuck Viane puts it, "every day in summer really can be a holiday."
