Racing Stripes
|
'Coach Carter' Scores at Box Office
Samuel L. Jackson bounced "Meet the Fockers" from the top spot at the North American box office after three weekends with his basketball movie "Coach Carter," while Jennifer Garner dropped the first bomb of the year with her superheroine saga "Elektra."
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Coach Carter" sold $23.6 million worth of tickets in the three days beginning Jan. 14, followed by "Fockers" with $19.0 million.
"Elektra," which was crushed by the critics, opened at No. 5 with $12.5 million. Even Halle Berry's unloved "Catwoman" did better, opening to $16.7 million last July.
Two other top-10 debutants were in a tight race for the Nos. 3 and 4 slots. The animated family movie "Racing Stripes" crossed the finish line with $14.0 million. The comedy-drama "In Good Company," starring Dennis Quaid, jumped 29 places to No. 4 with $13.9 million in its first weekend of wide release.
"Coach Carter," based on a true story, stars Jackson as a hoops coach who raises a storm by pulling his hit players from the local competition so that they can focus on improving their anemic high school grades. The film, budgeted at about $30 million, was released by Paramount Pictures in conjunction with its Viacom Inc. corporate sibling MTV Films.
"Meet the Fockers" and "In Good Company" were released by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co.-controlled NBC Universal.
"Racing Stripes" was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc. "Elektra" was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.'s. Fox Entertainment Group Inc. Weekend Box Office Report / Variety / 1/16/05 'Coach': Nothing but net Hollywood Reporter / 1/18/05 Warner Bros. Pictures' "Racing Stripes" finished the race in the third spot with a solid purse of an estimated $18.6 million on its debut. The PG-rated film, about a zebra-turned-racing horse, found favor with family audiences and was produced by Alcon Entertainment......Meanwhile, over at Warners, domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said, "We're very pleased with the results of 'Racing Stripes.' The picture played primarily to family audiences and received an 'A' from CinemaScore, which indicates we will continue to do well for weeks to come." Early Weekend Reports Total Figures per Week
Sunday January 16 1:36 PM ET
Hits $29.2 mil; 'Stripes,' 'Company' impress
Last
weekMovie / Studio
Weekend B.O.
Total B.O.
Weeks in
ReleaseNo. of
Theaters
1 - Coach Carter PARA $23,600,000 $23,600,000 1 2524 2 1 Meet the Fockers UNIV $19,000,000 $230,800,000 4 3554 3 - Racing Stripes WB $14,030,000 $14,030,000 1 3185 4 33 In Good Company UNIV $13,900,000 $14,400,000 3 1566 5 - Elektra FOX $12,500,000 $12,500,000 1 3204 6 2 White Noise UNIV $12,200,000 $41,200,000 2 2279 7 3 The Aviator M'MAX $4,775,000 $49,953,059 5 1956 8 4 A Series of Unfortunate Events PARA $3,965,000 $111,043,000 5 2540 9 9 The Phantom of the Opera WB $3,550,000 $26,437,000 4 907 10 6 Ocean's Twelve WB $2,895,000 $119,845,000 6 2105 11 5 Fat Albert FOX $2,825,000 $44,637,973 4 2043 12 8 National Treasure BV $2,500,000 $165,000,000 9 1610
This
Week
Last
Week
Weekend
BoxOffice
Pct.
Change
Per
Theater
No. of
Theatres
Total
BoxOffice
Days in
release3 - 18,862,432 - 5922 3185 18,862,432 4 5 3 6,815,275
-64 2,140 3185
27,088,410 10 9 5 6,055,000
